IKEA Tempe Opens its Doors

Furniture World Magazine

IKEA, a leading home furnishings retailer, opens the doors of its first Desert Southwest store on November 10. In celebration of grand opening, the new store in Tempe, Arizona has kicked off the Welcome Neighbors campaign, a trademark IKEA initiative which illustrates IKEA Tempe has something for everyone from young singles to families with kids to empty nesters. IKEA Tempe has partnered with KMXP-FM (Mix 96.9) on the Welcome Neighbors campaign to help find the “Fabulous Five Neighbors” who were randomly chosen from more than 1,200 submissions who wrote in describing why they deserved consideration as an IKEA neighbor. The five winners will sleep out at IKEA Tempe from November 7 through grand opening day on November 10. In return, each of these “Fabulous Five Neighbors” will receive a $2,000 IKEA Gift Card along with a free IKEA bed, mattress, linens, bedside table, lamp, area rug and slippers. IKEATempe is donating $2,000 (a total of $10,000) to benefit Free Arts of Arizona, whose mission is to spark the creative spirit in abused, homeless and at-risk children and their families to inspire and transform their lives through the power of artistic expression for each of the “Fabulous Five Neighbors’” participation in the campaign. “We truly value our neighbors near and far, and we want everyone to know that IKEA is there at every stage of their lives,” said Lars Meyer, IKEA Tempe store manager. “We are so excited to be a part of the Southwest ‘neighborhood’ and highlighting what it means to be a ‘fabulous neighbor’ seemed fitting for our IKEA Tempe grand opening celebration.” As a symbol of “new beginnings,” the Honorable Mayor Hugh Hallman and Pernille Spiers-Lopez, president, IKEA North America will join IKEA Tempe store manager Lars Meyer in the traditional Swedish log-sawing ceremony, which takes place just before IKEA Tempe officially opens its doors to all neighbors at 9:00 a.m. A representative of the Free Arts of Arizona, the Consulate of Sweden for Arizona, as well as the Consulate General of Mexico in Phoenix, Arizona will also join the ceremony and grand opening festivities. Additional IKEA Tempe grand opening festivities include: Become a “Cover Girl” or “Guy” – The very first person in line (18 and over) for the IKEA Tempe grand opening on November 10 (not including the five participating in the Welcome Neighbors campaign), will win all of the IKEA furnishings and accessories featured on the 2005 IKEA Catalog cover with an estimated value of $1,500. Take a Seat – The first 100 adults (18 and over) in line at IKEA Tempe will receive a free POÄNG armchair (valued at $99) On November 10. Just for Kids – The first 100 children (under 12) in line at IKEA Tempe on November 10 will receive a free IKEA BRUM bear soft-toy (IKEA donates $2 from the sale of its BRUM bear soft-toy to UNICEF, which benefits children in need around the world). Home of Your Dreams – Enter to win $10,000 in IKEA Gift Cards by filling out an entry form at IKEA Tempe from November 10 until November 14. IKEA Tempe Grand Opening Bonus Treat – From November 10 through November 14, visitors can randomly win 100% off of their purchases at IKEA Tempe throughout the day. Breakfast Special Under a $1 – The IKEA Tempe Restaurant, which provides a full, hot breakfast and coffee from 9:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. daily, will offer grand opening visitors its full breakfast for only 99 cents from November 10 until November 14. (The full, hot breakfast and coffee will return to $1.49 after grand opening week.) The new store, located in Tempe, offers 10,000 home furnishings and accessories under one gigantic 342,000 square-foot roof and is the Swedish company’s 22nd store in the U.S. and the 203rd store worldwide. "At IKEA, our vision is to help people create a better everyday life, and we recognize that the comfort, function and style of your home can make a significant difference in your life," explained Lars Meyer, store manager, IKEA Tempe. "IKEA Tempe offers a wide range of affordable home furnishings with good design and function. Our visitors can easily be inspired to design every room in their home in a way that expresses their individual taste, is organized and efficient and brings them joy." Highlights of the IKEA Tempe unique family-friendly shopping experience, offerings and conveniences include: Design Inspiration and Shopping Satisfaction -IKEA Tempe offers a wide variety of style selections with 10,000 home furnishing and accessory items in the Showroom and Marketplace ranging from beds, mattresses, bookcases, desks, sofas, as well as pots, pans, lighting, textiles, products for pets, and even kitchens complete with cabinetry and appliances. IKEA Tempe also has outdoor furnishings available year-round. -The 62 inspirational room setting displays, as well as the four complete model homes that represent real-life situations ranging from young singles to families with kids to empty-nesters, provide visitors with creative design ideas that can be brought to life in