There was an abundance of herring, salmon and other fish–not mention a lot of dessert–at yesterday’s media preview of the new Ikea on Beard Street, which will open at 9AM on June 18. The store will be Ikea’s 35th in the U.S. and the fifth in the tri-state area. Store Manager Mike Baker focused on the specifics of the new operation and played up the benefits to the 500 employees, “many of them from the local Red Hook community.” (Ikea hasn’t said how many employees are residents and guesstimates vary pretty widely, although a significant number of residents are believed to be working there; local jobs were a key selling point for the store, which will dramatically change the neighborhood’s character. As many as 15,000-17,000 cars are expected over the course of a weekend day.) The new store clocks in at 346,000 square feet and features 45 room sets and three model homes. The waterfront esplanade outside, behind the parking lot and the store, stretches for nearly a mile. The store also includes 475 square feet of green roof; solar panels will be installed this summer.
On the bizarre shopping side, customers will be able to camp out starting Monday, June 16 and the retailer will provide porta-potties, snacks and coffee. (Pup tents only; no camping in vehicles, and our friends at Racked will have someone in line blogging it.) The first 35 people in line will get a free Ektorp sofa. The next 100 will get a free POÄNG chair. The first 100 children get a Fanning toy and the first 2,500 people through the door will get a gift card worth $10-$250. There will be an “opening ceremony” starting at 8:15 with the raising of American, Swedish and New York flags and a ceremonial good luck sawing of a log to open the store. The Swedish Ambassador will be on hand too. Ikea says it’s been working with the Department of Transportation and the NYPD to try to get shoppers to “off local streets” and into the store as efficiently as possible. As for us, we are waiting to see the impact on Red Hook and wondering who camps out at an Ikea store opening.
5 responses so far ↓
1 Best View in Brooklyn // Jun 12, 2008 at 10:50 am
The part that interests me the most is the public space offered up to the community. With the tax difference being what it is, I doubt folks from NJ or even Staten Island will come in to Red Hook to shop, so the majority of shoppers will be from the other four boroughs.
At this point, we can only watch and wait to find out how horribly or positively it will affect the community. I have to wonder, however, why they haven’t released the number of local and city-wide hires. Weird. Hopefully the shuttle drivers are at least from NYC.
2 D // Jun 12, 2008 at 3:58 pm
The local traffic is going to be a disaster. In fact I believe the accurate term is cluster fck. From Court Street traffic is routed directly in front of the Bay St pool and ballfields. On weekends those streets are already clogged. The street leading to Ikea narrows to one lane one the east side and is cobblestone on the west side. Unbelievably street parking is allowed from Van Brunt to the Ikea property line, making the street impassable with current truck traffic. Before Ikea even opens the streets are congested and difficult to pass through. Maybe they’ll straighten out the traffic patterns after a small child is runover by a lost shopper.
3 anonymousa // Jun 12, 2008 at 6:40 pm
Well I know for a fact a friend of mine who was fully qualified to work at IKEA and lives on 2nd Place did NOT get hired and that someone from Manhattan was hired to work there.
the impact on the neighborhood traffic is a no brainer. it’s going to SUCK!
4 Kevin Walsh // Jun 12, 2008 at 10:44 pm
$79 for deliveries at Ikea is robbery, extortion and usury….you can get a mattress some places for less than that….
http://www.forgotten-ny.com
5 DW // Jun 12, 2008 at 11:52 pm
F’in whiners.
That’s about all I can write.
Who else would invest in that God-forsaken part of Brooklyn except those that would [shudder] profit from those who come from elsewhere.
Was there anything useful on that site that produced jobs and a profit for its owners in a generation?
Back to your cubbyholes and daddy’s money and the People’s Republic.
Stores like Ikea are a fact of life.
Get used to them.