West Sacramento, which will have an IKEA open in March, didn't give cash payments to the retailer but instead used California zoning laws and redevelopment incentives for what could be $5 million over five years depending on whom the store hires and where it buys its supplies.

"We have an enterprise zone, which gives them some significant tax credits," said Diane Richards, economic development coordinator for West Sacramento's Redevelopment Agency. The zone allows businesses tax credits that reduce a business' taxable income in California.

But Richards said the city's tenacity in courting IKEA had more to do with landing the coveted retailer than the enterprize zone.

"We have been inviting them to locate, had been on them every year (and) calling their real estate folks," she said. "This is 10 years of work on our part to get IKEA."

IKEA typically requests or relies on financial incentives when it is the first store in an area, said Joseph Roth, a company spokesman. At sites where water, sewer, roads and other infrastructure already is in place, the store usually does not have financial incentives.

"We go where the location works for our customers and our store operations," Roth said. "We were not lured. We go where the location is attractive. If we wanted to go to places where things were free, we would be somewhere else. . . . If we can secure some assistance from a local municipality, we are always welcome to it, but it does not determine where within the market we go."

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E-mail: kswinyard@desnews.com