Oak Creek Ikea Sets Opening Date

OAK CREEK, WI — The Oak Creek IKEA announced Tuesday that it's grand opening date for their new 293,000 square-foot store will be opening a month earlier than expected, and will take place this spring instead of summer.

IKEA officials said the store will officially open for business at 9 a.m. May 16, 2018. It will be the first IKEA in Wisconsin and its 48th in the U.S.

People can begin lining up at the store at 5 a.m. on May 16. IKEA officials said grand opening plans and promotions would be available soon at IKEA-USA.com/OakCreek.

Former Oak Creek Mayor Steve Scaffidi said according to a 2012 survey of Oak Creek residents, when asked what residents would like to see, they reported wanting two things: more restaurants, and IKEA.

The then-mayor went on to say that Northwestern Mutual approached him about the idea of bringing IKEA to Oak Creek - an idea he welcomed. "I think this is going to be a tremendous addition to the city," he said.

Here are a few details about the store:

• store will be 1 story tall
• will be approximately 295,000 square feet.
• 992 parking spots
• 50 showrooms
• 3 model homes
• self-service area
• 300-seat cafeteria
• supervised children play area
• preferred parking for families
• will employ about 250 people
• will generate 500 construction jobs.

As the Oak Creek Ikea prepares for its 2018 launch, the company is actively looking for employees to fill out its team. Through Patch.com's jobs listing partner, Ziprecruiter, here are the jobs that are currently open at Ikea in the Milwaukee area:

• Children's Play Area-Loyalty Coworker-HL3
• Children's Play Area-Loyalty Coworker (20-34 hours)
• Furniture Quality and Assurance Coworker - Product Quality 20-34 Hrs

• Furniture Quality and Assurance Coworker - Product Quality 12-20 Hrs
• Furniture Quality and Assurance Coworker - Product Quality 34-40 Hrs
• Sales Co-worker Home Furnishing Consultant & IKEA Business-HL2
• Sales Co-worker-Active Selling-HL3
• General Maintenance and Painting Coworker - Site Area Prep - HL2
• Active Selling Leader
• Active Selling Leader
• Safety & Security Coworker - Risk and Compliance HL1
• Logistics Coworker Forklift Driver - Prep & Flow II 20-34 Hrs
• Visual Merchandising Coworker 34-40 Hrs
• Stock and Merchandising Coworker - Merchandising Basics 20-34 Hrs
• Sales Co-worker-Active Selling-HL1
• Stock and Merchandising Coworker - Merchandising Basics 12-20 Hrs
• Sales Co-worker Home Furnishing Consultant & IKEA Business-HL2
• Sales Co-worker Kitchen and Bath-Active Selling Kitchen and Bath-HL2
• Sales Co-worker Media and Storage-Active Selling Media and Storage-HL2
• Stock and Merchandising Coworker - Merchandising Basics 20-34 Hrs
• Sales Co-worker-Active Selling-HL2
• General Maintenance and Painting Coworker - Site Area Prep - HL3
• Sales Co-worker Media and Storage-Active Selling Media and Storage-HL2
• Sales Co-worker Kitchen and Bath-Active Selling Kitchen and Bath-HL2
• Sales Co-worker-Active Selling-HL2

The new store is set on a 29-acre parcel of land on the Northwestern Mutual property just west of I-94 and just north of Drexel Ave. and South of Rawson Ave.

According to Oak Creek plan commission documents, due to the presence of wetlands on the property, the building and parking were shifted west, with all required setbacks are met in the revised plans.

According to documents, while a slight reduction from 995 parking stalls to 992 is shown in the new plans, this exceeds the minimum number of stalls required by code. A small area for parking was shifted from the southwest corner of the building to the east, and the loading dock on the southeast corner of the building was rotated 180 degrees to face the rear of the building (rather than the parking lot).

Documents also state that two small stormwater ponds were added to the northeast and southeast corners of the property to supplement the reconfigured larger stormwater pond south of the parking lot.

Documents also indicated that signage was also slightly revised and will need further revisions to correct the square footage for the IKEA wall sign identified as on the elevations.

Image Via Ikea