So the rumor mill is really spinning about ikea looking to put an ikea in Tulsa. This will be the only ikea in Oklahoma and Arkansas. So the rumor is they are looking to put 270,000 square foot store somewhere in the Tulsa metro. With a population of 4 million in a two hour drive I think it would do very well. What are your thoughts? Can Oklahoma and Arkansas support an ikea? Where in the Tulsa metro would you like it to go?

My guess would be Sapulpa. Makes it closer to metro-OKC, Stillwater, and Lawton and convenient for Wichita. If so, that would probably rule out an OKC location.

Tulsa would be an outlier in terms of population size, considering that Tulsa is nowhere CLOSE to 2 million in population.

Tulsa would be an outlier in terms of population size, considering that Tulsa is nowhere CLOSE to 2 million in population.

Agreed. The only way Tulsa would make sense is if they were also targeting the NW Arkansas market. Wichita is going to go to Kansas City.

The only other thing I can think of is that IKEA has bought the hype that Tulsa is a much better retail market than OKC.

It would do them better to look at sales tax collection numbers than to go based on hype alone. Even the people in NW Arkansas could drive to Kansas City just as easily. It isn't much different than OKC residents driving to Dallas.

I think that 2 million magic number is a little dated since Jacksonville is getting one and we are nowhere close to 2 million and the one in Orlando is only 2 hours away.

Memphis is getting one as well.

It will really suck though if Oklahoma's location ends up in Tulsa and not OKC.

Well they chose Memphis over Nashville. Nashville is a lot bigger then Memphis. Again the rumor is that this will be the ONLY one in Oklahoma and Arkansas.

Firstly, we should assume that IKEA is taking everything into consideration. This is generally assumed with these successful companies that have been around a while, it's what they do. So, I'm sure it should come as no surprise that they are looking at the geographic impact of Tulsa relative to OKC.

As it's been stated, the geographic impact (just throwing that generic term around) has Tulsa touching approximately 2-4 million people (I've heard both, I think the latter is with OKC included). This stretches into Arkansas, Missouri, and Kansas. While OKC is a couple hours away from DFW who has an IKEA already.

So, it appears that IKEA is going for the footprint and is being careful not to overlap too much into existing markets. That's what I'm taking away from this and shouldn't be taken personally. On the other foot, if they were choosing OKC, I'd be sitting here saying that it makes sense because they're the larger market, despite the relative distance to DFW.

And there's no way IKEA is building in Sapulpa simply because it puts the store 10 or 20 miles closer to OKC, but then again, I don't work for IKEA. If OKC is willing to drive up the turnpike in the first place, then driving the extra way into Tulsa proper isn't going to detract. It's not crazy to think Tulsa Hills, Cherokee Outlets (although I'd think even that one is doubtful), or somewhere in Midtown wouldn't be chosen at this point in time, but we'll see.

Not sure about the footprint thing either as they are now opening stores in relative close proximity to each other (Jax-Orlando-Tampa) and 2 not far apart in Miami/Ft Lauderdale. But if it was a central-place theory model Tulsa would certainly fit the pattern.

IKEA is scheduled to break ground here in Columbus, OH later this year, with opening slated for 2017. The nearest IKEA currently is less than two hours away in the Cincinnati area.

Agreed. The only way Tulsa would make sense is if they were also targeting the NW Arkansas market. Wichita is going to go to Kansas City.

The only other thing I can think of is that IKEA has bought the hype that Tulsa is a much better retail market than OKC.

At what point is it no longer hype? As much as I would love for an Ikea to pop up in OKC, I would be almost as happy with Tulsa. If they do pick Tulsa, that makes several LARGE retailers who have picked Tulsa first. I get that OKC is getting a few too, but not as popular ones. Anyway, if they do get the only OK Ikea, does that change from retailer hype, to retailer fact?

Not sure about the footprint thing either as they are now opening stores in relative close proximity to each other (Jax-Orlando-Tampa) and 2 not far apart in Miami/Ft Lauderdale. But if it was a central-place theory model Tulsa would certainly fit the pattern.

Yes, but every city you listed is large. We're talking combined metro populations of the cities listed of upwards to 12 million...

Tulsa will be fortunate to finally break 1 million in the next 3-5 years. So, I'm not sure the Florida cities are good examples when compared to Tulsa. Vastly different situations and cities as you know.
It only makes sense if they are expanding into a market in this part of the country to make sure they have a wide audience. At least, that's what I would think.

And again, this still puts the OKC market within 1.5 hours away, instead of going all in in OKC which has one down I-35 in DFW.


But, I'm going to stop here. Reading the comments, it's clear this is going to turn into an interesting argument between OKC vs Tulsa (and those are always fun :Smiley122 )when really there's no need to speculate any further past a rumor. For all we truly know IKEA could be googling this and laughing saying "we don't take any of these variables into consideration."

Who is making all these claims of NW Arkansas and Wichita going to KC for an ikea? In both cases it's closer to Tulsa/sapulpa by over an hour.

As much as I'd like one in OKC for convenience it's really obvious from a business perspective that there's maximum radial demographic from Tulsa.

Who is making all these claims of NW Arkansas and Wichita going to KC for an ikea? In both cases it's closer to Tulsa/sapulpa by over an hour.


I know NW Arkansas is closer to Tulsa, but is Wichita? Especially considering that people in Wichita have a straight shot to Kansas City up I-35.

I do agree that when it comes to destination retailers, that also plays in Tulsa's favor simply because of the surrounding smaller communities that feed into it. Oklahoma City is a lot more isolated and there isn't much west of OKC that is attractive to these retailers. Tulsa is a shopping destination for OKC, NW Arkansas, Fort Smith, Joplin, and pretty much all of eastern Oklahoma.

I know NW Arkansas is closer to Tulsa, but is Wichita? Especially considering that people in Wichita have a straight shot to Kansas City up I-35.

I do agree that when it comes to destination retailers, that also plays in Tulsa's favor simply because of the surrounding smaller communities that feed into it. Oklahoma City is a lot more isolated and there isn't much west of OKC that is attractive to these retailers. Tulsa is a shopping destination for OKC, NW Arkansas, Fort Smith, Joplin, and pretty much all of eastern Oklahoma.

I've driven both, Tulsa is about 20 minutes closer than Kansas City. Both are just brutal, boring dives.

I've always thought that Tulsa would make much more sense from a pure geographic point of view. Putting one in OKC would not pick up NW Arkansas at all, where Tulsa would basically fill the entire hole between DFW and KC.

I don't see it going to Sapulpa at all. Sapulpa is just out of the way and forgotten about to the majority of Tulsa. I see it going around Tulsa Hills or the 111th and Memorial Area. The Memorial area would be further from a highway than they typically are, though.