The company plans to open a new 349,000 square feet store, which will sprawl over 18 acres site at the Johnson Drive exit, located eight miles southwest of Kansas City, Missouri. The store will feature two level parking, consisting of one level underground, which will, in total, offer space for more than 1,200 vehicles. The space will be at-grade accessible.
The new Merriam store will also have 50 inspirational room-settings, three model home interiors, a supervised children’s play area, and a 450-seat restaurant. Additional family-friendly features consist of a ‘Children’s IKEA’ area in the showroom and baby care rooms. The store will have several play areas, spread throughout the store. It will showcase about 10,000 exclusively designed items.
The plans for the new store will reflect the unique architectural design philosophy of IKEA. The new Merriam store will also incorporate various green elements, which will consist of an on-site renewable power generation system.
Specific US sustainable efforts include: recycling waste material; incorporating environmental measures into the actual buildings with energy-efficient HVAC and lighting systems, recycled construction materials, skylights in warehouse areas, and water-conserving restrooms; and operationally, eliminating plastic bags from the check-out process, phasing-out the sale of incandescent light bulbs and facilitating recycling of customers’ compact fluorescent bulbs. IKEA also is in the process of rolling out solar energy installations atop nearly 89% of its US locations, and has installed electric vehicle charging stations at nine stores in the West.
The store will open in fall 2014.
