Could IKEA be coming?

[m1a1mg]

Originally Posted by JEM91

I think Charleston could sustain a full-sized IKEA store in my opinion.
A lot of people go to Charleston to shop, especially on King Street and areas in North Charleston such as Tanger. We travel to Charlotte at least 2-3 times yearly to IKEA in Charlotte.

I think that’s just wishful thinking. Look at the metros larger than Charleston that don’t have an IKEA. Birmingham doesn’t have one. New Orleans doesn’t. Knoxville. At the same time, Florida has 6.

[Woodlands]

Originally Posted by WASwift

IKEA's parent company purchased land in SC in 2019 for forestry. The land is in Williamsburg, Clarendon, and Georgetown counties.

I don't think any of that land will be repurposed for a retail store.

I don't think Charleston could sustain a full-sized IKEA store. They did mention opening some smaller stores, but the article I read made them sound more like catalog showrooms (i.e. Service Merchandise or Brendle's or Sam Solomon's if you're over 40.)

Thats interesting... everything old is new again. I guess they would have just displays and those "living spaces arrangement" of things and you could order them and just have to sent to your house or to the store for pick up? That would lend itself well for smaller cities/markets like Columbia Greenville and maybe Charleston in terms of the South Carolina market.

What would be interesting is if they would consider repurposing existing warehouses or big box stores for this operation rather than building new buildings. Since its IKEA seems like they could use that to support their sustainability platform not to mention that customers would likely not care where it is located to patronize them.. unlike other types of retail. In the Midlands, a place like Dutch Square could be completely turned around if something like this dropped into one of anchor spaces in terms of the catalog showroom smaller model