Signing on
Ikea puts its name up, posts first job openings
Swedish home furnishings retailer Ikea has posted the first 16 Memphis store jobs.
The management positions range from the “commercial sales bedrooms team leader’’ to interior design specialist to food service team leader for the 300-seat restaurant.
The postings on ikea.com are the first of the 225 Ikea jobs expected to be filled before the $64 million store opens late this year near the southwest corner of Interstate 40 and Germantown Parkway.
The initial help-wanted postings come as the retailer of modern furniture prepared Tuesday afternoon to erect the first “Ikea” sign on the massive blue walls of the 271,000-square-foot store.
The retailer made a show of it, inviting news organizations to come take photos and videos.
Even a TV helicopter circled overhead to capture images of the sign installation. Such coverage of mundane work reflects the interest in Ikea Memphis, which will be the retailer’s first store in Tennessee.
Exclusivity helps explain the attraction. When Ikea opened a store in Las Vegas last week, it was only the company’s 42nd store in the U.S. Memphis will be No. 43. The retailer’s popular furnishings have gained a following worldwide for their contemporary design and relatively low prices.
Memphis leadership was motivated enough to accommodate an Ikea store that the city and county granted $11 million in property tax breaks to the company. At that time it was unusual for retailers to obtain tax incentives. Local government also changed the name of the street leading to the store off Germantown Parkway to Ikea Way.
Ikea will first fill 30 to 35 store management positions, then hire the rest of the employees starting later this summer, spokesman Joseph Roth said Tuesday.
The management team will be hired by midsummer. Those managers will hire the rest of the work force.
Applicants can learn more on the ikea.com website, and also can apply through the Workforce Investment Network at 480 Beale. The first step for anyone interested is to attend a WIN orientation held each Tuesday and Thursday at 8:30 and 1 p.m., said WIN’s public relations coordinator Cynthia Daniels.
Applicants who go through WIN will receive an email each time an Ikea job is posted.
The jobs also will be posted within the existing Ikea workforce, though Roth said the company will want “new blood to mix it up.’’