IKEA St. Louis to Offer Swedish Food, Fun & Furnishings When Store Opens September 30 in City’s Midtown Cortex District

ST. LOUIS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–IKEA, the world’s leading home furnishings retailer, today announced
that when its St. Louis store opens on September 30, it will recognize
loyal, enthusiastic customers by giving away thousands of dollars in
gift cards and merchandise – including an iconic EKTORP sofa for
each of the first 41 adults in line, and a POANG armchair for the
next 100 visitors. Other highlights include a free
mattress for the first 41 on Thursday, October 1 and free monthly
meatball meals for the year to the first 41 on Friday, October 2.
(Customers may begin lining up at 9 a.m. CDT on Monday, September 28 –
48 hours before the store’s opening at 9 a.m. CDT on Wednesday,
September 30.) Also, St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, and Deputy Chief of
Mission for the Swedish Embassy Göran Lithell will join store manager
John Achillea in the official opening of the new store.

IKEA St. Louis is the Swedish company’s 1^st store and
restaurant destination in Missouri, 41^st in the United
States, and 377^th worldwide. (A Kansas City-area store opened
in Merriam, Kansas last Fall, 2014.) The 380,000 square-foot IKEA St.
Louis was built on 21 acres along Interstate-64 at Vandeventer Avenue,
in Midtown’s Cortex Innovation Community. The store employs more than
300 coworkers and features 10,000 exclusively-designed items, a 450-seat
IKEA Restaurant, 46 inspirational room settings, three model home
interiors, a supervised children’s play area and approximately 1,300
parking spaces. Reflecting the company’s renewable energy presence at
90% of its U.S. locations, IKEA installed the state’s largest rooftop
solar array atop IKEA St. Louis.

The September 30 ceremony also will include City of St. Louis Ward 17
Alderman Joe Roddy raising the U.S. flag, Honorary Swedish Consul for
St. Louis Liselotte Fox raising the Swedish flag and State Senator
Jamilah Nasheed raising the state flag of Missouri. Individual store
coworkers will sing the respective American and Swedish national
anthems, and “America the Beautiful,” and a sign language interpreter
will accompany opening remarks. Entertainment for customers waiting in
line will begin at 6 a.m. CDT on opening day. “Just as our store will
bring the unique IKEA family-friendly shopping experience to St. Louis
and beyond, we want waiting in line to visit our store to be an exciting
and memorable event too,” said John Achillea, IKEA St. Louis store
manager. Store visitors will have opportunities to enjoy benefits from
the grand opening of IKEA St. Louis, including:

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

• Rest Assured – The first 41 adults (18 & older) in IKEA St.
  Louis on September 30, 2015 will receive a free EKTORP three-seat
  sofa, honoring our 41^st U.S. store.
• Take a Seat (And We Mean Take It!) – The next 100 adults (18 &
  older) in IKEA St. Louis on September 30, 2015 will receive a free
  POÄNG armchair.
• For the (Truly) Young at Heart – The first 100 children (17 &
  younger) in IKEA St. Louis on September 30, 2015 are receiving a free
  FAMNIG heart-shaped soft toy.
• Pick a Card, Any Card – The first 2,500 adults (18 & older) in
  IKEA St. Louis on September 30, 2015 will receive a random prize
  envelope with IKEA Gift Cards ranging from $10 to $250, or a “Buy One,
  Get One Free” cinnamon bun, hotdog or frozen yogurt voucher.
• Happy Birthday to You and Us – Visitors bringing proof to IKEA
  St. Louis on September 30, 2015 that their birthday is the same as the
  store’s can receive a gift card in the amount of $41, a tie-in
  corresponding to IKEA St. Louis as the 41^st IKEA store in
  the U.S.
• Enter our Home, Enter to Win – From September 30 through
  October 4, 2015, visitors to IKEA St. Louis may enter a drawing to win
  one of ten $1,000 IKEA Gift Cards through the IKEA FAMILY loyalty
  program. IKEA is matching the prizes (a total of $10,000) with a
  donation to HealthWorks St. Louis, a nearby interactive health
  education museum for kids opening in 2016.

