IKEA, the world’s largest home furnishings retailer, is bringing its unique shopping experience, complete with showroom floor, restaurant and children’s play area, to the Memphis and Shelby County community.
During its January meeting, the EDGE board approved an 11-year PILOT that will enable IKEA to invest $64 million and create 175 full-time jobs with an average annual salary of more than $40,000.
The PILOT is projected to create $15 million in new local tax revenue for Memphis and Shelby County with a benefit to cost ratio of $1.64 of new tax revenue for every $1.00 of taxes abated.
IKEA will purchase 34 acres of unimproved land off Interstate 40 near Germantown Parkway with an expected opening in the fall of 2016.
During the EDGE board meeting, IKEA officials expressed excitement about the possibility of opening its first store in the region.
“IKEA is looking forward to breaking ground and becoming a part of the Memphis and Shelby County community,” said Joseph Roth, IKEA US Expansion and Public Affairs Manager. “As the first IKEA store in the area, we are excited about building a lasting partnership.”
The Memphis store will be the first IKEA location in the Mid-south and first in the six states of Tennessee, Mississippi, Kentucky, Arkansas, Louisiana and Alabama.
IKEA representatives anticipate that of the 1.5 million annual store visitors and $55 million in annual sales, 1/3 will come from customers outside the Memphis MSA.
IKEA is a privately-held Swedish home furnishings company founded in 1943 with more than 360 stores in 46 countries. In 2013, IKEA had over 716 million store visitors, catalog distribution to more than 212 million people worldwide in 29 languages, and 1.5 billion online visitors. With US headquarters in Conshohocken, PA, it operates 40 stores in the US with $4.37 billion in sales
