IKEA considered Grand Avenue, Pabst Farms before choosing Oak Creek

OAK CREEK -- IKEA, in the early years of the search for a place to build its first Wisconsin store, considered The Shops of Grand Avenue in downtown Milwaukee among others.

The Swedish retailer also looked as far west as Pabst Farms in Oconomowoc, according to information Ikea filed this month with the state of Wisconsin. The prospect of the retailer coming to Grand Avenue, or to Past Farms, would be a game-changer both for downtown Milwaukee or western Waukesha County.

In the end, it wasn’t meant to be. The retailer instead plans to break ground this year at Drexel Avenue and Interstate 94 in Oak Creek. But that decision came after a site hunt that started in 2007, and involved close looks at 16 sites.

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