Thursday, October 1, 2015

• Sleep Like Royalty – The first 41 adults (18 & older) in IKEA
  St. Louis on Thursday, October 1, 2015 will receive a free queen-sized
  SULTAN HALLEN mattress.
• Take it Easy – The next 100 adults (18 & older) in IKEA St.
  Louis on Thursday, October 1, 2015 will receive a gift card for the
  equivalent of free Zone 1 home delivery for purchases on that day.
• Kids Choice – Children 12 & under eat for free at IKEA St.
  Louis on Thursday, October 1, 2015.

Friday, October 2, 2015

• Meatballs for a Year – The first 41 adults (one per immediate
  family) in IKEA St. Louis on Friday, October 2, 2015 will receive a
  voucher a monthly meatball meal for a family of four at IKEA St.
  Louis’ Restaurant through next year, expiring on September 30, 2016.
• Swedish Food Shopping Spree – The next 41 adults (18 & older)
  in IKEA St. Louis on Friday, October 2, 2015 will receive an IKEA Food
  tote bag and a voucher to fill the bag with whatever they want from
  IKEA St. Louis’ Swedish Food Market.
• A Cold Sweet-ish Treat – The first 100 children (17 & under) in
  IKEA St. Louis on Friday, October 2, 2015 will receive a voucher for a
  soft-serve frozen yogurt available that day at IKEA St. Louis’ Exit
  Bistro.

Wednesday, September 30 – Sunday, October 4,
2015

• Play Big If You’re Little – Balloon artists, entertainment and
  face-painting will enhance the family-friendly fun at IKEA St. Louis
  from September 30 through October 4, 2015.

ADDITIONAL OFFERS AT IKEA ST. LOUIS

IKEA St. Louis is a fun day out for the family with:

• Småland, a supervised children’s play area (for children 37”-54” in
  height) that replicates the look of a typical Swedish farmhouse and
  forest;
• Additional play areas throughout the store, offering activities for
  kids shopping with parents;
• A “Children’s IKEA” area in the Showroom that also offers fun,
  interactive play; and
• Attention-to-detail amenities such as family-friendly parking,
  strollers and baby care rooms.

No shopping on an empty stomach at IKEA St. Louis because:

• The IKEA Restaurant opens 30 minutes earlier than the store for a full
  hot breakfast, including scrambled eggs, potatoes and turkey sausage
  for only 99¢.
• The 450-seat restaurant also offers a diverse menu featuring lunch,
  dinner, snacks and dessert, including Swedish specialties such as the
  popular IKEA Swedish meatballs (as well as chicken or veggie
  versions), seafood plates, pasta, chicken, salads, sandwiches, and
  vegetarian dishes too.
• Menu choices for kids include a child’s portion of Swedish meatballs
  or macaroni and cheese, while baby food and bibs are available for
  even younger visitors.
• The Bistro near the store’s exit serves hot dogs, cinnamon buns,
  frozen yogurt and beverages.
• The Swedish Foodmarket offers Swedish delicacies, snacks and treats,
  and even frozen Swedish meatballs (the same ones used in the
  Restaurant) to purchase and then prepare at home.

IKEA St. Louis shopping conveniences include:

• Free design appointments with a furnishings consultant;
• IKEA catalogs, measuring tape, pencils, store maps, yellow shopping
  bags and 3 types of carts;
• Same-day shopping satisfaction with products in easy-to-transport
  flat-pack boxes that benefit the customer and the environment;
• 26 checkout lanes to ensure efficient customer purchasing;
• Warehouse picking, home-delivery, assembly, and kitchen planning and
  installation services; and
• 2016 IKEA Catalogs, focused on how food-related activities help bring
  people together through everyday life in and around the kitchen.

When IKEA St. Louis opens, there will be 377 IKEA stores in 48
countries, including 41 in the U.S. Since its 1943 founding in Sweden,
IKEA has offered home furnishings of good design and function, at low
prices so the majority of people can afford them. IKEA has been included
in rankings of “Best Companies to Work For” and, as further investment
in its coworkers, has raised its own minimum wage twice in two years.
IKEA incorporates sustainability into day-to-day business and supports
initiatives that benefit children and the environment. For more
information see IKEA-USA.com,
@IKEAUSA,
@IKEAUSANews,
or IKEAUSA on Facebook,
YouTube,
Instagram
and Pinterest.

Contacts

IKEA
Joseph Roth, Expansion Public Affairs
(610) 834-0180,
x6500
or
Kate Mitchell, Burson-Marsteller
(312) 596-3526
cell:
(646) 204-7521