The home furnishings company, which has 38 stores in the U.S., is announcing at a press conference this morning that it is putting a store in Merriam, Kan. The store is expected to open in fall 2014.
So what does that mean for the prospects of a much desired store in St. Louis?
Joseph Roth, an Ikea spokesman, said the Kansas City store does not diminish St. Louis' chances.
"They are completely separate trade areas in our mind," he said. "We still recognize the customer base that exists for us in St. Louis. We just have not committed to a time frame yet or found the perfect site."
But he said they did find that perfect site in Kansas City.
"It was a combination of the right factors -- we needed to open another store in the Midwest as soon as possible, we need to expand the distribution network and we found a wonderful site here," he said by phone from Kansas City. "It seemed a natural progression for us."
He added that the company opened a store in the Denver area about a year and a half ago, so this will expand that distribution network, which is serviced from facilities on the West Coast.
Ikea is not opening any stores in the U.S. this year or next. But it has announced plans for two so far in 2014: the Kansas City one and one in the Miami region.
A media advisory about the Kansas City store notes that that will be the chain's first store in Kansas and that the closest ones to that area are Frisco, Texas; Centennial, Colo.; Bloomington, Minn.; and two Chicago area stores.
The closest Ikea stores to St. Louis have up until now been the two in Chicago. But I guess the bright side is that now we'll have another option in Kansas City. But still, I don't think that's going to much consolation to the Ikea fanatics in town.
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Trader
