Swedish furniture chain IKEA recently announced its largest investment in U.S. stores last week. IKEA’s owner and operator Ingka Holding is planning to spend $2.9 billion and will open 17 new stores domestically, according to The Wall Street Journal.  

IKEA debuted in the United States started in Montgomery County.

The furniture giant, founded in Sweden in 1943 began expanding to other countries in the 1960s and 1970s. By the 1980s, founder Ingvar Kamprand was eyeing the U.S. 

IKEA chose Plymouth Meeting for its beachhead headquarters and spent almost $2 million to promote the grand opening, according to The New York Times.  

The first IKEA eventually relocated to Conshohocken.

There are now 51 IKEA stores across the U.S.

Eight new locations and nine “plan-and-order points” (where customers plan room layouts with consultants) are on their way. 

Read more about IKEA’s role in the U.S. market in the The Wall Street Journal.   

The Wall Street Journal on the economics of IKEA.