any room or home. A Fun Day Out with the Family -IKEA Tempe has many family-friendly features, including a supervised play area called Småland that replicates the look of a typical Swedish farmhouse and forest (for children who meet the 37”-48” height requirement) and also has wheelchair access. Children can have an IKEA SMILE card validated during each visit to Småland and receive an IKEA toy after their sixth visit. -There are nine play areas throughout the store designed for children to enjoy with family supervision, and extra-special children’s features called "mouse holes" allow younger visitors to have fun and crawl from one room to another in the Showroom. -IKEA recognizes that children live in every room of a family’s home, and since IKEA Tempe is just as child-friendly as the home would be, children are encouraged to touch and try out products. -More family-friendly benefits at IKEA Tempe include a Children’s IKEA department, strollers, childheight handrails, baby care rooms, as well as a private, comfortable room for nursing moms. Want a Snack with that Sofa? -The 245-seat IKEA Restaurant offers breakfast, lunch and dinner and features a variety of traditional cuisine specialties representative of the company’s Swedish roots and heritage including shrimp sandwiches, salmon and Swedish meatballs, as well as American dishes such as vegetarian, pasta and chicken. -Children can feast on menu choices just for them such as a child’s portion of Swedish meatballs and, for even younger visitors, the restaurant also offers organic baby food, bottle warmers and bibs. -A Café Bistro near the store’s exit serves hot dogs, cinnamon buns and frozen yogurt, and the Swedish Foodmarket offers Swedish delicacies, specialties, snacks and even frozen IKEA meatballs that can be prepared at home. You Do a Little, We Do a little, Together We Save a Lot -The IKEA concept relies on a partnership with customers to choose, transport and assemble their purchases, contributing to low prices for well-designed furnishings. For the convenience of customers, IKEA also offers assembly and home-delivery services. -IKEA products are packaged in flat boxes creating less “wasted space” in shipping and ground transportation and also greatly reducing costs, storage needs, and damage. -IKEA designers start with the price and work with manufacturers to find efficient ways to create designs using existing production processes. IKEA looks all over the world for suppliers with the most suitable raw materials and high volume orders on a global scale. This approach results in cost savings that are passed on to customers without any sacrifice to the quality or design and function of the product. Shopping Made Easy -IKEA Tempe features directional signs and price tags with product information in both English and Spanish for the convenience of visitors. -The new store has 24 checkout lanes and, just for grand opening week, there will be 28 (four temporary mobile lanes), as well as 20 “line-busters,” mobile handheld cash registers to efficiently expedite credit card purchases. -There are 1,300 parking spaces, 20 easily accessible handicap parking spaces, 30 loading parking spaces (so visitors can readily load purchases into their car and bring them home the same day they shop) and 26 family-parking spaces. -For visitors who bike to IKEA Tempe, there are seven bike racks that can accommodate more than 60 bicycles. -IKEA Tempe collaborated with the City of Tempe to arrange public transportation access via the Valley Metro Bus Route 62 (Hardy) and installed a bench and information board at the store’s front entrance for the Emerald Drive stop. With 400 coworkers hired from the local region, IKEA Tempe is the only U.S. store to feature an outdoor park with public art as benches for all to enjoy, especially families. The bench park is located near the family-friendly parking lot and bike racks in front of the store. Crafted by seasoned artist and Tempe resident Niki Glen, the benches are part of the new store’s participation in Tempe’s “Art in Private Development” program, created to beautify the community with a variety of highquality art projects. IKEA Tempe occupies approximately 23 acres of land purchased and owned by IKEA and is located at 2110 W. IKEA Way (on the northeast corner of the I-10 and Warner Road). Since its 1943 founding in Sweden, IKEA has offered a wide range of home furnishings and accessories of good design and function, at low prices so the majority of people can afford them. For two consecutive years, IKEA has been named in Working Mother magazine’s annual list of the “100 Best Companies for Working Mothers” and was honored with the magazine’s “Family Champion” award for family-friendly programs in 2003. IKEA has more than 200 stores in 32 countries with 22 U.S. stores (including IKEA Tempe which opens on November 10). IKEA is recognized as a socially responsible company, and supports initiatives that benefit causes such as children and the environment. For directions to IKEA Tempe or additional information, please go to http://www.IKEA-usa.com.