If you are like me, every time you pass by Westgate in Glendale, you glance in the direction of Bethany Home and Loop 101 hoping to see dirt moving in preparation for the new IKEA.
The announcement by IKEA on May 25th that they were pulling out of the project came as quite a surprise. Particularly since one of the questions asked one month earlier at our Government Affairs Advisory Council meeting was, “when will the new IKEA be open?”
Brian Friedman, Glendale Economic Development Director was one of our panelists. He brought us up to date on the IKEA project as well as the other new projects in and around Westgate.
So why did IKEA pull out? It had nothing to do with the City, West Valley or Arizona. According to IKEA, the decision is part of their new corporate strategy to focus on e-commerce. The same week the Glendale IKEA was cancelled, so were the Cary, North Carolina IKEA (Raleigh/Durham area) and a store slated to open in Nashville.
The City of Glendale is already looking for another suitable business for the now available land.