Ikea announces plans for store in north Fort Worth

Ikea is coming to the Alliance corridor in north Fort Worth.

The popular Swedish home furnishings retailer announced plans Wednesday for a 289,000-square-foot store with 900 parking spaces at the southwest corner of Interstate 35W and North Tarrant Parkway. It has had a store in Frisco since 2005 and will open a second North Texas location in Grand Prairie later this year.

“We are thrilled with our success in North Texas since opening our first store 11 years ago, so we are excited to propose a Fort Worth store to grow our Dallas-area reach,” said Lars Petersson, Ikea U.S. president, in a press release. “This proposed Fort Worth store would complement our Dallas-area presence in Frisco and soon in Grand Prairie by bringing the unique family-friendly shopping experience even closer to customers in the western part of the Metroplex.”

The company said it submitted a proposal to the city of Fort Worth. Pending necessary approvals and agreements, construction would begin in spring 2018, with an anticipated opening in summer 2019.

Ikea is asking the city for economic incentives for the project.

“They have reached out to our office for an incentive request but it’s still very fluid,” said Robert Sturns, the city’s economic development director. “There are a number of development and permitting issues that need to be resolved before we get anything finalized.”

In Grand Prairie, the city agreed to rebate half of the retailer’s sales taxes, up to $6 million, if the store generates at least $500,000 in tax revenues per quarter, according to Marty Wieder, the city’s economic development director.

The 293,000-square-foot store, being built at the northeast corner of Interstate 20 and Texas 161, also known as the Bush Tollway, is expected to open in November.

The Fort Worth Ikea would join a wave of retail development along I-35W. It will be located just south of the Presidio Junction development on the west side of the interstate. Across the highway is the sprawling Alliance Town Center development.

Ikea said the new store would boast nearly 10,000 exclusively designed items, 50 room settings, three model home interiors, a supervised children’s play area and a 325-seat restaurant serving Swedish specialties such as meatballs with lingonberries. Other features will include baby care rooms and preferred parking. The store is expected to employ more than 250 workers.

Ikea has more than 390 stores in 48 countries, including 43 in the U.S. Other Texas locations are in Houston and Round Rock, with a San Antonio store planned for summer 2019.

This story was originally published February 9, 2017 at 7:24 AM with the headline "Ikea announces plans for store in north Fort Worth."