IKEA to Nashville

[Buildtall]

On 5/25/2018 at 8:49 PM, KJHburg said:

Furniture Today a trade publication is saying IKEA will scrap a Glendale AZ store a  suburb of  Phoenix in addition to the Cary-Raleigh NC  store.   Nashville is still being evaluated according to this. Charlotte is about 2.5 hours from the Cary site and the Nashville store is about that distance to Memphis correct?   http://www.furnituretoday.com/article/554144-ikea-drops-glendale-az-store-plans-too/

I wouldn’t be surprised if the Tennessean don’t read this on here and assume that this means the store here is canceled. We all know how bad the reporting is from them.

[TNinVB]

http://www.wkrn.com/news/new-questions-about-the-future-of-ikea-in-antioch/1207110216

Then there’s this^^^ The council woman says there has been no official communication with IKEA about the Nashville store.....yet. 

Edited May 30, 2018 by TNinVB

[Binbin98]

There is no way that IKEA will not eventually build a store in Nashville. It is too fast of a growing city for them not to.

However the ikea store may not be built on the spot in Antioch but in another place. If ikea continues to pull back planned or developed locations in the usa and abroad (because Nashville wouldn’t be the only pulled back location by far), it may be a sign ikea is heading towards bankruptcy. No I am not joking about that either, as popular as they are it defientely could happen.

[MLBrumby]

Dead... https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2018/05/29/ikea-store-location-nashville-antioch-near-me/654149002/

[Pdt2f]

41 minutes ago, MLBrumby said:

Dead... https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2018/05/29/ikea-store-location-nashville-antioch-near-me/654149002/

There still is no word from ikea, and the developer doesn’t seem to think it’s dead. This just seems weird to me. 

[Bos2Nash]

If this is coming from a Metro Councilwoman who's district is just north of Antioch. I would think that would be an fairly official source, but i'm curious why the developer and IKEA hasn't said anything yet.

[shanky]

I wonder if the work on I-24 and HH Pkway will go ahead if this is indeed dead.

[rookzie]

Just as MLBrumby and Pdt2f have noted,  it's (all but) official...

It's not even a still-birth, or even an abortion ─ more like a "sterilization".

https://www.tennessean.com/story/money/2018/05/29/developer-denies-reports-ikeas-rethinking-planned-nashville-store/651825002/

Ikea backs out of plans for first Nashville store

However, Latisha Bracy, IKEA spokesperson did annouce as such.
"While this is an extremely difficult decision, we will not be moving forward with our plans to build a store in Nashville, TN.  We thank the city and the developer for their understanding of this recent decision."

Edited May 30, 2018 by rookzie

[Flatrock]

BUMMER !!!!

IKEA didn't even leave room for one of their urban stores in Nashville. They clearly stated no bricks and mortar in our town. Boooooo...

[jmtunafish]

So for the 2nd time in 3 years IKEA has given Nashville the finger.

Edited May 31, 2018 by jmtunafish

[Pdt2f]

I typically don’t trust wildcat tweets by metro council people because most of them seem either like complete idiots or willing to say or do whatever to get their names out there (name recognition for future mayoral runs). I’ll always remember Erica Gilmore coming out against the transit plan after months of supporting it because she claimed she didn’t understand it. Either you’re a dumbass and you shouldn’t be representing anyone in government or you’re a self-promoting liar and shouldn’t be representing anyone in government. 

It seems the ikea news is true though, which is sad. I was really looking forward to going there. 

[markhollin]

Ikea has notified a Nashville real estate developer that it has tabled plans for one of its massive stores as part of the company's 300-acre mixed-use project in Antioch.

But the developers say they're plowing ahead with their plans nonetheless — going so far as to declare their $1.7 billion Century Farms development a "fait accompli."

More behind the NBJ paywall here:

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2018/05/30/developers-ikea-deal-is-dead-but-our-1-7b-project.html

[Skyscrapergeek]

Bring on Crate & Barrel!!

[MagicPotato]

28 minutes ago, markhollin said:

Ikea has notified a Nashville real estate developer that it has tabled plans for one of its massive stores as part of the company's 300-acre mixed-use project in Antioch.

But the developers say they're plowing ahead with their plans nonetheless — going so far as to declare their $1.7 billion Century Farms development a "fait accompli."

More behind the NBJ paywall here:

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2018/05/30/developers-ikea-deal-is-dead-but-our-1-7b-project.html

Not a smart move by Ikea. They could have profited big if they had a mid south store for Kentucky and mid/east TN.  Especially with the redevelopment of Antioch . 

[Jamie Hall]

Very disappointing. The Antioch area is prime for redevelopment, and IKEA should've/would've been a big part of that.

Interesting that the developers of that area still (allegedly) plan to go forward without IKEA. By this point, surely they've been in talks with other retail/restaurants that might have located around that area to feed off the IKEA draw. I'll be curious to see who stays on and who doesn't.

[Pdt2f]

Maybe we can use some child psychology on Ikea and try and get the 2nd most popular international furniture company based in Sweden to take the spot. I’m sure Malmstenbutiken is wanting to expand to southeast Davidson county!

