U.S. – IKEA, the world’s leading home furnishings retailer, announced it is submitting plans to the City of Jacksonville, Florida for a store that would increase the Swedish company’s presence in the southeastern U.S. with a fifth store in the state. 

(There are currently IKEA stores in the Central Florida cities of Orlando and Tampa as well as the South Florida cities of Sunrise and Sweetwater.) Pending approvals, construction of IKEA Jacksonville could begin Summer 2016, with an opening in Fall 2017.

“We are excited at the possibility of growing our southeastern U.S. presence with this proposed Jacksonville store,” said IKEA U.S. president Lars Petersson. “This proposed location in an emerging retail corridor would provide our already 110,000 Jacksonville-area customers their own store and introduce the unique IKEA shopping experience to other consumers throughout North Florida, Southern Georgia and beyond.”

Since its 1943 founding in Sweden, IKEA has offered home furnishings of good design and function at low prices so the majority of people can afford them. There are currently more than 370 IKEA stores in 48 countries, including 41 in the U.S.