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Ikea Offers A Sneak Peek

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By RICHARD MULLINS

rmullins@tampatrib.com

Published: March 18, 2009

TAMPA - If you've ever spent a frustrated afternoon assembling a bed or desk from Ikea, have sympathy for Monica Varela.

She's putting together an entire Ikea store, complete with thousands of pieces of furniture, shelves, lamps, kitchens, two cafes and a 350-seat restaurant.

"Luckily, I get a lot of help from our colleagues," said Varela, manager of the Ikea store set to open May 6. "The opening really should be something else. We have very excited shoppers."

From the road, the Ikea building on Adamo Drive in Ybor City may look complete, freshly painted iconic blue and canary yellow. Inside, however, there's an epic amount of work before the grand opening.

A small army of workers must complete an entire warehouse, 49 room settings and an indoor playground for parents to drop off kids while shopping. In all, there's probably 9,000 display items to assemble in the 353,000 square feet of indoor space - a place large enough to hold four average Wal-Mart stores.

This includes model environments tailored to a specific demographic type, for instance: a tiny apartment for a single, 23-year-old woman starting her first white-collar professional job in a major city.

For those not familiar with the brand, prepare to witness the power of Ikea nation, a global collective of fiercely loyal aficionados of all things related to the Swedish home goods retailer.

Before a new Ikea location opens, it's typical for store fans to pitch tents on the sidewalk days in advance, and new stores tend to be swamped with shoppers for months after opening. Officials remain mum about gifts they plan to offer campers in Tampa, though they note Orlando shoppers got free chairs, snacks and mystery envelopes with gift cards worth hundreds of dollars.

More than 400 people could work at the Tampa Ikea. And for anyone looking to take the Ikea lifestyle a step further, the store is still hiring.

There's a catch: New employees must help build out their departments, so they'll need to grab a wrench and follow the directions.

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

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