IKEA to build its largest outlet in Canada(70170)

IKEA to go ahead with new store in Canada

Ikea is picking up its hex keys to assemble a long-awaited new Ottawa store that will be the Swedish retailer's largest outlet in Canada.

The two-storey, 398,000-square-foot Ikea will open in late 2011 in the west-end Pinecrest Mall and will be three times the size of the chain's current Ottawa location.

First proposed in 2003, the store is going ahead despite continuing legal action over the presence of dry-cleaning chemicals beneath the building site at the east end of the mall.

"We are cleaning it up," Ikea Canada spokeswoman Madeleine Lowenborg-Frick said Wednesday.

"That's Phase 1 of the project."

Ikea, which owns the mall, will move two furniture and appliance retailers to space that will be vacated by its existing outlet in the west end of the shopping centre.

Despite being left out of an artist's rendering, two free-standing restaurants and a bank near the new store will not be affected, Lowenborg-Frick said.

Construction is set to start in May. Ikea said the store, to be clad in trademark Swedish blue and yellow, will have energy-conserving features including water-conserving plumbing fixtures and skylights to reduce the need for artificial lighting.

Ikea said it also is exploring the use of rooftop solar panels that could feed into the local power grid.

Famous for competitively priced, ready-to-assemble furniture pieces bearing Scandinavian names, Ikea has just 11 outlets in Canada, with a 12th planned for Winnipeg in 2013.

Its 350,000-square-foot store in Vaughan, near Toronto, is its largest existing Canadian outlet, but Lowenborg-Frick said the plus-sized Ottawa store will allow more products to be available immediately.

In a release, Ikea Canada president Kerri Molinaro said the new store "will be a completely different shopping experience to our customers in Ottawa that will offer more inspirational room settings, our full range of IKEA products, a large-scale restaurant and more in-store services."

An expanded children's play area is part of the plan.

The retailer will add 125 staff positions when the store opens. Lowenborg-Frick was unsure of the current Ottawa staffing total but said it is likely slightly below the 350 full- and part-time positions at a typical Canada store.

Ikea, with 267 stores in 25 countries, is privately held and does not disclose sales figures. Its Canadian spokeswoman, however, said the chain has done "extremely well," even during the recession, because of low-cost offerings that helped it win market share from more expensive competitors.

IKEA to build its largest outlet in Canada

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