Ikea is coming! Hooray! We LOVE when hot national retailers hit Nashville
We Nashvillians love to think of ourselves as unique and trendy, but when Ikea says they're coming, it breaks Tennessee's Internet
Brad Schmitt
Yes, Nashville is packed with locally owned trendy boutiques, like Reese Witherspoon’s Draper James in 12 South or the new Lemon Laine natural beauty shop in East Nashville.
Adorbs.
In fact, small stores continue to open in 12 South, Hillsboro Village, East Nashville and Hill Center.
But it seems what Music City truly craves is the validation that comes from powerhouse national retailers setting up shop here.
Gigantic case in point: Ikea’s announcement that one of its contemporary Swedish furniture stores would open in Antioch in 2020. That is the single biggest Nashville retail story of 2017. In fact, it’s one of the biggest stories of the year in Nashville, period, as hundreds of thousands of people read the news online.
"IKEA is the most important thing that has happened in or to Nashville since its founding," commenter Doug Dean posted on Tennessean.com. "Anyone who disagrees is shallow & narrow-minded and should be exiled to Alabama or Mississippi."
Mayor Megan Barry joked that the Ikea opening here may be more popular than she is.
“I’d sure like that to be the summer of 2019,” said Barry, who’s up for re-election in August 2019. “I’m just saying.”
That’s not the only trendy Swedish company set to invade Nashville in 2019.
Fashion retailer H&M announced it will have a flagship store in the new downtown Fifth + Broadway mixed-use development, the third H&M store to open in Middle Tennessee.
Ja!
Other national companies with buzz-worthy Nashville openings recently include trendy eyeglass company Warby Parker, organic grocery store Sprouts and Australian skin care company Aesop.
And Instacart in March joined Amazon Prime and Google Express in offering delivery of groceries to Nashville homes.
Flirtation with national retail continues. Nashville is one of dozens of cities trying to pull is Amazon’s second headquarters.
OK, fine, but when are we going to land Zara or a real Crate and Barrel?
Reach Brad Schmitt at brad@tennessean.com or 615-259-8384 or on Twitter @bradschmitt.