Some people are expressing anger over Ikea’s opening in our city: They think Ikea Halifax should be Ikea Dartmouth since it’s technically located in Dartmouth. And this group is concerned that their community name is becoming lost. Former municipal councilor Bruce Hetherington thinks Halifax is coming first on too many occasions, and other communities second and that the naming of privately-owned company, Ikea is just another insult to Dartmouth.
City officials say they have no say in what a private business names itself and that it came from Ikea itself. Ikea spokesperson said: “When we decided on the name of our new IKEA store, we chose Halifax as it will be a destination that we hope will draw residents from the Halifax Regional Municipality, the province of Nova Scotia and beyond,” said Stephanie Harnett of IKEA Canada.
Over the past few years, concerns were raised about the size of the font on some municipal signs, with the word “Halifax” appearing larger than the name of the local community. Deputy Mayor Steve Craig says the font size was fixed, but that things must be kept in perspective. “We have a Dartmouth General Hospital, I believe it’s in Woodside if I’m not mistaken,” says Craig. “We have the Halifax International Airport, which is in Enfield. We have a Boston Pizza here in Lower Sackville.”
Craig says a sense of community comes with personal experience and recorded history, among other things, and that the communities’ names and sense of pride will never disappear.
IKEA Halifax is set to open on Sept. 27.