CANTON, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--IKEA, the world’s leading home furnishings retailer, today announced that the significant milestone of inside work beginning now has been achieved in constructing the 44,000-square-foot expansion of its Detroit-area store in Canton, MI. This accomplishment ensures that the future additional space can be merged seamlessly with the existing building on schedule for completion by this Summer, 2015. IKEA Canton, which opened in June 2006 as 311,000 SF, will grow to the expanded size of 355,000 SF while remaining open and operational, and maintaining its full product offering throughout the construction process that began last Fall 2014.
“It was exciting to see the steel frame and blue panels appear as this IKEA store expansion took shape,” said Matt Hunsicker, store manager. “Similarly, it is great now to see milestones inside the new space too – as fixtures and racking are installed. This progress keeps us on track for our larger and enhanced shopping experience to be completed by Summer, so we can better meet the home furnishings needs of customers throughout the Detroit-area, Southeastern Michigan and beyond.”
In total, the project includes expanding the Self-Serve Furniture Area (where shoppers collect flat-packed furniture to take home on the same day), rearranging customer service functions to the newly built part of the store and enlarging the home delivery area. This extension will blend into the existing structure so the store can maintain the unique architectural design for which IKEA stores are known worldwide.
Also, IKEA intends to increase the size of the solar array that was installed atop the building nearly three years ago. The 40,000-square-foot solar addition will consist of a 240.9-kW system built with 765 panels, and will produce 287,490 kWh more of electricity annually for the store. Including the existing system, IKEA Canton’s total 1,218.5-kW solar installation of 4,925 panels will generate 1,426,490 kWh of clean electricity yearly, the equivalent of reducing 984 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2), eliminating the emissions of 207 cars or powering 135 homes (calculating clean energy equivalents at www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-resources/calculator.html).
Located on approximately 30 acres along Ford Road off I-275 at Haggerty Road, the 311,000-square-foot IKEA Canton opened in June 2006 and employs approximately 300 coworkers. In addition to 10,000 exclusively designed items, the store presents 52 different room-settings, three model home interiors, a supervised children’s play area, and a 350-seat restaurant serving Swedish specialties such as meatballs with lingonberries and salmon plates, as well as American dishes. Other family-friendly features include a Children’s IKEA area in the Showroom, baby care rooms, play areas throughout the store, and preferred parking. Also, IKEA installed Michigan’s largest solar array atop the roof of the store in 2012.
Since its 1943 founding in Sweden, IKEA has offered home furnishings of good design and function, at low prices so the majority of people can afford them. There currently are more than 360 IKEA stores in 47 countries, including 40 in the U.S. IKEA incorporates sustainability into day-to-day business and supports initiatives that benefit children and the environment. For more information see IKEA-USA.com, @IKEAUSA, @IKEAUSANews, or IKEAUSA on Facebook, Youtube, Instagram and Pinterest.
