Sad to see that they backed out of Cary! It would be awesome for DT to get such a huge retailer.
Sure, because people buy furniture about as often as they buy groceries. 
No, furniture isn’t a regular shopping necessity but an IKEA would be a regional draw, bringing people from all over the Southeast into the store and surrounding area. The resulting spillover would greatly benefit an area like DTR.
I liked the plans for Ikea in Cary. It was better than plopping it down on the edge of town.
Now that they are pulling out I’m afraid they may consider that option again. 
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My comment was tongue in cheek and sarcastic. I do think that Raleigh can make a play for Ikea between downtown proper and I40 on S. Saunders. Mapfrappe confirms that the Miami store and its connected parking garage can fit on that Penmarc Dr. parcel, right were S. Saunders meets 40.
Not to feed into conspiracy theories of anything, but maybe Ikea’s waiting to see what Amazon does? If Raleigh gets HQ2, then it would position it to fit better into their new model of placing stores in larger urban vs suburban locations. That Penmarc location would be great to get in on now before Amazon arrives. The Southern Gateway is slated for a lot of changes, and maybe Ikea didn’t do all the research before they selected Cary.
But nobody better take away my Publix! I’ve been waiting 12 years since I moved here from FL to have a Publix near downtown! And I think Smokey Hollow/Peace at West is a great location for it.
I think it was less about Cary for Ikea, and more about a shift in business model.
They pulled out of Glendale too and might do the same in Nashville.
Here is a link to the news of their shift to city center showrooms…
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It may be a pipe dream, but imagine if Kane could score an urban Ikea for a second phase of Smokey Hollow!!!
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This resident of The West sure hopes not! 
Maybe this would be a great time for the town of Cary to step up and offer a place in their new downtown district?
While I can understand that R-Dub; we’ve clearly passed the point of adjacent residents to have a valid concern about what gets built next to them.
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I doubt Ikea is thinking about second-tier downtowns. They want Midtown Manhattan, the Loop in Chicago, San Francisco…the big ones. “Major urban centers” was the wording they used IIRC, and that means even places like Charlotte and Atlanta might have to wait.
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@ Kevin
So, the fact that they where going to Cary doesn’t matter?
I think that it depends. If they are already saturated in a market, are they going to move those stores into the city center? Or, are they going to enter new markets by going into those city centers? Have they indicated one way or the other?
They were going to Cary under their old, suburban, big-box model that they have specifically indicated they are phasing out.
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None the less. They “like” Cary!
As most retailers do… 
There’s really no chance that Ikea is moving to Smokey Hollow so maybe that discussion could happen elsewhere?
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This really is just a change in business model: Nashville’s new store was also cancelled, as was Glendale (AZ)'s store. We’re not alone here.
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I think the new CEO of Ikea needs to get his head out of his ass. He’ll be gone in a couple years. I hate when businesses forget what they do best and try to get that extra 10% some focus group indicated they should go after. Ikea sells modern furniture of moderate quality for cheap. This appeals to suburbanites. Putting the store in a high rent urban area with people getting their furniture from either rrestoration hardware or the consignment shop just doesn’t fit with Ikea.
Here’s my wish list of “big box” or otherwise retail for DT Raleigh: Crate and Barrel/CB2, Apple, Gap, H&M, TJMaxx, Williams Sonoma, and Pottery Barn. The reason for this list is two-fold. Keep downtown residents in downtown for everyday retail needs, and attract people to downtown for “destination” shopping. Once in town, these shoppers will eat at restaurants and expand their visit to more than just going to a single store. Oh, and I still want a multi-level urban model multi-screen cinema. This is the sort of urban amenity that would launch more action like film festivals. While I appreciate Alamo Drafthouse being near downtown, it’s just not the same thing. I think that they should have been patient and looked for something that was either actually downtown or at least immediately adjacent. To put that in perspective, Alamo is further east of DT proper than Cameron Village is west, and nobody considers CV to actually be downtown.
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