(Editor: Leona) Ikea is proposing a 269,000-square-foot store in this metro area that could open in the fall of 2016, the Swedish retailer said Tuesday.

If it meets governmental approvals, the store would be on 35 acres along the southwestern side of Interstate 40 near the Germantown Parkway exit, about 15 miles east of downtown Memphis, officials said.

Construction could start in the fall of 2015. Currently, the closest other Ikea stores are in the Atlanta and Dallas areas, and a St. Louis Ikea is under construction and expected to open in the fall.

“We are excited at the possibility of growing our southeastern U.S. presence with a potential Memphis store,” said Rob Olson, Ikea U.S. chief financial officer. “This proposed location in such a vibrant retail corridor could provide our already 37,000 Memphis-area customers their own store and introduce the unique Ikea shopping experience to other consumers throughout western Tennessee, northeastern Arkansas, northwestern Mississippi and beyond.”

Ikea also said it would evaluate potential on-site power generation at the Memphis store. The company has a renewable energy presence at nearly 90% of its U.S. locations.

The proposed Ikea Memphis would feature nearly 10,000 exclusively designed items, 50 room settings, three model home interiors, a supervised children’s play area, and a 300-seat restaurant serving Swedish specialties such as meatballs with lingonberries and salmon plates, as well as American dishes.

The store would employ about 225 people and could create more than 500 jobs during the construction phase, the company said.