Think Outside the Box: IKEA Is Coming to Cleveland

For years, Greater Cleveland residents had one question: When is IKEA finally coming to Cleveland? When Crocker Park secured the market’s highly anticipated IKEA location, Stark Enterprises saw an opportunity to make the announcement more than a traditional tenant reveal.
Following the departure of Dick’s Sporting Goods after approximately 20 years at the property, the team recognized an opportunity to shift the narrative from vacancy to anticipation. Rather than immediately announcing IKEA, Stark Enterprises and Crocker Park developed “Think Outside the Box,” an integrated communications campaign built around curiosity, community engagement and strategic media relations.
The campaign transformed the former Dick’s space into a mystery. Countdown posts, visual clues and social content encouraged audiences to speculate about what was “moving in,” turning the community into active participants in the announcement. The suspense culminated in a coordinated IKEA reveal across social media, video, Crocker Park’s website, on-property digital signage and public relations outreach.
The campaign created a strategic communications arc: transition → mystery → speculation → reveal → amplification. The buildup generated anticipation, while the reveal became a major regional news moment. Follow-up content and earned media extended the conversation beyond launch day.
The strategy generated more than 25 earned media placements and secured coverage across all four major Cleveland television stations. Social performance reached unprecedented levels, with Instagram generating 914,000 views and 175,200 individuals reached**, while Facebook delivered 1.2 million views and 352,600 viewers during the campaign measurement period. Instagram reach increased 765%, and Facebook viewers increased 443%.
Beyond announcing IKEA’s arrival, the campaign reframed a significant retail transition as a story of momentum, growth and continued evolution at Crocker Park. By combining mystery, creativity, community participation and media relations, Stark Enterprises turned a highly anticipated tenant announcement into a regional conversation and allowed Cleveland to be part of discovering what was next.