Ikea to open in Tampa, Fla.

Ikea, the Swedish home furnishings retailer, announced it will open a new store and restaurant destination in Tampa, Fla., on May 6. It will be Ikea’s third location in Florida and its 37th in the United States.

The 353,000-square-foot Ikea Tampa is being built on 29 acres and will feature 1,700 parking spaces. The store will present 10,000 exclusively designed items, 49 room settings, three model home interiors, a supervised children’s play area and a 350-seat restaurant serving Swedish specialties as well as American dishes.

In addition to 500 construction jobs associated with the store’s construction, Ikea Tampa will employ 400 people. Other Florida Ikea stores are in Orlando and Sunrise.

“We are thrilled at the excellent construction progress made in the summer and fall, and believe the remaining construction milestones and interior build-up process will be complete by May -- much earlier than originally envisioned,” said Monica Varela, store manager of the future Ikea Tampa.  “Now our primary goal is hiring and training the 400 local hires who will be joining the Ikea coworker family before we open.”