Five months after announcing Tulsa as the home of Oklahoma’s first IKEA, city officials tell The Eagle the project is outpacing its original timeline.
“They’re ahead of schedule on construction. There have been very few issues on the project so far, so I think we’re good,” Erran Persley, Tulsa’s chief economic development officer, said.
Construction is underway at the former Belk location in the Tulsa Hills Shopping Center. The space will feature some 3,000 items and 200 small furniture options.
The store was originally slated to open in November, but Persley said Direct Retail Partners, the company overseeing the shopping center, did not want to specify an earlier opening date.
With IKEA coming sooner than expected, plans to address traffic congestion on the intersection of 81st Street and South Olympia Avenue are still in progress.
District 2 Councilor Anthony Archie, who represents the Tulsa Hills area, said he will hold a community town hall 6 p.m. July 13 with the Oklahoma Department of Transportation to update residents on the diverging diamond project to widen the Highway 75 bridge and 81st Street.
Archie said residents who attend the meeting, at Tulsa Hills Church of the Nazarene, will also hear updates on Maybelle Avenue, an alternate route for people seeking to get to the main shopping hub.
The initial announcement for the 51,000-square-foot store brought excitement to dozens of Tulsans who had been hoping for an IKEA location for years.
In 2024, several organizations, including Tulsa Remote and Tulsa Young Professionals, launched the “Tulsa Loves IKEA” campaign” to attract the Swedish retailer. The initiative featured an IKEA-inspired pop-up restaurant called Tulsmå, a public art installation and an open letter.
Over 60 people traveled on a charter bus to an IKEA location in Frisco, Texas, as part of the campaign.
Tulsa officials project the store will have an indirect impact of $100 million and generate between $30 and $40 million in annual sales revenue. With Tulsa operating at a 3.65% sales tax rate, the store would garner over $1 million for the city’s coffers.
In comparison, Belk produced $3 million per year in sales, which was a little over $100,000 in sales tax.
In March, city councilors approved a $2.5 million incentive package to renovate the building. The funds come directly from repaid loans that were part of a 2016 Vision Tulsa Bond package.
Ismael Lele is a Report for America corps member and writes about business in Tulsa for The Oklahoma Eagle. Your donation to match our Report for America grant helps keep him writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting this link.
