Ikea sets bigger Washington unit
By Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, November 12, 2001
Woodbridge, Va. — Ikea will open a 300,000-square-foot store in this Washington suburb, replacing a 15-year-old unit with a blend of new looks, new product and inventive marketing.
The Potomac Mills Mall store, nearly twice the size of the older store, will feature over 10,000 furnishing and accessory items — 3,000 more than the old store — including 41 rooms displays for dining room, bedroom, living room, youth bedroom, home office and other merchandise.
As with other new Ikeas, three full-scale model homes were built into the showroom to help illustrate the use of Ikea product for various lifestyles. The model homes are set up for a single parent with two daughters, a bachelor, and a growing family.
"We're opening a store that shows the (Washington-area) customers a totally different Ikea, said Pernille Spiers-Lopez, the new president of Ikea North America.
Among the improvements is a 1,000-space parking area — the company's first in the Northeast with parking both above and below ground — wider shopping aisles and an updated children's play area called Smaland, resembling a Swedish farmhouse.
The store is managed by Tomas Franzen.
To help celebrate the grand opening, Ikea is holding a "Stand Tall" event, encouraging consumers to have their height measured and matched in dollars to benefit the Families for Freedom Scholarship Fund. For every foot measured, Ikea will donate a quarter to the fund, which provides college scholarships to children and spouses of the victims of the recent terrorist attacks.
The retailer also is inviting people to stop by the store the night before the Nov. 28 opening to create special "Big Hats" to help add inches. Ikea estimated that more than $20,000 will be raised for the fund.
| An in-store model home at the new Ikea is this bachelor pad, which plays up storage for a fictional male who works in computers and is also a part-time disc jockey. It features the Kampe storage unit. |
| Ikea shows consumers how to prepare for family get-togethers at one of eight "activity podiums" in the new Woodbridge, Va., store. The displays' themes change periodically. Among the products featured is the retailer's Karlanda loveseat. |
| This great room is part of another model home in the store, reflecting the lifestyle of a young married couple with two children. It features Ikea's Adel kitchen cabinets, Poang leather chair and Karlanda sofa. |
