The smell of fresh blacktop is still pronounced outside the new Ikea Columbus, but the aroma of the retailer's famous Swedish meatballs is already inside.

The Columbus store, which opens at 9 a.m. June 7, will be the second in Ohio, 44th in the United States and 397th in the world. It's located at the I-71 and Gemini Place in the Polaris Centers of Commerce.

It was only a year ago, on May 25, that Ikea broke ground for the store. Construction has gone more rapidly than even the always efficient folks at Ikea anticipated, said spokesman Joseph Roth.

"There are a few touches left, but yeah, we're ready," Roth said Wednesday, during a preview event for the news media.

Just to make sure that customers show up bright and early at 9 a.m. on Monday — two days before the store opening — to begin queuing up in advance of the store opening, Ikea announced that it is offering thousands of dollars worth of giveaways.

The first 44 adults in line on Monday will get a free Ektorp sofa, for example, and the next 100 adults in line will get a free Poang armchair. The same day, the first 100 children in line will receive a free heart-shaped soft toy.

To keep customers rushing in after the opening, Ikea will give a free mattress to the first 44 adults on June 8 and a Swedish food shopping spree for the first 44 adults on June 9.

Built on 33 acres, the 354,000-square-foot store includes one of Ohio’s largest rooftop solar arrays with 3,546 solar panels as well as three electric-vehicle charging stations.

See a 360-degree video of a model home inside Ikea

Ikea officials said that most of the store's 325 employees are from the Columbus area, which came as something of a surprise after Ikea had heard about central Ohio's low unemployment rate, Roth said.

The company's policy of treating its employees "like family" with industry-leading benefits and pay may have helped in hiring employees. Some of the staff were formerly employed at other Polaris area retailers, including Cabela's, he said.

The company's emphasis on clever, practical design is evident in the store and in its merchandise.

After entering the store, customers go up an escalator to the showroom floor. Guided by arrows projected on the floor, customers take a self-directed tour of the showroom floor's 41 room settings and three small model home interiors.

Upon finding a couch, chair or other item that suits their taste, customers write down the aisle and bin numbers on the merchandise. (Paper and pencils are available everywhere in the store, and there is also an app that can be downloaded on smartphones for the same purpose.)

Later, customers go down to the big self-service warehouse area of the store and find the aisle and bins that correspond to the merchandise.

If a customer prefers to have an item delivered, Ikea will handle that request for a flat fee of $59.

All of the merchandise comes in flat boxes, or as flat and stackable as Ikea can make them. Even bedding is vacuum packed so that it can be stacked.

The ingenious design extends to an area devoted to picking kitchen cabinets and hardware: Drawer pulls are fastened to clear plastic so that shoppers can easily put the hardware up against cabinets and find the style they like.

Design plays an important role in many facets of Ikea's operations, including in some areas that might not be obvious, such as the packaging of its popular 100-pack of tea candles.

"When we first sold them, they were in a loose bag," Roth said. Then someone figured out how to shrink-wrap them so that they can be stacked. That makes it more efficient and lets us charge less. We're always looking for ways to lower prices."

The store offers something for children, too. While parents shop, kids can play and climb on make-believe rock walls, pine trees and a wooden shoe in a supervised play area called Småland, that replicates the look of a typical farmhouse and forest in Sweden.

And for shoppers with an appetite, there's a 450-seat restaurant offering Ikea's signature Swedish meatballs.

After the grand opening week, the 450-seat restaurant will open 30 minutes earlier than the store and offer breakfast for as little as $2. Lunch and dinner includes a full menu including those meatballs (now including chicken and veggie versions), seafood, chicken, pasta, sandwiches and vegetarian dishes.

Anyone who has been to the other Ikea store in Ohio, which opened in 2008 in West Chester, or in any of the other stores in the chain around the world, will find the new Columbus location very familiar.

That includes the color scheme.

"We've had a number of people ask if there was any chance we could paint this store scarlet and gray," Roth said, chuckling. "But we have to tell them that blue and yellow are the colors of Sweden and not the colors of a certain state north of here."

tferan@dispatch.com

@timferan