IKEA: Love it or hate it?

In My Humble Opinion
81

I’m surprised that people who have trouble with the “maze” don’t simply ask an shop person for help, if you overlooked the arrows and maps. I’ve visited IKEA often (the first store ever in Germany is in München-Eching, though Brunnthal is now easier to reach), so I’m familiar with the layout.

I’m also surprised at the “too much walking” comments. It rather sounds like the stereotype of lazy americans who don’t want to move one foot too much, you know. I go on Saturdays to eat cheaply in the restaurant and then enjoy taking a 15-30 min. walk around the display section, before strolling through the warehouse. (Entrance is on the ground floor, warehouse and cashiers on 1st floor, display and restaurant on 2nd floor. You can go from Restaurant to warehouse, and through the warehouse in 10 minutes.)

As for all those who call IKEA products cheap: you need to buy the solid wood products, instead of the particle boards, they last ages. And aside from one special furniture shop (möbelum) that specializes in solid wood, a lot of the other furniture shops also have particle boards, and don’t offer solid wood!

As for the design: IKEA isn’t copying other styles, they started introducing Swedish design of clear, simple lines back in the 70s, when all that was around was ugly pseudo-Barock.

As for the “maze”: I like it because it shows ideas how to utilize and maximize space. A lot of other furniture shops just have sections of beds in one corner, bookcases in another, but how you can furnish a 20 sq m apt. with a bed/couch combo, a kitchen/ work table and other neat ideas isn’t shown there, only at IKEA. And they show room layouts typical for that region, so the IKEA at Munich has different examples than at Salzburg or …

As for the re-usable bags: over here, they are legendary. You use the yellow bags for shopping, and buy a blue bag at the cashiers. Some students have started buying bags and using the sturdy, woven plastic for things like sewing wallets and pencil cases, and selling them online. Newest addition is a foldable metal cart and a zipper-lockable blue bag. I like to use them to carry clothes to the laundry, because they are big and good for wet stuff as they are plastic, not cloth.

And “family” members (the IKEA club) get free coffee, special offers and coupons, and free transport insurance. They’ve also started to improve social standards and use resources better. Their coffe is certified, they have the SUNNAN lamp project (for every solar SUNNAN work lamp you buy, they donate another one for UNICEF so children in Asia and Africa have light to read and write) and other projects. During December, every time you buy a plush animal toy, they donate 1 Euro to UNICEF, collecting millions (and people can donate surplus toys to a local charity - Brunnthal collected a few tons for the children’s hospital). So I like them quite a lot.

82

Huge fan. I’ve been to more than a dozen different stores in six nations on four different continents.

Before they came to Chicagoland, I brought a half-dozen pieces of furniture home on the airplane (and the subway) with me from various East and West coast stores.

83

No, it’s more like the stereotypical busy American who, if she wished to browse, would choose village shops over a huge warehouse full of cheap shit she doesn’t need or want.

84

Some people gain energy and enthusiasm while they shop or browse around in a crowd of people, and for some people shopping and crowds suck the life out of them. I’m one of the latter. When I go for a walk, I’d much rather do it outside in the beautiful sunshine.

85

Funny, I thought the stereotypical American bought stuff at the mall.

86

That is hilarious. They nailed Ikea.

It’s got me wondering, if an Ikea store is attacked by Walmart terrorists will the customers follow the arrows trying to escape?

87

Love it? I sing the theme song all the time.

88

I like it. It has lots of very useful space-saving products, like a double loft-bed and folding tables - better folding tables than I’ve seen elsewhere.

The food is also so nice that an ex and I used to go there just fir the restaurant. Mind you, this was in a town with few good restaurants.

Often when I’m round someone’s house, I can not only spot which items are from Ikea but I know the silly name of it. :smiley:

89

When the sun is shining, I’m not at IKEA, I’m out doing other things. But there are enough rainy or gloomy days in my country, since I don’t live in California or Florida.

90

If you don’t need or want anything from IKEA, then you don’t need to go there.

