Shoppers, mark your calendars.
IKEA, the popular Swedish home furnishings retailer, announced Tuesday that work on its Draper store is on track and it will open for business at 9 a.m. May 23.
"We're excited. Our construction manager went there yesterday, and we got the final check-offs," said IKEA spokesman Joseph Roth. "We now control everything as part of our build-up process and there's no holding back."
The 310,000-square-foot Draper store, located along Pony Express Drive at the northwest corner of I-15 and Bangerter Highway, will include 10,000 items for sale, 50 different room displays, three complete model homes, a children's play area and a 300-seat restaurant.
IKEA broke ground on the store in April. The Draper IKEA is the company's first store in the Mountain West and its 30th in the United States.
"Due to the progress made during the fall and the snowy winter, we are confident the remaining construction milestones and interior build-up process will be complete by late May," Paul Janzen, IKEA Draper's store manager, said in a statement.
"Now our primary objective is to continue hiring and training the nearly 350 Utahns who will be joining the IKEA coworker family before we open."
About 100 people have been hired, leaving 250 jobs still to be filled, Roth said. Applications are being accepted for various jobs, including sales, interior decoration, customer service, security, cashiers, maintenance, receiving, warehouse and stock replenishment. There also are opportunities in IKEA Draper's restaurant, Swedish Foodmarket, Cafe Bistro and employee cafeteria.
For more information, go online to www.IKEA-USA.com.
E-mail: jnii@desnews.com