Washington's New IKEA Store Opening Wednesday In Renton

RENTON, WA - After two years of construction, the state's only IKEA will open an entirely new store here on Wednesday morning.

The new store is next door to the old one, and is about 1,000 square feet larger. The biggest difference: the new store will be two floors, and will feature a larger dining space and expanded parking. There will be expanded model rooms, and some model homes with a Pacific Northwest theme.

The store will also feature the state's largest solar panel array. The 244,000 square-foot array will allow the store to generate 1.2 million kilowatt hours of energy, enough to power 131 homes for one year.

The old IKEA building was originally an aerospace electronics facility, but was converted into the Swedish furniture store in 1994. The old building will be demolished to make way for more parking.

The new store opens Wednesday at 9 a.m. for shopping. Shoppers can line up beginning at 7 a.m., and there will be a grand opening ceremony at 8:30 a.m.

Image via IKEA