What does Cincinnati have that Indianapolis doesn’t?
As of today, an IKEA. The popular Swedish home-furnishings chain opened its 34th U.S. store this morning in suburban Cincinnati, its final foray into the Midwest after a five-year growth spurt that never quite made it to Indianapolis. Instead, IKEA chose to add locations in Bloomington, Minn., near Mall of America; Bolingbrook, Ill., outside Chicago; Canton, Mich., outside Detroit; and now West Chester Township, Ohio, Cincinnati’s fastest-growing suburb. “This is it for the Midwest for the time being,” company spokesman Joseph Roth said. “We’re counting on Indianapolis customers to make the drive.” So far, so good. Even before the Cincinnati-area store opened, IKEA had about 25,000 central Indiana residents in its customer database, he said. Some made the trek to nearby stores — the closest have been in Bolingbrook and Schaumburg, Ill. — and others ordered from the annual catalog. But that apparently wasn’t enough to attract IKEA, which considered several area locations, including Lafa
