Expanding Its Presence in U.S. and Southeast, IKEA Breaks Ground in Orlando for Second Florida Store.

With Construction Underway, IKEA Orlando is on Track to Open in Late Fall 2007

ORLANDO, Fla. -- With company representatives, local government officials and community leaders on-hand, IKEA, the world's leading home furnishings retailer, today officially broke ground for its future store in Orlando, FL. Until the 309,000 square-foot IKEA Orlando opens in late Fall 2007, customers can shop at the closest IKEA store, which opened June 2005 in Atlanta, or online at www.IKEA-USA.com. (Additionally, another Florida store is under construction and slated to open in early Fall 2007 in the Broward County city of Sunrise.)

Under construction on 22 acres, south of Conroy Road and across Eastgate Drive from The Mall at Millenia, IKEA Orlando will present nearly 10,000 exclusively designed items, three model homes, 50 room settings, a supervised children's play area, a 300-seat restaurant serving Swedish specialties such as meatballs with lingonberries and salmon plates, as well as American dishes. Other family-friendly features will include a 'Children's IKEA' area in the showroom, baby care rooms, preferred parking and play areas throughout the store.

"Now that construction is underway, it is exciting to see actual physical progress towards the future IKEA Orlando," said David Iemolo, IKEA real estate director. "We will be bringing our unique family-friendly shopping experience closer to more than 30,000 Orlando-area IKEA customers who currently are driving great distances to shop at our stores. This location also will attract new customers who may not know us yet."

When the store opens in late Fall 2007, it will reflect the same unique architectural design for which IKEA stores are known worldwide, and will welcome 350 new coworkers into the IKEA family. Candidates interested in working at this employer of choice should look online (www.IKEA-USA.com) for all positions available at the future IKEA Orlando, where they soon can apply for diverse positions available in: home furnishings sales, interior decoration, customer service, safety and security, cashiers, maintenance, goods flow, receiving, warehouse and stock replenishment. Also, setting itself apart from other retailers in the area, IKEA Orlando will offer - among the 350 total positions to be hired for the store - approximately 60 food service opportunities in its Restaurant, Swedish Foodmarket, Cafe Bistro and coworker cafeteria. In addition, IKEA will create 500 construction jobs and will provide significant annual sales and property tax revenue for local governments and schools.

There currently are more than 250 IKEA stores in 34 countries, including 29 in the U.S., where other stores are being planned in: Brooklyn, NY; Charlotte, NC; Draper, UT; Portland, OR; Somerville, MA; Sunrise, FL; and West Chester, OH.

Since its 1943 founding in Sweden, IKEA has offered a wide range of home furnishings and accessories of good design and function, at low prices so the majority of the people can afford them. IKEA has been ranked in FORTUNE's annual "100 Best Companies to Work For" List (three years in a row), Working Mother magazine's annual list of "100 Best Companies for Working Mothers" (four years in a row) and Training magazine's annual "Top 125" ranking of companies that excel at human capital development (five years in a row). IKEA incorporates environmentally and socially responsible efforts into day-to-day business, and continuously supports initiatives that benefit causes such as children and the environment. To visit the IKEA Web site or for information about working at IKEA, please go to http://www.IKEA-USA.com.