Competitors see benefit in new IKEA
Famed store expected to draw customers to 'furniture mecca'
STOUGHTON -- At the end of Stockwell Drive in Stoughton, just over the Avon line, the trademark dark blue walls are already in place. Work crews are racing to finish New England's first IKEA furniture store by November, in time for holiday shopping.
The 350,000-square-foot IKEA outlet, eagerly awaited by fans of its Scandinavian-style wares, is only part of a larger furniture store boom along Route 24 in Stoughton, Avon, and Randolph that is turning the area into a must-go destination for shoppers looking for bargains and variety.
''The northern part of Route 24 is becoming a furniture mecca," said Jeffrey C. O'Neill, managing member of Quincy-based Compass Realty Partners, developer of a furniture store plaza in Stoughton Technology Park, on the other side of the highway from IKEA. ''They all help each other."
Compass Realty's $16 million, 80,000-square-foot furniture store plaza, now under construction, will house a Bassett Furniture,
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Similar clusters of furniture stores can be found on Route 9 in Natick and Route 6 in Seekonk.
In some fields, the arrival of an industry giant spells trouble for smaller stores. When
But this appears not to be happening with the impending arrival of IKEA in Stoughton. In fact, smaller stores are moving to the area to be closer to the big retail draw.
''It's analogous to a restaurant district, if you will," said Christopher Cooney, president of the Brockton-based Metro South Chamber of Commerce. ''If you are going out to eat, you are more likely to go to where there is a cluster of stores."
Jordan's Furniture appears to be unfazed by the coming of the Swedish furniture giant.
''We actually look at it as an opportunity," said a Jordan's spokeswoman, Heather Copelas. ''As far as we're concerned, what it will do is just drive more furniture consumers to our area."
IKEA helps nearby retailers not only by drawing customers, but also by sparking interest generally in furniture shopping, according to IKEA spokesman Joseph Roth.
''We elevate the focus on home furnishing in general and redecorating specifically," said Roth. ''The idea gets into the psyche of shoppers."
James Chung, head of the Boston marketing strategy and research firm Reach Advisors, predicts that IKEA will not hurt existing furniture stores but instead trigger new buying. He said that people who patronize IKEA ''would have been the customers taking hand-me-downs from family, going to garage sales, or turning to Craigslist," an online bulletin board.
IKEA's products have a reputation for being inexpensive, fashionable, and fun, according to Michael Levy, professor of marketing at Babson College. IKEA furniture typically comes disassembled, and consumers take it with them.
''Their target market is into instant gratification," Levy said. ''The idea of coming home with an SUV full of furniture and setting it up the next morning in your dining room is very appealing to them."
According to Chung, one of the few retailers to tap the furniture market that IKEA is going after is the Target department store chain, which is building up its furniture line. Target is planning a store in Stoughton at the Route 139 interchange on Route 24, near IKEA.
Clusters of furniture stores have been drawn into the orbit of IKEA elsewhere in the United States, where it now has two dozen outlets. In the Dallas suburb of Frisco, Rooms to Go and Ashley Furniture quickly followed IKEA.
Consumers should benefit from the area's concentration of stores, according to Cooney, the Metro South chamber president.
''They are all going to have to sharpen their pencils to keep their prices competitive. If you don't find what you are looking for in one store, you can just go to the next parking lot," Cooney said.
Robert Preer can be reached at preer@globe.com. 
