OREANDA-NEWS. IKEA, the world’s leading home furnishings retailer, today completed the expansion of its Detroit-area store in Canton, MI. As a result, IKEA Canton, which opened June 2006 as 311,000 square feet in size, now has grown 44,000 SF to the new size of 355,000 SF. This expansion allows the store to house larger quantities and selections of home furnishings, and to handle greater volumes of home deliveries. Construction work began in September 2014, and the store remained open and operational – with the full product assortment – throughout the build-up process.

“IKEA is thrilled with the success of IKEA Canton since its opening more than nine years ago,” said Matt Hunsicker, store manager. “This expansion will help us improve the shopping experience, and more easily meet the needs of customers throughout southeastern Michigan and beyond.”

In total, the project included expanding the Self-Serve Furniture Area (where shoppers collect flat-packed furniture to take home on the same day), rearranging customer service functions to the newly built part of the store and enlarging the home delivery area. This extension blends into the existing structure, maintaining the store’s unique architectural design for which IKEA is known worldwide.

“IKEA Canton coworkers are enthusiastic about the opportunity to present our expanded store,” explained Hunsicker. “We also appreciate the flexibility of our customers, who demonstrated loyalty and patience during this expansion work.”

With a now larger roof, IKEA also is increasing the size of the solar array installed atop the building three years ago. The 40,000-square-foot solar addition – to be completed this fall – will consist of a 240.9-kW system, built with 765 panels, and will produce 287,490 kWh more of electricity annually for the store. Including the existing system, IKEA Canton’s total 1,218.5-kW solar installation of 4,925 panels will generate 1,426,490 kWh of clean electricity yearly, the equivalent of reducing 984 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2), eliminating the emissions of 207 cars or powering 135 homes (calculating clean energy equivalents at www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-resources/calculator.html).

Located on approximately 30 acres along Ford Road off I-275 at Haggerty Road, the 355,000-square-foot IKEA Canton opened in June 2006. In addition to 10,000 exclusively designed items, the store presents 52 different room-settings, three model home interiors, a supervised children’s play area, and a 350-seat restaurant serving Swedish specialties, as well as American dishes. Other family-friendly features include a Children’s IKEA area in the Showroom, baby care rooms, play areas throughout the store, and preferred parking. Also, IKEA installed Michigan’s largest solar array atop the roof of the store originally in 2012.

Since its 1943 founding in Sweden, IKEA has offered home furnishings of good design and function at low prices so the majority of people can afford them. There are currently more than 360 IKEA stores in 47 countries, including 40 in the U.S. IKEA incorporates sustainability into day-to-day business and supports initiatives that benefit children and the environment. For more information see IKEA-USA.com, @IKEAUSA, @IKEAUSANews, or IKEAUSA on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Pinterest.