IKEA offers sneak peek inside new Memphis store

MEMPHIS, TN (WMC) - Construction continues on schedule for the brand new IKEA location in Memphis.

The first thing you notice when you walk inside is the store's size, all spread out on one level.

Thursday, workers were paving the foundation. They also focused on putting the mechanical fixtures, electrical wiring and plumbing in Tennessee's first IKEA franchise.

"When construction is done, then IKEA takes over the building and transforms it into a store," IKEA representative Joseph Roth said.

The store will feature 10,000 exclusively designed items. It will also have a 300 seat restaurant--featuring those famous meatballs--that will be centrally located inside the 271,000 square foot building.

The store is looking for 225 people to work inside the store. Managers will begins hiring for those jobs later this summer.

"We are offering lots of jobs in terms of food-related industries," store manager Trisha Bevering said.

This job count does not include the 500 construction workers, some of whom braved the Memphis heat to put the finishing touches on the outside.

"We're excited about the new IKEA Memphis," Roth said.

The store is still scheduled to open on schedule in the fall off of Interstate 40 near Germantown Parkway.

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