Rob AriasIf you quiz people in the greater Bay Area where Emeryville is, they’ll likely mention something about IKEA. And while locals may shudder at this notion, it’s irrefutable that the blue-and-yellow-themed Scandinavian furniture store is part of Emeryville’s modern identity and a symbol of the city’s economic resurgence that began to rapidly accelerate in the 1990s.
If there’s anything more emblematic of Emeryville’s shift from a gritty, industrial town to the live-work, retail mecca it is today, it’s IKEA.
And while the Emeryville IKEA is no longer the only IKEA in the Bay Area, it’s still the first and a source of pride for the city and its residents.
On Saturday, April 12, 2025, IKEA officially marked 25 years in Emeryville.
1991: Barbary Coast Steel Departure
Prior to IKEA, the land was the home of Judson Steel that straddled the Oakland border from 1882 to 1986. Judson employed thousands during its century-plus of steel fabrication that included contributions to both the Bay and Golden Gate Bridges among many other iconic structures.
Increasingly stringent environmental regulations in tandem with ongoing labor disputes and foreign competition applied financial pressure to Judson, leading to their closure.
Birmingham Steel acquired the factory the following year and continued operations as Barbary Coast Steel until 1991 when they closed the plant for good and moved their equipment to Seattle.
“I had to get them in Emeryville.”
City of Emeryville Economic Development & Housing Department project coordinator Ron Gerber
It was later revealed that soon after this departure was announced, the city first began courting IKEA. IKEA had opened their first U.S. store in Pennsylvania in 1985 and their instant popularity with consumers lead to a rapid expansion plan.
City of Emeryville Economic Development & Housing Department project coordinator Ron Gerber recalled visiting an IKEA store and deciding it would be a perfect fit for Emeryville. “I had to get them in Emeryville,” Gerber recalled in this 2000 Oakland Tribune story shortly before the store’s eventual opening.
The state’s early 1990s economic recession would delay this vision by nearly a decade.
South Bayfront & 40th St. – Shellmound Overpass
With the completion of the East Bay Bridge Shopping Center in 1994 in tandem with the departure of Birmingham Steel, the city began expediting plans to redevelop the area referred to as The South Bayfront.
The City’s Redevelopment Agency began acquiring land used for decades for heavy industry and undertook remediating the soil.
To guide development in the area, the city created the South Bayfront Design Guidelines. These plans called for both residential and mixed-use regional retail, including a shopping center and hotel at the site of the former C.K. Williams/Pfizer plant. This shopping center would later become Bay Street and the hotel a Courtyard by Marriott (now “Sonesta”).
In order to make this area more attractive to developers, it would need better access. The Powell Street I-80 interchange was one of the few ways in and out of the area, and an alternative was needed.
The city devised plans to connect 40th Street to Shellmound over the Southern Pacific railroad tracks to alleviate congestion at Powell St. The 40th Street-Shellmound overpass was completed c. 1995.
1997: “Preliminary” Talks with IKEA
The Swedish-owned modern furniture store had already opened two locations in Southern California (Burbank in 1990 and Fontana in 1992) with two more on the way. With their eyes set on Northern California, they began scouting locations with accessibility, land availability/cost, and demographics being key considerations. Emeryville apparently met these criteria, and discussions ensued.
A buzz began to grow in 1997 when it was revealed in local news sources that IKEA was in “preliminary” talks to acquire the 10-acre parcel that overlapped Oakland (precisely 38% in Oakland). But to receive approval, they’d need to convince both cities that the economic benefits outweighed the vehicular problems that a new store would inevitably create.
They purchased the site on October 1997 for $14 million.
1998: Project Approval
IKEA representatives enticed local officials with sales tax revenues exceeding $1.4 million annually and 300 retail jobs paying above the state minimum wage. The location anticipated north of $55 million in sales its first year and $100 million annually within 5 years. Sales tax revenue would be spit proportionately between the municipalities with 60% going to Emeryville and 40% to Oakland.
