IKEA Plans To Open 2nd South Florida Store At Dolphin Mall
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – IKEA lovers of Miami-Dade County could be in for a great surprise.
IKEA, the popular Swedish-based home furnishings store, announced its plans for a Miami-Dade store in the City of Sweetwater, adjacent to the Dophin Mall.
The up-and-coming store would be the second IKEA in South Florida; the first one is in Broward County.
The IKEA Miami will reach up to 417,000-square-feet with about 1,500 spaces for parking. Located west of Miami International Airport, Miami-Dade IKEA customers will no longer have to travel to the IKEA Sunrise store.
Pending approvals, construction of IKEA Miami could begin as early as spring 2013, with an opening as early as fall 2014.
"We are thrilled with the reception afforded IKEA since entering the state nearly five years ago, so we are excited to submit plans for IKEA Miami where we can grow our Florida and southeastern U.S. reach" said Mike Ward, IKEA U.S. president. "This proposed store would complement our South Florida presence established in Sunrise and bring the unique family-friendly shopping experience closer to existing and new Miami-Dade customers"
IKEA Miami will feature nearly 10,000 exclusively designed items, 50 room-settings, three model home interiors, a supervised children's play area and a 500-seat restaurant.
A Children's IKEA will also be included in the Showroom, providing baby care rooms, preferred parking and play areas throughout the store.
Not only will IKEA be valuable for customers, but IKEA Miami expects to create more than 500 jobs during the construction phase and approximately 400 workers will be needed when the new store opens up.
IKEA Miami aims to minimize impacts on the environment by including water-conserving restrooms, eliminating plastic bags from the check-out process and facilitating recycling of customers' compact fluorescent bulbs.