And why is furniture shopping such a quick business that it must be conducted in 10 minutes? Don’t you want to spend some time thinking about which product is better before spending 30 Euros on a chair or 300 on a mattress that you will be using for years?

When I only want to buy a candle or pillow case, then I take the shortcuts, of course.

91

In Houston, it’s often so damned hot that an air conditioned venue seems preferable. Those with more elite tastes pick The Galleria.

My own neighborhood is fine for temperate weather browsing. But, in other quaint villages, I’ve been known to flee the twee shoppes to avoid potpourri poisoning; I like cats, but am not in the market for cutesy sweatshirts with kitty appliques.

92

Sigh.

93

Malls are out. Seriously.

94

I love Ikea. I’m planning a new kitchen using their stuff. (The online 3D kitchen planner is superb, BTW).

I think most people that say Ikea stuff is poor quality have never been there and are judging it on 1980s-style flatpack furniture which was wobbly and usually made of loosely compressed sawdust.

Ikea has refined flatpack to an art form. They have nifty cam locks which fix the panels together absolutely rigidly, while showing no exposed screws. I recently bought a great big wardrobe from there - it weighed an absolute ton but was well worth lugging it up the stairs as it’s incredibly sturdy, and the interior organiser fittings are very well thought out.

Mostly I love Ikea because it makes me believe that I could be organised one day.

95

Stockholm Kungens Kurva is similar. There’s a central section of (IIRC) five circular floors and then a mini version of the stereotypical maze bolted on the side on the way to the checkouts. All very easy to get round, which is pretty handy as apparently it is the biggest IKEA in the world.

Exciting IKEA fact: The yellow/blue logo and general design isn’t something they always had. When I moved to Sweden in the late 90s they still used a red logo, as can be seen in this old picture of the IKEA in Barkarby, north Stockholm:

http://0.tqn.com/f/wiki/e/en/thumb/0/0f/Ikea-stern.jpg/300px-Ikea-stern.jpg

I’m wondering if the yellow/blue thing is something they started abroad and then imported to Sweden as a global branding.

96

It’s supposed to be reminiscent of the Swedish flag, I think.

97

Errr … yeah I know. I live in Sweden. I’ve come across the flag once or twice.

The point was that in Sweden, where IKEA comes from, it appears they didn’t actually use it for some time and quite possibly imported from foreign IKEA stores where it had been used to associate IKEA with Sweden.

98

The IKEA closest to us (they call it Oslo Slependen on the website, I think, though it’s not in Oslo) used to be a big grey building with a red sign. It was the first IKEA outside of Sweden. It was remodelled and enlarged a couple years back, and has converted to the giant-blue-box look.

99

I guess I’m in the minority.

I dislike the maze layout, but my bigger gripe is that much (most…?) of the stuff I saw was junk. While some of the stuff i saw was cool, the build quality of much of it was really poor. Someone mentioned “chipboard” up thread, and that was my experience; a lot of light weight flimsy----but cool looking------junk.

I liked a lot of the accessories. I liked a lot of the kitchen stuff. Most of the furniture? No way.

100

I was going to post, but apparently Motorgirl channeled my exact feelings on it, with her own addition of eating at their restaurant. :slight_smile: We have some nice real wood pieces that have lasted for years (entertainment center and DVD racks), and some pressboard end tables that… well, they’ve still lasted for years since they don’t exactly get wear-and-tear or need a lot of strength to support things. I got a Poang chair (layer glued wood) and cushion that’s been comfy and been fine for years as well. I’m not sure I’d buy a mattress there or anything, but it fills a good niche in the furnishings market.

Love their kitchenware - you can stock a kitchen with nice-looking items for not much at all.

WhyNot is right, the Schaumburg IL IKEA (near Woodfield Mall) is laid out very nicely. The one in Bolingbrook isn’t as straightforwardly easy to navigate, but there are a lot of cut-through spots between sections that help you avoid stuff.