“We’ll help put Emeryville on the map,” IKEA project manager Gary Ternes told SF Gate while advocating for approval of the project. IKEA also promised to be a retail anchor that would attract other retailers to the area. “We could not get a better site for this location,” Ternes noted, pointing out the visibility from the MacArthur Maze.
“We’ll help put Emeryville on the map.”
IKEA project manager Gary Ternes
Those opposed to the project argued that the “extreme” congestion and auto emissions created outweighed any economic benefit. The store was projected to draw 1.5 million annual visitors into the city.
Despite these concerns, this approval by both cities was provided in 1998. Construction of the store was estimated to cost $16.9 million.
They officially broke ground on the 314,000 sq. ft. store on February 26, 1999. At the time, it was their 5th IKEA in California and 14th in the U.S.
2000: Emeryville IKEA Grand Opening
After a Grand Opening Date of Wednesday, April 12, 2000 was announced, the city began bracing for impact. 15,000 customers were expected, and the Emeryville Police began planning for the insurgence months in advance. The force enlisted 20 officers distributed across 10 traffic hot spots around the city and a contingency plan of waving people back onto the freeway should the city experience total gridlock.
The first customer arrived two days prior, setting up a tent. The night before, as many as 250 fans were already in line for the promise of a free chair valued at $149 to the first 100 customers. The day would also offer face-painting, mimes, and discounted Swedish meat balls to the legions of fans that made the trek.
By the time the doors opened at 9 a.m., the 1,000-vehicle lot had already reached capacity.
”Emeryville was in a state of stupor, and its roadways were in a state of gridlock,” described SF Gate reporter Steve Rubenstein. “The Ikea parking lot, roughly the size of Delaware, filled to capacity shortly after dawn and folks ditched their cars as far as a mile away and trudged with uplifted eyes to the gleaming giant yellow-and-blue apparition on Shellmound Street.”
The gridlock never breached the adjacent highway as feared, and no accidents were reported within the city. The estimated 15,000 customers matched projections, with many customers traveling all the way from Sacramento.
IKEA later mitigated the parking issues by constructing a multilevel parking garage south of the store, that was completed the following year (entirely in West Oakland). This increased parking capacity from 1,000 to 1,800 spaces.
A year later, in 2002, the Bay Street Shopping Center opened to the public, adding to the city’s retail corridor that now extended nearly the entire length of Shellmound, including the Powell Street Plaza and the then-named Emery Bay Public Market, anchored by a Borders Bookstore.
2003: IKEA Rapidly Expands Northern California Footprint
Emeryville stood as the only Bay Area location for only a few years as an East Palo Alto location opened in 2003. This second location “eased traffic significantly,” according to the city.
IKEA has also opened a smaller, mid-market location in SF. A third store recently received approval in Dublin after a long process.
There are currently 52 IKEA stores in the U.S. as of January 2025.
2025: 25-Year Celebration
The Emeryville IKEA continued to improve on the location, including adding solar panels to their roof in 2011 and other circulation refinements. They added EV charging last year.
IKEA continues to be active in the community, and this year, in collaboration with the Emery Unified School District, they furnished a new Teen Center at the ECCL.
The Emeryville IKEA will acknowledge their Silver Anniversary milestone beginning April 25 when they will launch a 25-day celebration including activities, giveaways and special offers.
Additional information can be found on IKEAs website.
ROB: Thank you for this terrific story. IKEA has proven to be a 100% win for Emeryville. Thankfully, the City Council and Manager had the courage and foresight to ignore the NIMBY nay-sayers and approve IKEA. IKEA very graciously donated ALL of the furniture for the Chamber of Commerce when we moved our office to the Horton Street location in 2002 — and IKEA had two employees spend an entire day with us assembling the furniture, also. Emeryville was quite fortunate to land IKEA.
Bob Canter
President & CEO
Emeryville Chamber of Commerce, 2001-2015