LIVE OAK, Texas – Swedish home-furnishings retailer IKEA will open a store in Live Oak, officials announced Tuesday.
The 289,000-square-foot store will be built on 31 acres on the southwestern corner of Interstate 35 and Loop 1604. The store is scheduled to open in the summer of 2019, IKEA public affairs manager Joseph Roth said.
The Live Oak store will be the fifth in Texas. Other locations in the state include Round Rock, Houston, Frisco and one in Grand Prairie that is scheduled to open in 2017.
"We're thrilled we're finally coming to South Texas with this location here in Live Oak," Roth said.
"This location would provide our already 180,000 San Antonio-area customers their own store and introduce the unique IKEA shopping experience to others throughout South Texas," IKEA U.S. president Lars Petersson said.
Construction of the store is expected to provide 500 jobs, Roth said. The store will employ 250 people.
The store will feature nearly 10,000 exclusively designed items, 50 inspirational room-settings, three model-home interiors and a supervised children's play area, a news release said. A 325-seat restaurant will serve Swedish specialties, such as meatballs with lingonberries, as well as salmon plates and American dishes.