OREANDA-NEWS. IKEA, the world’s leading home furnishings retailer, today announced contractors now are hired for building its future Indianapolis-area store in Fishers, IN. Pending remaining permits, this milestone allows the project to continue on track for site work to commence, with groundbreaking next month and a store opening in Fall 2017, increasing the Swedish retailer’s presence in the Midwestern United States. Until the store opens, customers can shop at the Cincinnati-area store in West Chester, OH; Chicago-area IKEA Bolingbrook and IKEA Schaumburg; or online at IKEA-USA.com.

IKEA has chosen Pepper Construction to serve as Construction Manager for the IKEA Fishers site work and store development project. Having a strong Midwestern presence, Pepper is a full-service construction management, design/build and general contracting firm that has constructed several IKEA stores throughout the years, including one underway in Columbus, OH. Other firms assisting with this project are: real estate brokerage CBRE for site selection support; Faegre Baker Daniels for local land use counsel; Kimley-Horn for civil engineering; KJWW Engineering Consultants for structural; ACIES Engineering for mechanical, electrical and plumbing design; Earth Source for environmental services; and GreenbergFarrow as project architect.

“With contractors onboard, plans can proceed towards opening the future IKEA Fishers,” said Lars Petersson, IKEA U.S. president. “This store will provide a more convenient IKEA shopping experience for current and potential customers throughout Indiana, complementing our growing Midwestern U.S. presence.”

IKEA Fishers will feature nearly 10,000 exclusively designed items, 50 inspirational room-settings, three model home interiors, a supervised children’s play area, and a 325-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 to be created during the construction phase, approximately 250 coworkers will join the IKEA family when the new store opens. IKEA Fishers also will provide significant annual sales and property tax revenue for state and local governments and schools.

Located approximately 15 miles northeast of downtown Indianapolis, the 289,000-square-foot future IKEA store and its 1,000 parking spaces will be built on 35 acres along the eastern side of Interstate 69, just south of the E. 116th Street exit. Store plans reflect the same unique architectural design for which IKEA stores are known worldwide.