"The former IKEA store in Cordova has a new owner." That was how WREG opened its September 29 report. The deal closed on Monday, September 28. The report didn't name the owner. Danny Buring of The Shopping Center Group, who represented the seller, said the buyer is a national retailer with no Memphis presence yet. He declined to name the company because the buyer asked him not to.
The name is what everyone along Germantown Parkway wants to know, and it will come out eventually. The bigger story is the timing. The blue-and-yellow box sat empty for less than five months. Over that stretch, nearly every other large vacancy on this part of the corridor also drew a buyer, a permit or a renaming request. One building still has no announced plan.
A Five-Month Gap on 29 Acres
The building is big. WREG described a 271,000-square-foot showroom and warehouse on 29 acres. The seller's broker gives slightly more precise numbers: 271,150 square feet on about 29.3 acres. Whoever bought it is entering the Memphis market with a building that held Tennessee's only IKEA.
Here's how quickly things moved:
- December 2016: IKEA opens near Germantown Parkway and Interstate 40. It is Tennessee's first and only IKEA and the company's 43rd U.S. store.
- February 10, 2026: IKEA announces the Memphis store will close. The company cites a review of market share, business performance, cost structure and physical assets.
- May 3, 2026: The store closes after nearly a decade.
- August 13, 2026: A request to rename Ikea Way is held for a month at the applicant's request.
- September 10, 2026: A revised renaming request goes before the Land Use Control Board, with a staff recommendation to approve.
- September 28, 2026: The sale closes.
The price will become public when the deed is recorded. As of September 29, the Commercial Appeal reported that the deed and sale had not yet posted with the Shelby County Register of Deeds. That filing is the next public record to watch.
The Street Out Front Is Losing IKEA's Name
The road through the property is called Ikea Way. It runs about 2,030 feet between North Germantown Parkway and Market Farms Drive. Renaming it has taken two tries so far. In August, the request was to change Ikea Way to Market Plaza Drive, and the applicant asked for a one-month hold. The September request asks for a different name, Meetinghouse Way.
County staff supported it. Their report says a new name would "provide a more relevant and enduring identity for the corridor that reflects the site's current and anticipated future use." It also says the change would help delivery drivers and emergency responders who might still link the street to a store that's gone. Only five properties have addresses on this stretch, so staff expect little impact on addressing.
The conditions explain why the signs haven't changed yet. Under the staff recommendation, the new name takes effect 60 days after the Memphis City Council approves it. The applicant pays to replace the sign blades and covers MLGW's address reassignment fees. MLGW's Address Assignment Department then notifies the property owners along the road. WREG's September 29 report says the address has already changed. The county documents we reviewed show a staff recommendation, not a final Council vote. Expect to see Ikea Way on your GPS for a while longer.
The Hotels Didn't Leave With the Store
Market Farms Drive is the clearest sign that this part of Cordova didn't rely on IKEA alone. In December 2025, while the store was still open, the Commercial Appeal reported three new hotels planned along Market Farms Drive, just south of IKEA. One was under active development at the time: a four-story Marriott between the existing Hilton Garden Inn and TownePlace Suites. Marriott didn't disclose which brand it will be or when it will finish.
Then IKEA closed in May, and hotel plans kept coming. On July 31, almost three months after the closing, a permit for a Holiday Inn Express at 2295 Market Farms Drive was under review with the Memphis and Shelby County Division of Planning and Development. The paper called this part of the Wolfchase area "booming with short-stay options." A hotel developer filing after the area's best-known anchor left suggests that, for them, the draw is the wider Wolfchase area, not one store.
A Church Becomes a Grocery, and the Strip Next Door Fills In
Elsewhere on the Parkway, a different kind of building is getting a new use. The former Life Church at 1800 N. Germantown Parkway was bought in 2024 by Tommy Fan and Monica Truong of N&L Holdings for nearly $10 million. They're spending another $7 million to turn the 53,000-square-foot building into an international market focused on Asian food, currently called Grand Mart.
That's roughly $17 million for a building about one-fifth the size of the former IKEA. Here a private owner is converting a church into a grocery, while the IKEA box goes to a national chain. The May report listed no opening date, and we haven't found an update since.
The grocery is already drawing neighbors. In July, plans for a New York Hair Salon at 1790 N. Germantown Parkway were under review with the county planning division. The salon has one other location at 5142 Old Summer Road in East Memphis, and its website says its stylists specialize in Asian hair care. The Commercial Appeal described the strip as "mostly vacant" and "beginning to fill back up again." A salon with that specialty choosing to sit next to an Asian-focused market fits with the market's draw.
The Corridor at a Glance
| Address | What was there | What's planned | Latest public status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Former IKEA, Germantown Pkwy at I-40 | IKEA, 2016 to May 2026 | Unnamed national retailer new to Memphis | Sale closed Sept. 28, 2026; price not yet recorded |
| Ikea Way, Germantown Pkwy to Market Farms Dr. | Street named for the store | Meetinghouse Way | Staff recommended approval for the Sept. 10, 2026 LUCB meeting |
| Market Farms Drive, between Hilton Garden Inn and TownePlace Suites | Hotel row | Four-story Marriott | Under active development as of Dec. 2025 |
| 2295 Market Farms Dr. | Site within the hotel cluster | Holiday Inn Express | Permit under review as of July 31, 2026 |
| 1800 N. Germantown Pkwy | Life Church | Grand Mart international market | Conversion in the works as of May 2026 |
| 1790 N. Germantown Pkwy | Mostly vacant strip | New York Hair Salon | Under permit review as of July 2026 |
| 773 N. Germantown Pkwy | LA Fitness | No reuse plan announced | Scheduled to close Aug. 5, 2026 |
One Gym Out, Two Restaurants In
The building with no plan yet is the gym. The LA Fitness at 773 N. Germantown Parkway was scheduled to close on August 5 after nearly 10 years. It was the third-oldest LA Fitness in Memphis. We haven't found a later report on the closing or any announced tenant for the space. On this list, it's the only large building that has emptied without a plan behind it.
The smaller changes are going the other way. Signage for Levant Mediterranean Grill went up in June at 1134 N. Germantown Parkway. It will join Cordova's other Mediterranean restaurants, including Cedars Restaurant, Tannoor Grill and Queen of Sheba Imperial Restaurant. June coverage gave no opening date. Off the Parkway, TACONganas announced its first drive-through at 8079 Trinity Road, next to T.J. Mulligan's and across from Kroger. The Trinity Road location now has an online pickup ordering page with daily hours listed.
Of everything here, Meetinghouse Way has the clearest next step. If the City Council approves it, the new name takes effect 60 days later, and MLGW will notify the five property owners along the road of the change and the date it takes effect.
If you own property near Germantown Parkway and want to know how a new national retailer, more hotel rooms on Market Farms Drive and a 53,000-square-foot international market could shape your plans, Memphis Real Estate Advisors follows these filings as they come in. Get Your Free Market Report, and we'll walk you through what's happening near your address.