Report: IKEA to build distribution center in Houston area

According to an exclusive report from the Houston Business Journal this week it looks like Houston will soon be home to a new IKEA distribution center.

The European furniture warehouse giant known for modern furnishings and quirky art is looking at a plot of land near the Port of Houston at Cedar Port Industrial Park. There is already a collection of buildings there that IKEA would lease. less According to an exclusive report from the Houston Business Journal this week it looks like Houston will soon be home to a new IKEA distribution center.

The European furniture warehouse giant known for modern ... more Photo: Mark Lennihan, STF Photo: Mark Lennihan, STF Image 1 of / 149 Caption Close Report: IKEA to build distribution center in Houston area 1 / 149 Back to Gallery

According to the Houston Business Journal, it looks like Houston will soon be home to a new IKEA distribution center.

The European furniture warehouse giant known for modern furnishings and quirky art is looking at a plot of land near the Port of Houston at Cedar Port Industrial Park. There is already a collection of buildings there that Ikea would lease.

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According to a Business Journal source, the company is looking at 1 million square feet of space to use near the port. This would also be IKEA's first distribution outpost on the Gulf Coast if the deal comes to fruition.

As of yet, nothing has been finalized in the deal.

IKEA has three locations in Texas, in Houston, Round Rock and Dallas.

The company is also building a 1.3 million-square-foot distribution center in Joliet, Ill., set to open in early 2018. It will bring some 100 jobs to that area, with plans for a second warehouse already in the works.

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The company has two distribution centers on the West Coast and three on the East Coast. The Illinois center would be the first to serve the Midwest.

Ingvar Kamprad, the Swedish business magnate who founded IKEA, turned 90 years old earlier this spring. Kamprad started IKEA more than 70 years ago. Though he no longer actively manages the company — one of his sons serves as chairman — he remains a senior adviser.

From humble beginnings selling holiday tchotchkes to his neighbors as a child, Kamprad started a revolutionary, privately held furniture giant with $33 billion in sales — and became one of the richest people on the planet in the process.

IKEA boasts some 123,000 employees in 25 countries. According to the company over 198 million copies of its catalogs are printed a year, spanning 56 editions and 27 languages.

Most customers might assume that the word IKEA is a Swedish word or that it’s just a nonsense word but actually it’s Kamprad’s initials, the name of the farm he grew up on, and the name of the town it was located in, all put together.