Literacy Celebrated at IKEA Tampa Oct. 18 – 25, 2009

This month marks the 30th year the IKEA BILLY bookcase — one of the cornerstones of the IKEA concept — has supported a better everyday life for many people through its use in home libraries by millions of families throughout the world. To commemorate this milestone, IKEA Tampa is partnering with other Tampa Bay organizations to help all families, regardless of income, build a home library of their own, as well as to encourage reading through special events in the store from Sunday, Oct. 18 through Sunday, Oct. 25.

On Monday, Oct. 19 at 10am, Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio will proclaim Oct. 19 – 25, 2009 “BILLY Book Week” in Tampa prior to reading a story to all DeSoto Elementary School second-grade students at the IKEA restaurant. Following the Mayor’s book reading, the children will stay for a free BILLY Brunch.

Throughout the week, Tampa Bay area mascots will lead BILLY Book Readings:

Sunday, Oct. 18 · 2pm to 4pm: University of South Florida’s Rocky the Bull & friends

Tuesday, Oct. 20 · 6pm to 7pm: Tampa Bay Rays’ Raymond & friends

Saturday, Oct. 24 · 2pm to 4pm: It’s All About Kids’ Buzz the Literacy Bee & friends

Sunday, Oct. 25 · 2pm to 4pm: Tampa Bay Lightning’s Thunderbug & friends

All story events take place in the BILLY Book Room, located in the IKEA Showroom Wall Units & Media Storage department (2nd level).

In Småland, IKEA’s free, supervised play area for children 37” to 54” tall, kids can enjoy the classic Norwegian tale of Three Billy Goats Gruff and special crafts from Oct. 18 – 25, all day, every day. Plus, from Oct. 19 – 25, all children 12 years old and under, eat free in the IKEA Restaurant!

BILLY Book Drive... From Oct. 18 – 25, customers, alongside IKEA Tampa co-workers, are encouraged to bring new and gently-used books for children, tweens, and teens to the store. In partnership with DeSoto Elementary School, a Tampa Title I school located near IKEA Tampa, books collected will be sorted and classified according to grade and reading levels and then donated to DeSoto Elementary School children to help the children and their families develop a home library of their own. IKEA will donate five BILLY bookcases to the school for their own library.

A second BILLY Book Drive collection site is located at Century Buick Pontiac GMC, 3308 West Hillsborough Ave., Tampa.

A birthday gift for all Billys... Also from Oct. 18 – 25, in celebration of the BILLY bookcase 30th birthday, any person named “Billy” who is 18 years or older and also celebrating a birthday between Oct. 18 – 25, can receive a $30 IKEA Gift Card (redeemable with valid ID at the IKEA Self Serve Check Out). Plus, everyone visiting IKEA Tampa Oct. 18 – 25 can enter to win two other BILLY birthday gifts: “Win a Buick Enclave for a Day” or “$100 IKEA Gift Card.”

Tampa Bay Lightning Family Weekend at IKEA Tampa: Friday-Sunday, Oct. 2-4, 2009

Tampa Bay Lightning Stanley Cup champion and fan-favorite Dave Andreychuk hosts a commemorative puck drop at IKEA Tampa on Friday, October 2 at 7:00pm to launch an IKEA Tampa/Tampa Bay Lightning partnership for the 2009-10 season. The October 2 announcement starts the “Lightning Family Weekend” at IKEA, with a game plan that promises fun for people of all ages!

Friday, October 2, 6pm to 8pm: Friday Night “Face Off”

The Bolt Brigade, Lightning Girls, and Lightning fan-favorite Dave Andreychuk. Fans can check out the new Lightning mobile marketing truck & trailer, an interactive unit which brings Lightning hockey on the road. Chances to win Lightning game tickets courtesy of IKEA Tampa, and prize giveaways. After the 7pm commemorative puck drop, Dave Andreychuk will sign autographs and take pictures with fans. Bring your camera!

Saturday, October 3, 1pm to 4pm: Slap Shot Saturday

A special appearance by Thunderbug (2pm to 4pm) and Bolt Brigade. Free commemorative pictures (1pm to 3pm). Chances to win Lightning game tickets courtesy of IKEA Tampa, and prize giveaways.

Sunday, October 4, 1pm to 3pm: Sunday Scramble

Last opportunity to score Lightning game tickets courtesy of IKEA Tampa, and prize giveaways. Free commemorative pictures.

“This partnership is designed to support the economic development of the Channelside/Ybor City residential and entertainment districts through unique cross-promotions,” says IKEA Tampa Store Manager Monica Varela. “Channelside and Ybor City have so much to offer residents from throughout the Tampa Bay area; we are thrilled to reach out to our neighbors to provide additional promotional activity to help all our businesses.”

For more information on the activities and promotions resulting from the IKEA / Tampa Bay Lightning partnership, please click here.

IKEA Tampa Fans on Twitter

@IKEATampaFans is on Twitter!! For the latest updates on your favorite Tampa store, 140 characters at a time, please visit us here... http://twitter.com/IKEATampaFans

You don't have to be signed up to Twitter to read the updates, but it makes it a lot more fun if we can "tweet" with you. See you in the Twitterverse!

