OREANDA-NEWS. IKEA, the world’s leading home furnishings retailer, today announced it is submitting plans to the City of Norfolk, Virginia for a store that would increase the Swedish company’s presence in the Southeastern U.S. as its second store in Virginia. Pending approvals, construction of the proposed IKEA Norfolk store could begin in Spring 2017, with an opening in Summer 2018. Until then, customers can shop at IKEA stores in Woodbridge, VA and Charlotte, NC, or online at IKEA-USA.com.

Located centrally within the Hampton Roads area, and eight miles east of downtown Norfolk, the 331,000-square-foot proposed IKEA store and 1,000 parking spaces would be built on 19 acres at the northwestern corner of Interstate 64 and Northampton Boulevard. Store plans reflect the same unique architectural design for which IKEA stores are known worldwide. IKEA also will evaluate potential on-site power generation to complement its current U.S. renewable energy presence at nearly 90% of its U.S. locations.

“We are excited at the possibility of growing our Southeastern U.S. presence with a Norfolk store,” said IKEA U.S. president Lars Petersson. “A location in this retail corridor would provide our nearly 35,000 Hampton Roads customers their own store and introduce the unique IKEA shopping experience to others throughout southeast Virginia.”

The proposed IKEA Norfolk would feature nearly 10,000 exclusively designed items, 50 inspirational room-settings, three model home interiors, a supervised children’s play area, and a 450-seat restaurant serving Swedish specialties such as meatballs with lingonberries and salmon plates, as well as American dishes. Other family-friendly features include a ‘Children’s IKEA’ area in the Showroom, baby care rooms, play areas throughout the store, and preferred parking. In addition to the more than 500 jobs that are expected during the construction phase, approximately 250 coworkers would join the IKEA family when the new store opens. IKEA Norfolk also would provide significant annual sales and property tax revenue for local governments and schools.

This project would represent the third significant investment by IKEA in the state of Virginia. Besides this proposed Norfolk store and the store in Woodbridge, there also is an IKEA furniture factory in Danville that opened in 2008.