Any chance of getting an Ikea in Cleveland? (Columbus, Cincinnati: apartments, hotels)

[Cleverfield]

Have there ever been any talks of putting one here? That's one thing our area needs, and our population could definitely support one.

[bjimmy24]

Unfortunately, I doubt there is much chance of it, since there is already one in Pittsburgh and one near Detroit. I kinda wonder why they didn't put one in Columbus instead of Cincinnati, personally. You'd draw from the entire state in addition to all those OSU kids that would go there to furnish their dorms and apartments!

[Onelunafae]

It took decades to get a Walmart in Cleveland. I would like to see an Ikea but I doubt it.

[adventurer_01]

I'm from MN (might be moving to Cleveland area for work) and I love going to Ikea. Hope one comes to Cleveland soon!

[Cleveland_Collector]

Originally Posted by Onelunafae

It took decades to get a Walmart in Cleveland.

You say that like it's a bad thing.

I would like to see an Ikea but I doubt it.

Meh. Ikea is overrated. Besides, you can order the same Chinese-made, self-assembled crap online.

[Marty711]

^ In defense of Ikea much of their furniture is European made, not Chinese. Their housewares are another story.

Ikea looked at building a store where Harvard Park sits today. The deal fell through when Politicians including Marcia Fudge rammed through a proposal to limit retail there. Seems silly today, since it's loaded with big box and chain restaurants.

[Cleveland_Collector]

Some of their furniture is European made. Most of it is made in China.

I'm not so sure that second statement is entirely accurate either. What I understand is that they didn't want to allow stores with larger than a 50,000 sq. ft. footprint. "Limiting" retail had nothing to do with it. There is plenty of retail in the immediate area. Besides, there are several other prime locations in the area to build one if they really wanted to put one here.

[Cleverfield]

Originally Posted by Cleveland_Collector

Some of their furniture is European made. Most of it is made in China.

I'm not so sure that second statement is entirely accurate either. What I understand is that they didn't want to allow stores with larger than a 50,000 sq. ft. footprint. "Limiting" retail had nothing to do with it. There is plenty of retail in the immediate area. Besides, there are several other prime locations in the area to build one if they really wanted to put one here.

Still seems silly. When you have a city that's struggling economically, why say no when someone actually wants to develop here? Our politicians making bad decisions like these are a big reason that Cleveland is struggling, while places like Minneapolis, which say yes to this kind of development are succeeding.

[Marty711]

Originally Posted by Cleveland_Collector

Some of their furniture is European made. Most of it is made in China.

I'm not so sure that second statement is entirely accurate either. What I understand is that they didn't want to allow stores with larger than a 50,000 sq. ft. footprint. "Limiting" retail had nothing to do with it. There is plenty of retail in the immediate area. Besides, there are several other prime locations in the area to build one if they really wanted to put one here.

Define definition of most. Lol. I disagree with that. All of my Ikea furniture is Euro made. So I'm speaking from my own experience with it. I go out of my way to avoid Chinese products which obviously isn't easy.

The limiting was the size of the building. They were worried that big box stores would hurt smaller stores. The problem is 50,000 is big box and three of the stores moved from other cities to move there. It was a wasted opportunity. Ikea is very picky about locating stores when it comes to demos and sites. They need to be viewable from a highway and be blue. That doesn't work in every municipality. A blue box isn't very attractive.

[Cleveland_Collector]

Most = more than 50%. The last report I read stated that 72% of the product Ikea sells is Chinese made.

None of the stores in the complex are "big box" in size. I'll bet the biggest store footprint in the entire complex is around 30,000 ft^2. They were "worried" about being pigeonholed by a behemoth like Ikea. They have the new Eaton complex, Tri-C, hotels, restaurants, and "useful" stores that fit the overall complexion of the surrounding area. An Ikea would be totally out of place there. The average store is 30,000 m^2 (295,788 ft^sq).

Even if they have to be visible from the freeway and the colors of the Swedish flag, you mean to tell me that there is no other area they can build? I'll bet Garfield Heights would give them the land along I-480 which is one of the most heavily traveled and centrally located stretches of freeway in the county. It's every bit of as good of a location for something that huge as anywhere else in the county.

The problem is, Ikea doesn't have a whole lot of interest in the area as, other than Home Depot and Lowes, we as a consumer group tend to shun that sort of "cheap" shopping in favor of smaller establishments or those who at least generally provide good quality (like Costco). It has nothing to do with the color of the building or the lack of site availability. Most Ikeas are well on the outskirts of the cities they service.