Jacksonville Prepare To Get Your Swedish Meatball As IKEA Is Coming

Jacksonville Residents Will Soon Get A Taste Of IKEA

IKEA, the Swedish furniture store, has announced contractors for the future Jacksonville store. With this announcement the store opening has been estimated to be in the Fall of 2017.

Swedish meatballs and furniture will now be in closer range for Tallahassee residents as well as the Jacksonville store will be the closest IKEA to that area.

Contractors have been hired for the fifth Florida locations, meaning it is on track for groundbreaking next month.

Marcobay Construction, Inc., which is based in Lakeland, will be the site’s construction manager. There will be more than 500 jobs expected to be created during the construction phase of this super store.

The store is planned to be 290,000-square-foot, located about 10 miles southeast of downtown Jacksonville. It is expected to create 250 jobs and will have nearly 10,000 items available, three model home interiors, a supervised children’s play area and a restaurant that will serve up some of their famous Swedish meatballs.

IKEA Jacksonville
Architectural rendering of Jacksonville IKEA. Photo: IKEA.

“This store will provide a more convenient IKEA shopping experience for current and potential customers throughout North Florida and Southern Georgia, complementing our growing southeastern U.S. presences,” IKEA U.S. President Lars Petersson said in a release.

In addition the store will provide significant annual sales and propertytax revenue for local governments and schools.

The store will be about 180 miles from Tallahassee, about 250 miles away from the Tampa location and about 265 miles from the Orlando location.

Other locations in Florida are in the cities of Sunrise and Sweetwater.

The Swedish company was founded in 1943 in Sweden. There are currently 380 stores in 48 countries, including 42 in the U.S. It has been included in rankings of “Best Companies to Work For” and has raised its own minimum wage twice in two years.