But this IKEA location won’t look exactly like its sisters in Frisco and Grand Prairie. Instead, the store will boast a new format as a “Plan and order point with Pick-up.”
What is this plan-’n’-order-point concept of which we speak?
At these IKEAs, customers can design their own space or consult with planning specialists on how they want their bedroom, kitchen or living room to look. The facility won’t be as large as IKEA’s other locations, so don’t worry about hunting down those hard-to-find “shortcuts” that pop up intermittently in the trad stores’ labyrinthine layouts.
Of note: If you fall in love with that urban-chic Fjällbo TV unit, you’ll have to wait just a smidge. “Plan and order point with Pick-up” stores don’t offer items that you can buy and bring home that day. You can, however, have them shipped or scheduled to snag “from the convenient Pick-up location next door,” according to a press release on IKEA’s website.
This is all fine and good, of course, but we here at the Observer never shy away from posing the hard-hitting questions. We reached out to IKEA U.S.’s press team to ask the burning question that’s really on everyone’s minds: Will there be meatballs?
Nej. That’s Swede-speak for “no.”
“There will not be an IKEA Food offering at our new Plan & order points,” Rob Parsons, IKEA U.S. market area manager, told the Observer via email. “The new [Southlake] location will complement our already existing larger format stores in Frisco, Texas and Grand Prairie, Texas where customers are able to enjoy the IKEA Food offering.”
OK, don’t get us wrong. Our love affair with IKEA is forever unwavering, but that news hit us like a ton of bricks. This betrayal extends beyond the fact that the spherical meat-treats won’t be ripe for the nibbling. It’s also because a lack of IKEA food offerings presumably means that the bomb-ass cinna-buns won’t be there to comfort famished Karens on cheat days. Nor will the “LÖRDAGSGODIS salty liquorice,” which is reminiscent of the candy you’d unearth from your grandma’s loveseat as a kid.
Still, there is a glimmer of hope for the home chefs among us. Although Southlake won’t be serving up them 'balls, IKEA’s website most graciously reveals the company's world-famous recipe.
Meatballs or not, as dedicated IKEA diehards, we honestly can’t wait for the Southlake location to get here. So, we ask ...
When Will IKEA Southlake Open?
Parsons said the new digs will launch in late 2023, and that it’s part of the retailer’s “journey in the U.S. to become more accessible and affordable for the many.” He added that the two other Dallas-Fort Worth-area IKEAs have been up and running for some time. The first North Texas store opened in Frisco in 2005, and Grand Prairie became home to the second one 10 years later.Southlake won’t be the only lucky city to sport the new-format IKEA. Parsons notes that the furniture giant recently announced plans for two other P&O point with Pick-up spots in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.
On a separate but highly related note, all this IKEA talk reminds us of a Pulitzer contender from the Observer’s archives.
In June 2021, we reported that Frisco had been named the second-least horny city in all of the U.S., according to a clickbaity ranking by the website LawnStarter.com. We wondered at the time whether this was related to the fact that Frisco’s IKEA, with its blinding fluorescent lights, is arguably the town’s greatest attraction.
Whatever the case may be, we’re just glad to see IKEA thrive.
“Everything is bigger in Texas, but it doesn’t have to be further,” Parsons said in a statement on IKEA’s website. “We are so excited to open IKEA Southlake and get closer to our DFW customers.”
Ditto – er, samma här.
The yet-to-open IKEA will be at 1041 E. Southlake Blvd. in the Park Village shopping center in Southlake.
