MERRIAM, KS (KCTV) -
Merriam is on the road to bringing IKEA to the metro.
Ikea officials and city planners met Wednesday night to talk about things like signage, traffic and transportation.
The 349,000-square-foot proposed IKEA store would be built along the eastern side of Interstate 35 at Johnson Drive exit on 18 acres to be purchased from DDR Corp.
"It is going to reform the landscape out here," city administrator Phil Lammers said.
Merriam Mayor Ken Sissom said they were surprised when IKEA contacted them. The shopping center currently at the location was built in 2008 with Circuit City as a main anchor, but they went bankrupt when the recession hit.
The location has been vacant ever since. IKEA plans to demolish the vacant shopping center and rebuild a new store.
There are currently more than 330 Ikea stores in 40 countries, and the closest stores are in Texas, Colorado, Minnesota and Chicago. There are 38 IKEA stores in the United States.
The Swedish company anticipates opening the store in the fall of 2014.
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