Yesterday, I got a press release from IKEA USA about the Swedish company’s first store in New York City. The 346,000-square-foot IKEA Brooklyn in Red Hook opens on June 18th. Here’s a quote from the PR:
“We are thrilled that our plan to make IKEA Brooklyn accessible for our many customers is now set to go for the variety of planned alternative transportation options,” said Mike Baker, store manager of the future IKEA Brooklyn. “Now we are focused on hiring and training new coworkers, as well as on transforming the building’s interior into a furnished IKEA store.”
I am not sure how many Red Hook residents have been employed by IKEA thus far but the store says that it is making an effort to hire up to 500 residents. IKEA has a good reputation as an employer. It has been ranked in FORTUNE’s annual “100 Best Companies
to Work For” list for three years in a row. They are, apparently, offering full health benefits to part-time employees.
IKEA is also on Working Mother magazine’s annual list of “100 Best Companies for
Working Mothers” (four years in a row) and Training magazine’s annual
“Top 100” ranking of companies that excel at human capital development (whatever that means).
Hopefully they will be a positive force for
employment of Red Hook residents
Transportation to and from Red Hook is famously limited. Perhaps IKEA will bring about some much needed changes in this department as well.
The Red Hook IKEA, which is located on 22 acres along the Erie Basin waterfront in Red Hook, south of the BQE/Gowanus Expressway and southeast of the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel. Expanded transit options to the store include:
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Bus – The routes of both the MTA B61 and B77 bus lines have been extended to stop in front of IKEA Brooklyn. Customers can consult regular bus schedules for designated times. Bus stop locations at IKEA will be marked with signs.
IKEA Shuttle from Subway Stations – IKEA will operate a free shuttle every 15 minutes from subway stations at 4th Avenue / 9th Street and Smith/9th Street for visitors riding the F, G, M, or R trains. A similar service on a different route will be offered to visitors taking the 2, 3, 4, 5, M, N or R trains to Court Street/Borough Hall. All routes will have signage, indicating a stop for the shuttle to IKEA Brooklyn, and will run every day from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
And then there’s the IKEA Water from Pier 11. The good news ist hat IKEA has contracted with New York Water Taxi to provide free water taxi service from lower Manhattan ’s Pier 11 across the East River to IKEA Brooklyn. This service is available every 40 minutes, seven days a week, from 10:00 a.m. – 8:30 p.m.
For shoppers, there will also be a range of delivery options. IKEA Brooklyn will offer same-day or next-day courier service (for smaller items) and home delivery (for larger items) options so customers can transport their purchases to their home. There also will be Enterprise rent-a-van service available on-site, as well as Zip Cars and approximately 1,400 parking spaces.
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