There’s a unique and not obvious characteristic of the IKEA in Renton, Washington. Unlike the other IKEAs in the U.S., this one is owner-operated. The two co-owners, Anders Berglund and Bjorn Bailey, were high ranking IKEA executives in the early 1990s when the company proposed they run their own store. They renovated a Boeing plant because they could not afford to custom-build (it’s the only IKEA store in North America that was not custom-built) and opened the doors in 1994. After a slow first year the store blossomed. They expect to lose 7% of sales to a new Portland IKEA next year and predict a new location north of Seattle will exist in 5-10 years. But they won’t be involved in either one as they decided from the start to own and operate the one store.