Over the holidays, my husband and I went to IKEA to buy a futon for my daughter. I’d picked one out from their online catalog, but they wanted $100 to ship a $300 item (!), so I decided to just go pick it up. Besides, I wanted to eyeball it to make sure it’d fit in my daughter’s dorm room.
It was our first visit to IKEA. Let’s just say our experience was less than ideal. We had no idea that we needed to get instructions on how to navigate the place before arriving. What a bizarre duel (display area and warehouse area) system they’ve created. We found the futon without difficulty, but trying to purchase the damn thing took FOREVER!
I think we ended up walking 5 miles trying to get to the warehouse where we could pick up the futon. The signs were clear, but they forced us to walk this maze whereby we had to pass by every single item they were hawking – from cabinets to comforters to glasses. Oy vey! We finally got to the escalator which took us to the warehouse, only to discover that we had to walk the entire length of the warehouse again in order to get to the furniture section.
By the time we got to the check-out, we were so aggravated by their lack of clear instructions and the feeling that we were mice stuck in a never-ending maze, that we vowed never to return.
(Later, I wondered what in the world would happen if they had a fire? How in the hell would people get out through that maze? It’d be anarchy!)
In any event, I know that some people love IKEA. When it came to our neck of the woods, we actually had people camping out in time for the grand opening. Obviously, their business model didn’t work well with us. But I’d love to know what your first experience was and if you love it or hate it.
I like it. I mean, all of the other stores in the world have it the same way - go in, buy what you want, leave. IKEA tries to make a different experience; a sort of journey. Yes, I know it’s just a gimmick, but it’s kind of fun all the same. You want to allocate some time to spend there, though.
And lots of people don’t know, Leaffan. The closest IKEA to me is 3 hours way - I had only the vaguest concept of what it was like inside when I went for the first time. I grew up in towns that never had IKEAs.
I had no idea that they make you walk through the entire store to buy 1 thing until I went there. I think that is very annoying. We don’t have a local one and I don’t buy much furniture so it’s not really a problem for me.
It’s like any store. When you know where something is, you can pretty much go right to it. I’ve never been stopped going in through the out door when I knew that what I wanted was nearer that end. There are ‘shortcuts’ you can use within the store if you don’t want to follow the arrows.
Oh – I really like the café and the snacks.
Unfortunately, the nearest one in the state is about 120 miles away from me. There’s one in Richmond, BC, which is about 35 miles away, but I haven’t been to it yet.
There’s fire exits everywhere. Anyway, you don’t actually have to go around the store in the entire maze; every one I’ve been to lets you start at the end, or go straight to the warehouse, or skip past sections.
IKEA’s good for what it does - cheap, semi-disposable stuff. If you’re looking to outfit a room or an apartment on a budget, it’s ideal. For serious grownup furniture that you plan to keep for a substantial period of time it’s not the right store, and you certainly don’t want to buy a bed there.
We love it for its sleek design and reasonable prices–and we love walking through the showroom.
We are aware that buying from them can be a horrible, confusing process. We have bought a whole kitchen and three bathrooms from them… believe me, we KNOW. For example, they provide the kitchen and bathroom design software that lets you design your space and prints out a handy itemized list of everything you need to create it. But when you get to the store… they make you copy that list out, by hand, using a stubby pencil. Boy that made us mad.
But we love it anyway. I’m already plotting out our future children’s bedroom furniture.
Love it, with qualifications. Their cheap stuff got me through my college years, but it’s not built to last for decades. When I separated from my ex, I left the few items still in use with him. When researching “grown up” furniture, I did get quite a few things from there - four dressers and a nightstand, a desk that was nicely customizable to my room, a bed for my son - but besides the bed, I don’t expect these things will last too long, either. That’s okay, because again, I bought them because they were cheap and fit my need for the moment. But the stuff I want to last - my bed, the dining room set, the living room furniture - I decided it wasn’t worth paying what Ikea wants for higher quality stuff when for a very similar price, men would bring furniture to my home for me and put it together without me!
I looooooove their kitchen stuff, though. I got a cheap set of eggplant purple plates and bowls, and another of white, and stack them alternating, and it looks just tres chic without costing me much. They have these great little clips for holding bags shut that work better than anything else I’ve found. I’ve got an adorable little dragon shaped pasta spoon that makes me smile whenever I use it. And so on.
It’s not the place to dash in and pick something up quickly, I grant you that. It’s a place to linger, to absorb, to get new ideas and find a cartfull of stuff you never knew you needed so much. It’s actually the *only *store in the world I like to browse and window shop in. (I didn’t inherit the shopping gene from my mother or grandmother.)
My experience pretty much mirrors the OP’s. I went to get roller shades and walked that whole freakin’ maze only to find out they’re “textile items” which are sold in another area:mad: I did end up liking the product but it’s a good thing I have a modicum of skill in putting stuff together because the instructions had no actual text - not even in Swedish! I might consider buying on-line but you could not pay me to go there again.
