Ikea to replace Burbank store with new, larger location

Casual Living Staff -- Casual Living, 11/16/2012 11:16:33 AM

An architectural rendering of Ikea's proposed new Burbank location.CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa. -- Home furnishings retailer Ikea announced it is submitting plans to the City of Burbank, Calif. for a new and larger store to replace its current Burbank location.

The application will mark the beginning of the governmental review process for the proposed relocation. Until the new, roomier store opens on a new site in Fall 2016, customers can continue to shop at the existing Ikea Burbank, the company said.

The current 242,000-sq.-ft. Ikea Burbank, the first Ikea store in California and sixth in the U.S., opened in November 1990 on 6.4 acres along I-5 at San Fernando Boulevard. The proposed 470,000-sq.-ft. new store and its more than 1,700 parking spaces would be built on 22 acres west of San Fernando Boulevard and south of Providencia Avenue, less than one mile from the original store and with improved accessibility.

"Because of this store's success, we are excited about the opportunity to build upon our established presence in Burbank with a new, roomier store so close to the existing one, and in the same city," said Mike Ward, Ikea U.S. president. "This relocation would allow our coworkers to offer customers an updated, spacious and enhanced Ikea shopping experience."

A new, more spacious Ikea Burbank would feature a larger quantity of the Swedish retailer's nearly 10,000 exclusively designed items, 50 room-settings, three model home interiors, a supervised children's play area and a larger restaurant for serving Swedish specialties.