Canberra's IKEA store will be a tourist attraction in its own right when it opens in the capital as early as October, with more than one million visitors each year.
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That's the view of Chief Minister Andrew Barr, who sought to debunk rumours of "sweetheart deals" to bring the Swedish giant to the ACT during a tour of the Majura Park site that will open in time for Christmas.
Although the trademark blue and yellow is unmissable on the store's exterior, it will be a while before the inside looks like the much-loved homeware store - the roof is up but the floor is still dirt.
Since the first sod was turned on the site last October, 200 construction workers have made steady progress.
After Easter, IKEA would begin a recruitment drive for 280 people to join the 35-strong team in full- and part-time positions, IKEA's human resources manager, Charmaine Hick, said.
"We have over 800 people on the waiting list for jobs," she said.
"We're looking for people with passion … we do put some people through the task of building our furniture from scratch … if you don't want to do that than it's probably not the place to work."
Customers will set off on a journey of more than two kilometres to make their way around the 26,000 square metre store – about two-thirds the size of the Tempe store in Sydney.
Mr Barr said concerns about the impact on existing Canberra businesses were "overstated", instead the store would act as a magnet for residents from the surrounding region and "stop the leakage" of Canberrans who travel to Sydney to shop.
"The consumer is king and the consumer will determine what products they want to buy," he said.
"The idea that we would shut out competition is just crazy."
Besides the ACT government helping to identify a block of land for IKEA, sold at market price, it was a "straight commercial proposition".
"There's been no inducements, no payroll tax holidays, no special benefits for IKEA; they've made a decision to locate in this market," he said.
Ms Hick said visits from IKEA designers researching how 150 Canberra households lived earlier this year revealed we were more likely to live in houses with children, unlike the clientele of the Sydney stores who were typically apartment-dwellers.
When Canberrans step into the store they should see themselves reflected in the displays and home visits will continue after the store opens.
"You should be able to walk in and identify 'yes I need that solution for my home, yes I have that problem and IKEA gets it and can fix that for me'," Ms Hick said.