Oh and Leaffan, I’m not sure I understand. Why would I know what it’s like inside until I’d been there? There was a huge hoopla when it opened here (the only one anywhere near this region) and they sure as heck didn’t make a point of mentioning the mandatory walk past all their merchandise via a rat maze.
When I think back to the options before IKEA came about in the UK in the early 90s, well, furnishing a new home on limited funds was a nightmare of grandma’s cast-offs and 1970s laminate. IKEA brought nice, contemporary design to the masses. I bet students don’t know how lucky they are, renting their lovely modern IKEA furnished houses whilst I had to put up with mouldy old draylon sofas.
Five years ago I bought a house in Southern Italy, where the shopping options were either awful cheap old-fashioned stuff or really expensive italian designer. When you have a whole house to furnish, from beds to tea towels, in just two weeks, it’s a daunting prospect. I bit the bullet, hired a large van and drove 6 hours across the mountains to the nearest IKEA in Naples. It saved my life.
At home, I have some basic IKEA stuff – bookshelves, kitchen items, a fantastic fitted wardrobe, and then fill in with more unique or pricey items. It’s great.
The nearest IKEA has always been 1-2 hours away from me, depending on where I have been living. I guess going is sort of an adventure that I’ve always prepared for. I like the idea of being able to wander through a set up for a kitchen, bathroom, etc., and open the cabinets and look at storage ideas. I don’t have space to buy a lot of things, but I like wandering through. I usually find nifty napkins (unlike anything you’d find in other stores), candles, sleek candle holders, etc. It’s also one of the few places where I know I can buy lingonberry or cloudberry jam. (I highly recommend either one on toast or vanilla ice cream).
Like the above posters, it’s probably not furniture that will last forever, but it’s nice for the moment. I like their textiles (curtains, sheets, etc.) the most. It’s also a handy place to go to pick up cheap, but handy kitchen gadgets. When I was the MOH for my best friend’s bridal shower, I didn’t have a lot of money left for a gift after planning the shower, so I picked up a bunch of such gadgets: melon baller, garlic press, whisk, apple corer, etc. I arranged them in a container and titled it “All the Things You Probably Forgot.” It was cute.
I like going and wandering around, my son loves it because we can have lunch and he can go to the playroom while I wander around.
I find if you pay attention to what you are buying you can get some good items there. We bought some wonderfully sturdy chairs for the dining room, and the dressers are great. My son also had a bed which came from there and I’m not sure but I suspect it’s about 20+ years old (my uncle bought it, then gave it to my aunt who passed it on to us).
It can be annoying to move around in there but if you look there are signs (by the exit signs no less) that tell you the shortcuts to get through faster.
I hate it for the same reason the OP does. I hate the maze-y arrangement like I’m on a ride at Disneyland and have to ooh and aah my way past all the little display rooms they have set up. Frankly I don’t even like the style of furniture they offer. The higher quality stuff isn’t even that high quality, but it’s nearly as expensive as real furniture.
However- their Swedish meatballs are heavenly. Fortunately my wife will occasionally go and pick them up and spare me from the torture of walking through the joint.
What maze? I have been in two entirely different Ikea stores, and both have had maps of their layouts available at the front door and stands throughout the store. I mean actual take with you brochures, which show the shortcuts from one section to another. Yes, there is a certain amount of walking involved even with the shortcuts. Y’all must be a hoot at the grocery store.
I also love the myth of Ikea poor quality. Five years ago I drove away from my first Ikea visit with a tv stand, two bookcases, two shelving units, plastic buckets to use in the shelving units, a painting, and few other odds and ends. Total cost was just about $500. It took an evening of assembly, but every one of those pieces has survived the gentle minstrations of children now aged six and four. Not a scratch, not a dent, the plastic buckets have been abused but continue to be hold toys and slide into the shelving units. I expect our less than year old love seat to last some time, at half to three-quarters the cost of one from a regular furntiure store. The most likely item to need replacing on the loveseat is the cover, which is fully washable and an entirely new replacement can be purchased at the fraction of the cost of a new couch.
I don’t like that I can’t order everything they sell from their website and have it shipped. Amazon can do this, why can’t Ikea? But, they will show the inventory level at the store. It is still a hassle to find stuff in the warehouse area, and check out can be a hassle on busy days. My biggest problem is that they will never build a store near me. There are two stores within a three hour drive, and one within a two hour drive. That puts Columbus out of the running permanently. I would love to be able to just go in and look on occasion.
I like it, but like you, I don’t like the maze. I’ve never bought furniture there, but every few months I have to go to pick up several jars of my very favorite IKEA product: lingonberry jam. I always pick up a few other things while I’m there–a pillow, a salad bowl, stuff like that.