MERRIAM, Kan. — Swedish furniture store IKEA announced it will open a store in the Kansas City area in 2014.
The store will be built in Merriam, at the southeast corner of I-35 and Johnson Drive, at a currently vacant shopping center. The building at that location was built five years ago. Circuit City was supposed to move in, but the company went bankrupt and the building has sat empty ever since. That building will be torn down and another built for the furniture and home accessories store. The location is ideal for IKEA, as it sits off the Interstate and has “great visibility,” according to an IKEA spokesperson.
IKEA is expected to break ground next summer and anticipates a fall 2014 grand opening. They expect to employee approximately 350 area residents.
The Merriam IKEA store will be the only one in Kansas. The closest IKEA stores to the metro are in Dallas, Denver, Chicago and in Minnesota’s Twin Cities.
