The new Northwestern DC will serve IKEA stores in Alberta, British Columbia, Utah, Oregon and Washington as well as supplying other stores across the country as required. The facility will be located on 70 acres of land in the Frederickson Industrial Area, close to the Port of Tacoma. It adds long-term capacity and infrastructure that complements IKEA’s total North American distribution network.
Some 13 miles south of the Port, the Frederickson site is served by a short-line railroad, Tacoma Rail that has direct connections to Port terminals. There is direct access to Interstate 5 and State Route 12 via Canyon road and when completed, the planned Cross-Base Highway will provide direct connection to the Interstate. It is the Puget Sound region's largest single industrial area zoned for heavy manufacturing with industrial-capacity utilities and infrastructure in place.
“This transaction is much more than putting land into use to create jobs," says Derrick Urquhart, the Port's manager of Industrial Real Estate. "IKEA will drive a considerable amount of cargo through Tacoma, adding to the Port of Tacoma's significant regional economic impact."
IKEA sells nearly 10,000 exclusively designed items through its network of stores. The company has more than 1,300 suppliers in 54 countries around the world. The Port of Tacoma is the sixth-largest container port in North America, handling an estimated $35 billion in annual trade and a 2005 volume of 2.1 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent containers).
