Stupid Evil Bastard: Ikea confirms plans to build store in Canton, Michigan. Really. They mean it this time.

Ikea confirms plans to build store in Canton, Michigan. Really. They mean it this time.

Posted by Les on Tuesday, October 26, 2004 at 09:46 AM. Read 1470 times. Tags: life

Remember back in April when I got all excited because I heard that Ikea was going to open a store right here in Canton where I live only to have my glee dashed upon the rocks by The Minx who pointed out other news items saying that Ikea didn’t have any such plans at all? Well, the Detroit Free Press is once again reporting that Ikea plans to open a store in Canton bringing 300 jobs to the area with it and this time it looks like the news item is legit. By all accounts it’s going to be a big store too.

The Swedish retailer, known for its stores’ bold blue and yellow logo, plans to open its store in Canton by 2006 and bring more than 300 jobs with it. More than 2 million shoppers are expected to visit each year.

The store will encompass 306,000 square feet in two stories, said Ikea spokesman Joseph Roth. That’s about twice the size of a big-box retailer such as Meijer or Wal-Mart. That’s also considerably larger than Cabela’s 225,000-square-foot outdoor products store in Dundee, which draws about 6 million visitors a year.
...
Canton officials say the store’s impact on the local economy is significant. Commercial land values along Ford Road increased at the mere prospect of the store, which has been discussed since early 2003.

The company expects to complete the Canton store by summer 2006. It will be built on 21 acres where an empty Super Kmart now sits on Haggerty Road, near Ford Road and I-275. The store is to feature a 300-seat restaurant, 1,100 parking spaces, and a supervised children’s play area. Ikea plans to buy 10 adjacent acres for open space.

I’ve been to Cabela’s, that’s where the really nice coat my wife bought me last Christmas came from, and that was probably the biggest store I’ve ever been in that wasn’t a Mall. I already love living in Canton because of the wide-range of stores in the Ford Road corridor and this will be an added bonus. I was surprised to learn from this article that Canton is one of the fastest growing communities in western Wayne County. Hopefully I’ll be able to buy a home here before the prices get too far out of reach.

For those wondering why I’m so interested in Ikea, it’s stories like this one from Freep columinist Georgea Kovanis that make me curious.

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Comments:

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GeekMom

Posted on 10/26/2004 at 12:10 PM

This is really too much, Les. First you “PromoteAnimoisty” [sic] and upset the HatefulMorons[tm], and now you’re talking about IKEA!!! This truly is an evil site ...

George

Posted on 10/26/2004 at 12:17 PM

I still laugh when I think of Ikea stores. They are the only furniture stores that I know of that serve up plates of meatballs and gravy. You know, because you need the energy for assemblying your furniture.

Lordklegg

Posted on 10/26/2004 at 01:24 PM

Beware Ikea!!! you don’t suffer from insomnia do you? Seen Fight Club? LOL. Thye have some Cool stuff but the really good stuff, as always, is Pricey.

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Minx

Posted on 10/26/2004 at 02:17 PM

Didn’t mean to dash your hopes pet, I was just bringing my delightful pessimism to bear!

But I’ll happily go there when it opens - just for you.

Brooks

Posted on 10/26/2004 at 07:00 PM

I love our Ikea. (Burbank, CA). The last time I went, I spent an hour and only bought some wooden hangers and a stuffed animal with posable limbs. The wooden hangers are truly one of the best things they have there. I know that sounds silly, but it’s true. 10 very well built wooden hangers for under four bucks!

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Posted on 10/27/2004 at 08:44 AM

Brooks, that’s MY Ikea too! Our last trip there a few weeks ago was a two-hour jaunt that resulted in some roman shades that fit PERFECTLY over the french door windows (for $6.99 apiece, woo hoo!), a remote-holder thingy that hangs over the arm of the couch, a dozen new spoons, a bracket to mount the Princess’ TV on the wall ($24.99, as opposed to the $50 everyone else sells them for), and an Erik Estrada sighting.

Ikea is a friggin’ DREAM for the current or potential Southern California homeowner… buying a home here will leave you just short of impoverished; fortunately there’s Ikea, and furnishing it won’t leave you penniless.

Congratulations Les, and all of Canton! Ikea rocks.

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IRISH

Posted on 01/26/2006 at 12:27 AM

To everyone who shops at IKEA, or especially lives near an IKEA, PLEASE tell me how horrible this ISN’T going to be!! I live in Canton MI. and I love it here.I own a business on Ford road, the “main drag"… if you will… of Canton, where IKEA now sits ( not a very handsome building by the way. Actually it looks like a screaming blue “pole barn") Let’s just say, when I look out the back windows of my home, the sky is ALWAYS BLUE!!! Yes, Canton’s population of people and business is booming.Unfortunately, it feels more like the circus is coming to town. I am 2 blocks behind IKEA, and traffic at it’s best is horrifying. How impossible will navigating this area be once it opens, and how hard will it be to sell my house, once the circus comes to town? I can see business benefiting from their arrival. Maybe mine too, but if I can’t “get” to my business, because of mass chaos in the traffic arena,then who would ever consider buying a house here if you can’t get in, much -less out,of the snake pit.

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