Ikea building its largest North American store in Montreal

Michael J. Knell -- Furniture Today, May 11, 2012

Danielle Plamondon, left, Ikea Montreal store manager and Alan DeSousa, mayor of Saint-Laurent, mark the beginning of an expansion project that will see the Cavendish Blvd. outlet become the chain’s largest store in North America.

MONTREAL — Ikea Canada has begun the expansion of one of its two stores here in North America's largest French-speaking city, which when completed in summer 2013 will be the company's largest outlet in North America with 469,694 square feet of retail space.

Ikea has been undergoing something of a building boom in Canada over the past couple of years. The Swedish home furnishings giant opened a replacement store in Ottawa in December and another in Richmond, British Columbia, two weeks ago. Later this year, it will open a third replacement store in Winnipeg.

"We are thrilled to have begun building North America's largest store in Montreal," Ikea Montreal store manager Danielle Plamondon said in a statement. "The new store will offer our loyal Montreal customers an improved shopping experience with more inspiration, more products on hand and more in-store services."

When finished, the company says the new Montreal store, at 9191 Cavendish Blvd. in the suburb of Saint-Laurent, will have some 54 inspirational room settings and three full home settings as well as a restaurant that sits 600 guests and more than 1,400 parking spots. It will also have a play area for children and will feature a new Markethall layout to showcase more inspirational product presentations.

Much like the new Richmond store - which is somewhat smaller at 334,000 square feet - the new Montreal unit will incorporate the latest available building technologies and should be at least 40% more energy efficient than the stores Ikea built in the early 2000s, officials said.

"We are very proud that Ikea is building its largest store in North America in Saint-Laurent," said the borough's mayor, Alan DeSousa. "We are particularly pleased that their expansion project is in line with the borough's sustainable development guidelines, while creating more than a hundred jobs in the area by 2013."

Ikea operates 11 stores in Canada, including a second greater Montreal area unit in Boucherville.