BURLINGTON, ON, Sept. 8, 2016 /CNW/ – IKEA Canada is thrilled to make the next stop on its coast-to-coast expansion journey, with the announcement of a full-size store for Quebec City.

Scheduled to open in summer 2018, the IKEA Quebec City store will be the 14th IKEA store in Canada. It will be located at the intersection of rue Mendel and avenue Blaise-Pascal in the Sainte-Foy borough, just south of the intersection of Highway 40 and Highway 540. The store will take roughly 14-16 months to build once the ground has been broken in spring 2017 and will be approximately 340,000 square feet (31,500 metres squared) in size. The store will include a restaurant, Market Hall, Showroom and SMALAND playroom and offer customers a complete range of convenient services including home delivery, assembly, planning and exchanges.

“It was clear from the first day we opened the Pick-up and order point that Quebec City residents are passionate supporters of the IKEA brand,” said IKEA Canada Acting President David McCabe. “We look forward to welcoming many more customers to the new IKEA store when it opens in summer 2018.”

With the opening of the new store, IKEA Canada will contribute approximately 400 direct and indirect jobs in the local community. Each IKEA store typically employs approximately 300 co-workers and the retailer will be looking to hire people who are curious about life at home and have a passion for home furnishings and customer service.

“Thousands of families were dreaming and waiting for this moment. Today, we are all proud to welcome the company to our city, with a full size store. This announcement confirms again the strength of Quebec City’s retail market and our vigorous economy, which has an unemployment rate near 4% — still the lowest in the country,” said Régis Labeaume, Mayor of Quebec City. “Québec is in competition with the world and again today, a major international company chooses to do business here, in Québec, l’accent d’Amérique.”

The IKEA Quebec City store will be LEED certified when it opens. With a particular focus on energy and waste avoidance, there will be waste management equipment installed to maximize material recycling and diversion from landfill. Additionally, IKEA is pleased to share that every single light source throughout the store will use LED lighting. While the store will operate in a sustainable manner, it will also provide inspiration and solutions that will enable customers to live a more sustainable life at home. For example, visitors will find solutions that will help them reduce and sort waste, save water and energy and encourage healthier living.

IKEA aims to be the leader in life at home and offer its customers inspiring home furnishing solutions. Each new store is designed in a way that will present local home solutions that customers can relate to, are inspirational and are possible to implement in an affordable way. In order to best represent Quebec City customers in the new store, home visits will be conducted during the planning and design process. Home visits allow IKEA to interview people in their homes to get a deep understanding of their needs, dreams and frustrations in and around the home. It is IKEA’s intention with this research not to mirror what people have in their homes today, but to help people live a better everyday life at home and give them new ideas to solve their needs.

In November 2015, IKEA Canada announced a coast-to-coast expansion plan to double its store count from 12 to 24 stores in the next 10 years. The Quebec City store is the second stop on this journey. The retailer announced a new store for Halifax earlier this year.

ABOUT IKEA CANADA:
IKEA is a leading home furnishing retailer with 375 stores in more than 50 countries worldwide, which are visited by 884 million people every year. IKEA Canada has 12 stores, an eCommerce virtual store, 6 Pick-up and order points in Quebec City and southern Ontarioand two Collection Points in Halifax and Saskatoon. The company also recently announced plans to open stores in Halifax andQuebec City. Last year, IKEA Canada welcomed 25 million visitors to its stores and 75 million visitors to the IKEA.ca website. Founded in 1943, IKEA’s business philosophy is to offer a wide range of products of good design and function at prices so low, the majority of people can afford them. For more information on IKEA, please visit: www.IKEA.ca.

SOURCE IKEA Canada

For further information: IKEA CANADA, Stephanie Kerr, Corporate Press Officer, 905-637-9440 ext. 6378, stephanie.kerr@IKEA.com

RELATED LINKS
http://www.ikea.ca