Larger-Than-Life IKEA Bottles to "Wash Up" at the St. Pete Pier This Weekend!!

LARGER-THAN-LIFE BOTTLES BEACHSIDE NEAR ST. PETERSBURG PIER CONTAIN MESSAGES FROM HOMES AND FREE MEALS

 

IKEA, the world’s leading home furnishings retailer, today revealed plans for oversized glass bottles displaying IKEA products to convey ‘messages’ near the St. Petersburg Pier throughout Memorial Day weekend.  Tampa Bay-area residents and visitors will have the opportunity to experience the furniture and inspiration found inside the new IKEA Tampa – which opened May 6, 2009 near Ybor City – while still enjoying the sun and sand during their holiday weekend.

The four giant ‘message’ bottles, each upward of 6-feet tall, respectively, will contain a life-sized chair, bookshelf, bed and children’s furniture.  In addition, IKEA representatives will be distributing 6,000 smaller bottles containing a ‘message’ asking passers-by if their homes are trying to send them a message.  Each mini-bottle’s scroll will include a coupon for a free meal in the IKEA Tampa restaurant. Visitors to this IKEA ‘Message in a Bottle’ event also will have the opportunity to enter a drawing to win an EKTORP seating arrangement – a set including an armchair, love seat and sofa.  The event will run from Friday, May 22 through Monday, May 25 in the Waterside Courtyard at the St. Petersburg Pier. Free meal coupons will be valid through June 14, 2009.     

“We wanted to continue the fun and outreach begun with the May 6 grand opening of IKEA Tampa,” said Monica Varela, store manager of IKEA Tampa. “Since IKEA offers solutions for the home, we want to provide Tampa Bay-area residents and visitors the opportunity to see our affordable, stylish and functional furnishings, while still allowing them to enjoy the beach.  And, if they’re hungry and looking for a place to eat over the weekend or during the next few weeks, they can come to our restaurant with their coupon and get a great, free meal.”

"Where has your Blue Bag been?" Contest

Enter IKEA's eco-friendly "Where has your Blue Bag been?" contest to win travel & gift card prizes!

Share your unique photo, blog, video or digital photo/art that showcases just how you might use or 'wish' to use your IKEA Blue Bag. You could win a fabulous trip to an eco-friendly destination or a spa retreat and an IKEA Gift Card worth up to $100. Plus winners every week will win a $100 IKEA Gift Card. Click here to get started. Or here to see the entries already submitted.

IKEA Tampa Opens!!

To read all about today's IKEA Tampa grand opening festivities, and to see all of the photos from today's celebration, please click here. (You do not need a Twitter account to view the pics or read the tweets.)

Here are just a few pics...

This pic is of Shelby, she was first in line! Shelby and her brother and friends were super nice and fun, just really great people!!

Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio and IKEA Tampa Store Manager Monica Varela sawed a ceremonial log in half which officially opened the new store at 9am. "Sawing a log in Sweden actually brings good luck to the new home and its future guests," Ikea spokesperson Joseph Roth said. "We view Ikea Tampa as our new home ... so we really like to inaugurate in the same way and welcome all these visitors who are going to be guests in our new home."

In addition to brief remarks by Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio, Varela was joined by Tampa Council Chairman Thomas Scott who raised the U.S. flag; Honorary Swedish Consul B-G Holmberg who raised the Swedish flag; and Special Assistant to the Governor Michelle Todd who raised the Florida flag. 

The lines were long, but the time flew by with a lot of entertainment and freebies. Everyone was in by 10am-ish.

Upon entering the lobby, hundreds of IKEA Tampa co-workers greeted very excited shoppers with thunderstick and cheering...

“We are excited to bring the unique IKEA family-friendly shopping experience to the Tampa Bay area and beyond,” said Varela.  “The enthusiasm the IKEA Tampa coworker family felt about this big day and about opening the store translated into excitement and a great shopping experience for customers.”

 

Last but not least, meatballs for breakfast at the new store! (When you get up at 5:30am, meatballs at 10:30am actually doesn't seem that odd :)...

  

IKEA Media Day and Store Tour - A Sneak Peek Inside!!

This past Wednesday was a fantastic day! Yours truly and just about every news outlet in Tampa were present for a wonderful media event at the new IKEA Tampa. The event started at 12:30pm with a grand Swedish lunch buffet, followed by tours of the store and wonderful parting gifts (including cinnamon buns and PS tealight holders).

We even had the opportunity to jump in the ball pit in Smaland. On average, I believe that each of us took about a million photos. Check out these links to see a sneak peek inside the new IKEA Tampa...

We tweeted live from inside the store via the iPhone... to see the tweets and the pics that were posted during the event, check out @IKEATampa on Twitter here

TBO IKEA Tampa Preview Tour Photos

Creative Loafing IKEA Tampa Photo Tour

Lakeland Ledger IKEA Tampa Photos

93.3 FLZ IKEA Tampa Photo Gallery

Metromix Stockholm Syndrome: The Shopping Edition IKEA Tampa Photo Gallery

IKEA Tampa Fan Page now on Twitter!