[LA_TN]

4 hours ago, Pdt2f said:

Maybe we can use some child psychology on Ikea and try and get the 2nd most popular international furniture company based in Sweden to take the spot. I’m sure Malmstenbutiken is wanting to expand to southeast Davidson county!

A quick Google of Malmstenbutiken:

Carl Malmsten opened this store in 1940, and today it is run by his grandson, Jerk. The store sells pieces designed by Malmsten and ...

Malmstenbutiken | Travel + Leisure Travel and Leisure › ... › Stockholm

[smeagolsfree]

They seem to be modifying thier business model. I think the days of some of the big box stores are being hurt by the internet.

[TNinVB]

2 hours ago, smeagolsfree said:

They seem to be modifying thier business model. I think the days of some of the big box stores are being hurt by the internet.

And that’s the funny thing about all this. One of the main reasons I’ve never ordered from IKEA is that many of their items weren’t available to order online, or their shipping costs for their larger items were through the roof.  I’m interested to see how this will work for them.  I guess we really lucked out here in Hampton Roads considering there are three IKEA’s within a thee to four hour drive. Still scratching my head on this one.

[Binbin98]

I can seriously see them having a smaller store in a development in downtown Nashville, as they said they would be switching to smaller, urban store models in the future. I worry more about my friends in Raleigh honestly because the whole area is more suburban there, effectively making it harder for ikea to build under their 'new model' or whatever.

This says absolutely NOTHING about Nashville as a city and everything about IKEA as a company. I seriously question the decision to withdraw from all planned locations, as this is the loss of a lot of money from incentives the company would receive if they had just built these locations first and stopped afterwards. If you have stock in IKEA remove it as soon as possible lol. 

Also Nashville joins Raleigh, Cleveland, New Orleans, Milwaukee, Mexico City, Auckland, Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, Rio de Jaineiro, Johannesburg, Lagos, Addis Ababa, Luanda, Accra, Dakar, Mauritius, Lima, Bogota, Santiago de Chile (where half of my family lives), Manila and many other worldwide cities without an IKEA. For the life of me I have never heard anyone tell me they wouldn't move to any of those cities because they don't have an IKEA, that is just ridiculous thinking in my opinion. I would rather have one or more (definitely more in the future) transatlantic flights, a financial company's headquarters, and the state's largest population of people in Nashville than IKEA any day.  

P.S. if you live on this side of the pond you probably already know Carrefour is much better and practical/convenient than IKEA, but that is an aside lol

[MagicPotato]

The thing about modifying their business for online is that it works well with small items, but for furniture/large items not so much. Unless they want to charge 100+ dollars for shipping. 

Edited May 31, 2018 by MagicPotato

[satalac]

Yeah, well I didn't want your meatballs anyways!

 

Ok, that's a lie. Come back...

But seriously, this sucks for Antioch, I was really wanting to see this area transform (NOT gentrify). I do think the area is in an upswing though. Hopefully other businesses will open up where Ikea was supposed to.

[jmtunafish]

39 minutes ago, MagicPotato said:

The thing about modifying their business for online is that it works well with small items, but for furniture/large items not so much. Unless they want to charge 100+ dollars for shipping. 

...which they pretty much already do.   It's one reason I drive all the way to Atlanta instead of ordering online; their shipment rates are outrageous.  I remember one time I drove to Atlanta and bought a bunch of stuff (which I still have, by the way; some of their stuff really does last forever) but forgot some necessary hardware.  Rather than drive all the way back to Atlanta, I just ordered it online.  The cost to ship it was outrageous, but cheaper than driving to Atlanta.  It arrived in a Mayflower moving truck.  No joke.  

While some things can be easily ordered online, others really need to be bought in person.  My parents needed a sofa bed, and IKEA has wonderful sofa beds.  I showed them at the web site what's available.  They zeroed in on one they liked, and off we went to Atlanta to buy it in person.  And it's a good thing we did, because once they actually sat on it, they hated it and ended up buying something completely different. 

I hate that so many retailers are ditching brick-and-mortar stores for online stores.  There will always be people like me who much prefer to hold things, feel things, try things before buying.

And I don't think IKEA ships their meatballs, either.

Edited May 31, 2018 by jmtunafish

[The ATX]

Never mind IKEA, check out California based Living Spaces.  Their warehouse/show rooms are bigger than IKEAs, and they seem to be embracing the big box model by expanding eastward.  I had never heard of them until they opened a store in the Austin burbs last week (not far from an IKEA) that is over 500K sq ft compared to IKEA's 350K sq ft.  I have a lot of IKEA furniture, but I prefer the stuff that Living Spaces offers.

[MagicPotato]

1 minute ago, The ATX said:

Never mind IKEA, check out California based Living Spaces.  Their warehouse/show rooms are bigger than IKEAs, and they seem to be embracing the big box model by expanding eastward.  I had never heard of them until they opened a store in the Austin burbs last week (not far from an IKEA) that is over 500K sq ft compared to IKEA's 350K sq ft.  I have a lot of IKEA furniture, but I prefer the stuff that Living Spaces offers.

That's cool, hopefully we eventually get either one.