Ikea Veteran to Head Tampa Store

December 9, 2008  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on December 10, 2008 Ikea, Conshohocken, Pa., announced the hiring of Monica Varela as manager of a new store in Tampa, Fla., that will be the Swedish company's 37th in the United States and third in Florida when it opens in the summer of 2009.

Varela, who worked at several department store chains, joined Ikea in 1989 as U.S. sales manager responsible for textiles. She moved to France in 1997 to be a commercial/supply manager with the the company's distribution services team. She joined IKEA Spain in 1999 as country sales leader and then as assistant manager for sales at an Ikea store in Madrid.

She returned to the U.S. In 2005 as assistant store manager for sales at the Elizabeth, N.J., store and, since last year, has been deputy store manager in Sunrise, Fla.