You can now follow the IKEA Tampa fan page on Twitter. The IKEA Tampa Twitter account will be updated frequently with IKEA Tampa grand opening news, and anything else IKEA Tampa related. To visit the IKEA Tampa fan page on Twitter, please click here.

A Sneak Peek... taking the "Natural Path"

Arriving at IKEA Tampa...

IKEA Tampa Lobby

IKEA Tampa Smaland

(Kids' Play Area and Ballroom)

IKEA Tampa Showroom

IKEA Tampa Children's Furnishings

IKEA Tampa Restaurant

(Home of the world famous swedish meatballs!!)

IKEA Tampa Stairs

(Leading from Restaurant to Market Hall)

IKEA Tampa Market Hall

IKEA Tampa Self-Serve Area

(Flat-Packed Furniture Warehouse)

IKEA Tampa Loading Dock

IKEA Tampa Administrative Area

Photos courtesy of Joseph Roth (IKEA North America Director of Public Affairs) and The Tampa Tribune

We Have a Date!! IKEA Tampa to Open on May 6, 2009

For Immediate Release                                      

March 5, 2009                                                                                 

           

IKEA ANNOUNCES ITS TAMPA BAY STORE WILL OPEN MAY 6

 

TAMPA, FL – IKEA, the world’s leading home furnishings retailer, today announced that its future Tampa store will open at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, May 6, 2009 .  It will be the Swedish company’s 3rd store and restaurant destination in Florida, 6th in the Southeast, and 37th in the United States.  Until the 353,000 square-foot IKEA Tampa opens, customers can shop at stores in Orlando, FL and Sunrise, FL or at www.IKEA-USA.com.  

 

“We are thrilled at the excellent construction progress made in the summer and fall, and believe the remaining construction milestones and interior build-up process will be complete by May – much earlier than originally envisioned,” noted Monica Varela, store manager of the future IKEA Tampa.  “Now our primary goal is hiring and training the 400 local hires who will be joining the IKEA coworker family before we open.”

 

IKEA Tampa will present 10,000 exclusively-designed items, 49 room settings, 3 model home interiors, a supervised children’s play area, and a 350-seat restaurant serving Swedish specialties such as meatballs with lingonberries or salmon plates, as well as American dishes.  Family-friendly features include a ‘Children’s IKEA’ area in the showroom, baby care rooms, preferred parking and play areas in the store. 

 

The 353,000-square-foot future IKEA Tampa, with 1,700 parking spaces, will be built on 29 acres along Adamo Drive at 22nd Street and the Crosstown Expressway, and will reflect the same unique architectural design for which IKEA stores are known worldwide. 

 

This new IKEA store created 500 construction jobs and, on May 6, it will welcome 400 new coworkers into the IKEA family of more than 11,000 coworkers across the U.S. and 120,000 globally.  Although IKEA Tampa is progressing through outfitting phases, prospective coworkers still can apply for diverse positions available in home furnishings sales, customer service, cashiers, receiving, warehouse and stock replenishment.  IKEA Tampa also offers food service opportunities in its Restaurant, Swedish Foodmarket, Bistro and staff cafeteria. 

 

There currently are more than 290 IKEA stores in 36 countries, including 36 in the U.S. , where other new stores will open in:  Centennial, CO and Somerville , MA .  Since its 1943 founding in Sweden , IKEA has offered a wide range of home furnishings and accessories of good design and function, at low prices so the majority of the people can afford them.  IKEA has been ranked inFORTUNE’s annual “100 Best Companies to Work For” list (three years in a row), Working Mother magazine’s annual list of “100 Best Companies for Working Mothers” (four years in a row) and Training magazine’s annual “Top 100” ranking of companies that excel at human capital development (five years in a row).  IKEA incorporates environmentally friendly and socially responsible efforts into day-to-day business, and continually supports initiatives that benefit causes such as children and the environment.  For more information about IKEA, and about working at IKEA, please go to www.IKEA-USA.com

Joseph Roth to Speak about IKEA at Tampa Downtown Partnership's "Downtown Debriefing" Breakfast

When: Tuesday, March 17, 2009 

  7:30 am Registration

8-9:00 am Program and Breakfast

Where: The Tampa Club

101 East Kennedy Blvd., Suite 4200

Cost: $20 TDP Members

$25 TDP Potential Members

$160 Corporate Table (seats 8)

Contact: Kimberly Finn

kfinn@tampasdowntown.com

"The most significant retail development ever to hit Tampa will open midyear on the boundary of downtown. The 353,000 square-foot IKEA Tampa will feature nearly 10,000 exclusively designed items home related items. This international retailer, opening just off Adamo Drive east of the Channel District, will be a major destination and significant economic catalyst. IKEA is known for incorporating environmentally and socially responsible efforts into day-to-day business, and for continually supporting initiatives that benefit causes such as children and the environment. Come hear what IKEA means to Downtown Tampa and what Tampa means to IKEA."

- From the Tampa Downtown Partnership website