St. Louis’ IKEA Will Be Just Like Kansas City’s IKEA
My husband and I recently visited the newly opened IKEA in the Kansas City area.
I’d researched the location prior to our trip, more on that later. As we entered the top level it hit me — it’s just like the 2nd Chicago-area IKEA (Bolingbrook, IL). I emailed IKEA spokesman Joseph Roth while we were shopping:
Steve Patterson: “It looked like it was the Bolingbrook location over parking. I’m guessing the St. Louis location now under construction will be similar?”
Joseph Roth: “Correct. Essentially, there is mostly just one version of the store; but where the size of the site is smaller, we elevate the store above parking — as we did in Merriam, KS and are doing in St. Louis.”
Thus, by visiting the IKEA in Merriam KS we got a preview of the St. Louis location that will open in the Fall of 2015. Before we look at the store let’s look at the site — similarities and differences with the St. Louis site.
The demolition of a vacant shopping center that will become the future home of the area’s first Ikea store is set for Wednesday in Merriam.
The 60,000-square-foot building, which was initially planned for a Circuit City electronics store, will be razed and replaced by an Ikea home furnishing store that will be about six times as large. (Kansas City Star)
Razing an old shopping center for a new retail project isn’t a big deal, but a new, never occupied, shopping center was leveled!
In 2004, the city approved a plan by DDR Corp. (then called Developers Diversified Realty) to erect a fancy new “urban village.” Up went the strip mall. Then down went the U.S. economy. At the time of its completion, Merriam Village had signed only one tenant: Circuit City. But the electronics retailer collapsed into bankruptcy before it could occupy its brand-new store, leaving only “CIRCUIT CI” on the mall’s otherwise blank marquee, a ghost visible to highway drivers long after the deal fell apart. (Pitch)
You can see photos of the strip shopping center here.
You can’t get much more suburban than this site! Still, the area is served by public transit. The area has good sidewalks and the Merriam Village shopping center did a good job of connecting to the public sidewalk out front. Employees are far more likely than customers to arrive via public transit.
The St. Louis location, despite being closer to downtown, isn’t as tight. We’ll have lots more surface parking, here’s the site plan for St. Louis:
The Kansas City IKEA is the 7th IKEA location I’ve shopped at over the last 24+ years but I realize many of you may not have been in one. My 15+ times visiting IKEA have always been while traveling, several times I’ve packed my car to the headliner. It’ll be nice having a store so close where I can just get a little something, I can easily go back to get more.
The top level is the showroom, with model rooms set up to show you ideas for using their products. After you make your way through this floor you’ll find the main restaurant. Down one level you’ll find the products.
Let’s start by parking under the store.
In the past I’ve told people to plan at least 4 hours to visit an IKEA the first time, but it’ll be different having a store so close. It’ll be easy to visit often a year from now. If you want a preview of the coming St. Louis IKEA just visit the suburban Kansas City IKEA.
— Steve Patterson
OK, but what about Kiener Plaza? Seems like there are some serious questions about that project also. Facts surrounding the Ikea project are interesting, but the location of Kiener Plaza is so important to the city, is that right? A playground? really, where did that discussion come from, how to make central St. Louis fail? The whole area around the stadium is this broken up urban plan, conducive to a few insiders making a ton of money. I don’t know, just seems to me the implications of what is being proposed at Kiener Plaza, can set the stage for future urban planning in the whole of the downtown town district and beyond.
Why then is there not architectural competitions, public discussions and transparency concerning Keiner Plaza?
It’s the same old shit with a different name.
But yeah, great Ikea is making it in St. Louis. Even then there is no discussion of the impact of mass transit and how the parking isnow best situated to give preference to mass transit.
You can see from the site plan it places an auto centric face on Forest Park Blvd., almost completely undermining the success of transit at this location. It is a horrible piece of architecture for the modern city, that is the bottom line. But I guess everyone gets to buy the junk they want, so Ikea will reside as a success in the media.
The real question,going back to Kiener Plaza, does anyone have an idea
of the city that is being built? Is it connectivity and transit? or is
it completely auto orientated?
The construction is at an interesting stage right now as you can see how the structure is taking shape while the Laclade Gas operations are still open and not cleared yet…. thus giving a good sense of how the site could have been iimproved if those FPP-fronting buildings were replaced with even modest one or two story commercial building(s) improving walkability and increasing activity. There would still be ample unobstructed visibility of IKEA from the eastern part of the site where the LG parking lot is and old corner gas station at Vandeventer was. Perhaps they will be open to that in the future as the surrounding area explodes.