Ikea breaks ground in St. Louis

Ikea broke ground on its St. Louis location Tuesday morning.

Joining Ikea representatives were elected officials from across the state, including St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay.

“I am told there are already over 100,000 Ikea customers in St. Louis now that buy their Ikea furniture somewhere else. So they’re taking our money and spending it somewhere else. This will be an opportunity to keep that money in St. Louis and bring other dollars from an eight-state area to come in and shop," Slay told the St. Louis Business Journal.

With construction underway, the corner of Vandeventer and Forest Park avenues will soon be a 380,000-square-foot Ikea store.

The city welcomed officials from the Swedish company with personalized Cardinals jerseys with "Ikea" on the back.

Read more or watch a video from yesterday's events from the St. Louis Business Journal.