WINNIPEG - When Jenn Dobson moved to Winnipeg from Ontario a few weeks ago, she didn't realize she'd be living in a region without Flarke bookcases, Poang armchairs and $1 breakfasts.
The vast expanse between Toronto and Calgary is devoid of the sprawling blue-and-yellow Ikea furniture centres that have become a fixture to most urban, cost-conscious Canadians.
"I was not impressed," says the mother of three. "We didn't bring all of our furnishings out here with us. I just thought I'd pop into the Ikea when we got there."
Instead, Dobson did what many have done -- joined the thousands who have signed petitions and formed a Facebook group to lobby the Swedish retail giant to build a Winnipeg store.
The effort seems to be paying off. Ikea set champagne corks popping this week by confirming it has found a site in the city that could accommodate the big-box store.
"Winnipeg has been a market of interest," says company spokeswoman Madeleine Lowenborg-Frick. "We have been looking around to see if there are any suitable properties for a future Ikea store. We have not signed a deal or made a final purchase on any land, but we are seriously considering it."
Such an announcement wouldn't cause a ripple in any other market, but it set off a frenzy among fans in Winnipeg. Talk shows buzzed about the best Ikea location. Even Premier Gary Doer weighed in, saying he'd be thrilled if the Swedish retailer set up shop anywhere in Manitoba.
Other consumers, from northwestern Ontario to Saskatchewan, gushed about the "modern European style" and said some had been waiting 20 years for this moment.
"I don't 'shop' at IKEA -- I go on a pilgrimage," wrote Susan Nisbet on the Facebook page, which has more than 4,500 members. "I'm tired of begging friends in Calgary to bring me stuff."
Still, there were some who reacted like a cynical lover who has been scorned one too many times.
"I'm REALLY sick of the 'Ikea is coming to Winnipeg!' rumours that go around every few months," one blogger scoffed. "Just because Winnipeggers seem to like them, doesn't mean they will come."
The mass hysteria set off at the very mention of a new Ikea store baffles Robert Warren.
"I don't think anywhere else in Canada do they get into such a froth about Ikea," says Warren, executive director of the Asper Centre for Entrepreneurship at the University of Manitoba.
He says he doubts the retailer will ever fill the void in Manitoba and Saskatchewan because the demand -- aside from a vocal minority -- just isn't there. Neither is the magical threshold of a population of one million.
While some diehards drive more than seven hours to the United States to shop at Ikea and even hold "Ikea catalogue parties," Warren says the two provinces just can't guarantee the kind of sales the store generates in places such as Toronto or Calgary.
"This is a big tease," says Warren, who adds shoppers just want what they can't have. "It's kind of exotic."
If Winnipeg were to get a smaller-format Ikea store, Warren predicts the novelty would wear off pretty quickly.
There's also a small but determined band of resisters who hope the store never materializes. They take the position that Ikea represents a threat to the city's struggling businesses and would contribute to the "soul-crushing nightmare" of giant suburban stores that suck people from the downtown.
"There are many stores in Winnipeg that sell the same style of product, often better quality," Michael Petkau has chimed in on Facebook. "Why not support your local business?"
Mike Bosko, a cabinet-maker who works out of his garage, says Ikea caters to "cheapskates." In his entry on the social-networking site, he says local furniture companies are being forced to cut jobs to compete with stores like Ikea.
"Think about what you're buying and where it comes from," he wrote. "Buy quality and support your nation."
