Ikea Memphis put on a dizzying display of construction Monday, with cascading sparks of welding, rumbling of dump trucks, and the lifting and fastening of Ikea-blue wall panels all to the pungent aroma of fresh asphalt.
The installation of those four-inch thick, insulated wall panels in the retailer's signature color is a Ikea's version of a construction topping-out milestone.
The popular retailer of modestly priced, modern furniture issued a press release Monday and gave media tours to mark the occasion.
Linkous Construction started work in December on the $64 million, 271,000-square-foot store and remains on pace to complete the building late this fall, Ikea spokesman Joseph Roth said.
The store is rising on 35 acres along I-40, west of Germantown Parkway and behind Costco.
The Memphis store will employ 225 people and pay an average $41,000 in salaries and benefits. Jobs will be available in home furnishings sales, interior decoration, customer service, safety and security, cashiers, maintenance, goods flow, receiving, warehouse and stock replenishment.
The company should start posting next month on its website -- IKEA-USA.com -- management-level jobs openings, Roth said. The rest of the jobs will be posted this summer.
The building itself has two parts. The 43-foot-tall western half is further along and is already getting its blue walls. That space will serve as a self-serve, customer accessible warehouse with some displays.
Construction workers were still building the steel structure Monday for the shorter, eastern half, which will house the showroom and marketplace with cooking, lighting and textile home accessories. That eastern half also will house the 300-seat restaurant.
Memphis will claim Tennessee's first Ikea. The closest stores are in Atlanta; Frisco, Texas; and St. Louis. Ikea opens just a few stores a year in the U.S. and 20 worldwide.
The Economic Development Growth Engine (EDGE) board last fall granted Ikea property tax breaks that could save the company nearly $11 million over as many as 12.5 years.
Lars Petersson, Ikea U.S. president, said of the Memphis site in the company release, “We hope to be enclosed fully within several months, and cannot wait to begin transforming the building’s interior to look like an Ikea store as well. We know there are many customers in the area who are excited for us to open, including more than 50,000 who currently are driving great distances to shop at our stores.”
Ikea Memphis will offer about 10,000 "exclusively designed'' products, 50 room settings, three model home interiors, a supervised play area for children, and the large restaurant offering Swedish fare such as meatballs with lingonberries and salmon plates as well as American dishes.