IKEA To Open Lakeland 326,000-Square-Foot Distribution Center

LAKELAND, FL -- IKEA announced that it has leased additional warehouse space in Lakeland to serve as a customer distribution center supporting the Tampa, Orlando and Miami markets.

This facility will also fulfill parcel orders for the entire U.S. Southeast and will strengthen the company’s existing network of nine regional distribution centers while supporting its 48 stores in the U.S.

“As we grow our e-commerce presence, we want to provide our customers with shorter lead times and a higher-quality experience when shopping at IKEA,” said Lars Petersson, IKEA U.S. president. “The new distribution center in Lakeland provides opportunity to optimize customer accessibility in the Southeast and allows us to continue meeting the home furnishing needs of our customers.”

The IKEA Customer Distribution Center in Lakeland is currently planned to open in early 2019 and will comprise 326,000 square feet of leased space off Allen K. Breed Highway, 28 miles from downtown Tampa.

This project represents the sixth IKEA location in the state of Florida and is expected to bring 200 jobs to the Tampa-area.

The fulfillment center will focus on delivering items to customers who order products online. The site will be operated by DHL Supply Chain, a leader in contract logistics and a division of Deutsche Post DHL Group.

With nearly 1,000 suppliers in 50 countries, IKEA traditionally transports products globally to its stores through regional distribution centers. This customer distribution center and others in the future will augment the current U.S. distribution strategy and enhance IKEA’s ability to ensure product availability for customers shopping in-store or online.

Image via IKEA

(For more local news from Florida, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Patch. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app; download the free Patch Android app here.)