Day 5: 12 Days of the Market Report: Kansas City Wins IKEA

In September, IKEA announced that they had chosen Kansas City over St. Louis for the location of a new store, due to open in 2014. Merriam Town Center sold to IKEA for a 349,000 square foot store on the site of Meriam Village, a $73.5 million vacant shopping center. They will demolish the center developed in 2008 aimed at housing Circuit City prior to their demise.


The center never secured additional tenants and sat vacant until IKEA made the purchase. On pad sites, a new Jack-in-the-Box and Quik Trip, opened this year.

According to this article from the Kansas City Business Journal, "IKEA already knew it had a solid customer base in the Kansas City market, with 60,000 shoppers from the metro area, according to its purchase history. At a news conference, Merriam Mayor Ken Sissom predicted that the store would become the area’s largest-grossing retailer. "

This was not only a moment of pride for the city of Merriam, but also for Kansas City as a whole. The choice of the leading home furnishing retailer to make home in Kansas City proves the positive direction the city is heading. IKEA's move to KC will hopefully attract future large development projects to the greater Kansas City area. With Kansas City now home to 75 of the top 100 hottest retailers, who’s next to announce plans to come to Kansas City? Container Store? Plow & Hearth? Five Below? We lie in wait.

Get the full insight into the retail market with the 2013 Block Real Estate Market Report.