Ikea planning its biggest store in Canada
BY VITO PILIECI, THE OTTAWA CITIZENJANUARY 22, 2009 10:24 PM
Ikea planning its biggest store in Canada-Artists's rendition.
Photograph by: Ikea, The Ottawa Citizen
OTTAWA -- Ikea has filed revised plans with the City of Ottawa that, if approved, would make the Pinecrest store the largest in Canada and one of the five largest Ikea stores in North America.
The giant Swedish furniture retailer has been trying to expand its Pinecrest mall location for more than five years. The current store is one of the smallest in the country and, as anyone who has been there on a busy weekend can attest, is not large enough to handle the number of people who regularly come through the front doors.
“We have recognized the need for a larger Ikea store in this market for some time,” said Madeleine Löwenborg-Frick, a spokeswoman for Ikea Canada. Ikea filed its plans with the city on Monday.
The revised plans call for a redesign of the shopping centre at Pinecrest and will quadruple the size of the current store, which is about 9,300 square metres (100,000 square feet).
Ikea owns the entire mall, which it bought from Zellers for $16 million in 1993, and leases space to a Sears Home Store, Michaels Crafts, Corbeil Appliances and a Linen Chest.
Ikea plans to blow up the current layout of the shopping centre. Sears will move to the west end of the plaza, more than doubling its showroom space. Corbeil, Linen Chest and Michaels will be lined up side by side in what is now the middle of the plaza. These three stores will retain relatively the same sized floor plans.
Ikea plans to demolish the east end of the mall and build a 37,000-square-metre, two-storey monster store that would span from Iris Street almost to the Queensway. The new store, which would be roughly equivalent to eight NFL-sized football fields, would back onto Baxter Road.
The company hopes to begin construction as early as the fall.
Neither Sears, Michaels nor Corbeil would return repeated calls about the renovation plans Thursday. There was also no word from Ikea about how long construction would take or how much the new development will cost.
“We are not able to discuss the details of this relocation until we have received the necessary approvals,” said Ms. Löwenborg-Frick. “Planning is still in the preliminary stages and it is premature for Ikea to comment further.”
City councillor Rick Chiarelli, who represents the ward where Ikea is located, is enthusiastic about the plans for expansion.
“There will be people lining up overnight for the grand re-opening,” Mr. Chiarelli said. “This is really exciting.”
Previous attempts to expand were thwarted by concerns that increased traffic levels would overwhelm the Greenbank/Pinecrest Road off-ramp.
However, Mr. Chiarelli said this time, Ikea began its design process by consulting with the public and several issues have already been addressed.
The back and sides of the building will be painted in more subdued colours than Ikea’s trademark blue and yellow. The store will be capped at two stories, and roadways off Greenbank Road into the mall will be re-worked to better handle traffic.
Barry Nabatian, general manager of Ottawa’s Market Research Corporation, believes the new building will cost about $30 million. He said the new store will do well, as it is the only Ikea in Ottawa or Gatineau.
“The market is very strong for their product and they have been doing well,” he said. “Ikea is unique, it has a strong customer base and its prices are generally good. I think they will benefit.”
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