Today, IKEA, the worlds leading home furnishings retailer, is bringing its Swedish design, meatballs and more to Sydneys west, as it opens its latest store IKEA Marsden Park. The store is the first of three new stores to open in Australia between now and August 2016.

Thousands have been waiting in line to be the first through the doors, some eager shoppers queued from 5:30am


Over 10,000 shoppers expected to visit the store on the first day of trading


300,000 hotdogs, 24 tonnes of meatballs and 23 tonnes of cinnamon buns set to be served in the first year


508,000 copies of the IKEA catalogue ready to be browsed


300 new jobs created, 73 per cent of employees from the local area

After 104 days and over 80,000 man-hours spent fitting out the store, today, store manager Annie Chandler and her team of co-workers officially welcomed the community of North West Sydney to IKEA Marsden Park.
Marking the occasion in true Swedish style, excited shoppers and local dignitaries including Ed Husic, Federal Member for Chifley, were welcomed with Swedish traditions, food and music.
As part of the opening celebrations, store manager Annie Chandler raised the Swedish flag, whilst Federal MP, Ed Husic, conducted a Swedish tree-planting ceremony, bringing good luck to the new store and its shoppers.
The new 28,500m2 store, Sydneys third IKEA Australia store, is located on a 76,000m2 site at Sydney Business Park located between Blacktown and Rouse Hill.
The new store employs more than 300 co-workers and features 7,600 products, a 450-seat IKEA Restaurant, 60 inspirational room settings, a supervised childrens play area and approximately 850 parking spaces. Reflecting the companys renewable energy mission, the store has 10,000 LED light bulbs, rainwater harvesting and a solar panel roof, which has already produced enough energy to power 25 family homes for a year.
David Hood, IKEA Australia Country Manager commented: The opening of IKEA Marsden Park, represents a significant milestone in our commitment to expansion within Australia. Store manager, Annie Chandler added, Our new store means that people from Penrith to Richmond and Parramatta to Castle Hill will have easier access to well-designed home furnishings at affordable prices. IKEA Marsden Park will also support our global commitment to use only renewable energy by the year 2020.
Federal Member for Chifley Ed Husic said: Its great to welcome IKEA to Marsden Park. Residents from our area are benefiting from easy access to high-quality businesses, like IKEA.
Importantly, I want to commend IKEA for being a great new neighbour they have actively sought to employ locals and provide job opportunities for our areas youth. Theyve made a terrific contribution in a short space of time, and I want to properly thank them for this.
In a world-first, IKEA Marsden Park was also the first Customer Built IKEA store; inviting the community to test it out and ensure it was ready for business. After an Australia-wide search, 30 aspiring Meatball Tasters, Ball Pit Testers, Ultimate IKEA Assemblers, Comfort Co-ordinators, Junior Designers and Sustainability Managers were selected. We have been thrilled to see some of our biggest fans join forces with our co-workers to put the finishing touches on the store and ensure IKEA Marsden Park is ready for business, said Annie.
Michael Borg,one of the lucky winners crowned an Ultimate IKEA Assembler said:Ive always loved building IKEA furniture, its like adult Lego! Living inParklea, its great to now have an IKEA on our doorstep. Our house isabsolutelyfull ofIKEA furniture; we love the style of IKEA. Its great that we get to be part of building a store that is nowpart of our community
Thursday, 28 May 2015