Renton Ikea to expand again with Boeing warehouse lease

SEATTLE - For the third time since it opened in 1994, the Ikea store in Renton will expand to accommodate increased sales and the need for more warehouse space and parking.

Ikea Seattle has leased from Boeing half of a 400,000-square-foot warehouse building just west of the store. The Swedish furniture outlet plans to use the warehouse for storage, parking and a covered pickup area.

The addition of the new building will allow Ikea Seattle's owners, Bjorn Bayley and Anders Berglund, to double the size of their showroom, widen aisles, add eight checkout lines, enlarge the area for child care and dramatically increase the size of the store's restaurant.

Ikea opened late in 1994 with a 150,000-square-foot store, and in its first 10 months in business reported sales of $25 million. Within two years, sales had risen to $44 million, and the store expanded to 198,000 square feet. The current expansion, which is expected to be completed by the end of the year, will bring the store's total square footage to 300,000.

For fiscal year 1999, the store reported sales of $79 million, a 29.5 percent increase over the previous year.