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Ikea opens in a week, but some get a preview

Tribune photo by RICH MULLINS

Reporters get ready to have lunch Swedish-style at Ikea's cafe.

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By RICHARD MULLINS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: April 29, 2009

TAMPA - Attention Ikea shoppers, the countdown has reached the one-week mark.

In a short seven days, the Swedish retailer will open its first Tampa location, a goliath 353,000 square-foot store with more than 10,000 different items of budget-minded, but stylishly designed home goods.

Wedged onto a 29-acre spot along Adamo Drive and 22nd Street, the stark royal blue and canary yellow store officially opens 9 a.m. on Wednesday, May 6.

To rattle to attention anyone who didn't already know, store managers staged a preview day for Tampa Bay area media to show off:

• 49 simulated room settings

• 3 model home interiors

• A supervised children's play area

• A 350-seat restaurant serving Swedish items like meatballs with lingonberries and salmon.

For those unfamiliar with Ikea, picture a modernist store that packs together a Target (minus the clothes), Rooms To Go and Williams Sonoma. Ikea stores simulate whole-room environments with furniture and accessories. Everything from a $3.99 non-stick spatula to $4,000 kitchens, complete with cabinets and islands.

Fans of stores like Bass Pro Shops can envision a similar concept, but with modern furniture instead of rods, reels and boats.

In layout, the store is nearly identical to 290 other Ikea locations, including one in Orlando, though Tampa's store is somewhat bigger. Tampa version is so large that shoppers receive a map to navigate the two-story emporium, pointing to the main pathway, plus several shortcuts.

But beware, if the Tampa location opening is anything like Orlando's in November 2007, expect a frenzy. Shoppers camped out for days in advance of the opening in Orlando.

Reporter Richard Mullins can be reached at (813) 259-7919.

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