I think the strongest attraction to IKEA is the fact that they’re so rare here. I’ve literally never set foot in an IKEA in my life. I have, however, had a conversation with a friend backeast who LOOOVED IKEA and had a super swell chair from them. Since that time, I’ve dreamed of a day when I could also purchase a super swell chair from a place like IKEA… a far away place that would never, could never subject itself to the grimy desert that is Phoenix, AZ. I had resigned myself to the fact that only people far, far away could enjoy IKEA (and Whitecastle burgers).
BUT NOW WE’RE GETTING AN IKEA!! YAAAAY!
My theory is that it’s only a matter of time before Whitecastle and Steak and Shake come to their senses as well.
I really like shopping at IKEA; although the Burbank store is closer, I’ve always liked the Torrance store–it’s much larger and always seems to be less crowded, even on weekends.
I have a ton of stuff in my house from them. I like their more basic wood furniture rather than the more modern stuff they have. My bed and nightstand are from a line of pine bedroom furniture they put out about 5 years ago. That bed gets plenty of use (;)) and it barely even squeaks. I also have a few dining room chairs I bought when I got my very first apartment, 10 years ago. They were $30 a piece, and they’re still mostly intact. They’re getting a bit wobbly and do need to be replaced, but I got much, much more out of them than for what I paid for. Bookcases, end tables, a kitchen clock, sheets, dish towels, candles (bag of 100 tea lights for $3.95! Rawk!), candle holders, and some dishes have come from them, too.
Out of what I’ve bought from them, the only thing I’ve ever been disappointed with is the sheets. I have a feather bed on top of my mattress, so I need sheets that are cut deeper. Theirs are cut for just a regular mattress only.
All-in-all, I’ve always thought they were a good deal–decent medium-grade (although, yes, you do need to assemble most of it) furniture for a fair price.
The crazy thing is that the Ottowa IKEA is probably the closest one to most of New England. The farthest northeast IKEA is in Newark, right outside NYC.
I’ve never experienced Target furniture, but we have quite a bit of IKEA stuff in our house. The quality of IKEA furniture varies quite a bit - and the price isn’t always the best indicator. Which is to say, their top-line stuff is generally quite good, but some of the cheap stuff is crap and some is excellent value. They have two solid pine shelving series, for instance, that are dirt cheap but very sturdy. The wooden furniture varies along the whole spectrum from solid wood to good-quality “manufactured lumber” to plastic veneer sheets pasted on particle board.
As far as how long it’s supposed to last - I know a number of people who still have IKEA furniture from the 1970s. (The Poang armchairs, especially. They used to be extremely popular.) We have some plastic cups we bought in the children’s department five or six years ago that are still as brightly colored as the day we bought them; in fact, the only damage done was when one fell out of the dishwasher basket and spent the dry cycle on top of the heating element
:smack: Sure they sell “semi-disposable” stuff too but that’s not all they have by a long shot.
IKEA also has quite a bit of unfinished wooden stuff, by the way - matter of fact, I’m taking a break from waxing some stuff we bought there for the boys’ rooms.
Just visited our local IKEA here in Bristol, England and was surprised both by the size of the store (it’s massive by English standards) and by the price. I was in need of a new bed, went in, found the bedroom section and purchased a bed and mattress in the space of 30 minutes. All very efficient !
Until that is I went to pick up the stuff. Interestingly my purchase was split into three items on the receipt. Two of said items, the mattress and some pieces of wood I had to collect from the ground floor and pay for separately. The third item, which I had paid for upstairs and turned out to be two items, I had to collect. Here is where IKEA need to think again. A small desk was surrounded by at least 50 people all waiting to collect items. You handed in your piece of paper and receipt and when your item was ready your name was called. Well I know my hearing isn’t great but what with the general hub-bub of all these people talking it took me a good five minutes before I realised they were calling my name.
Interestingly, right next door to the collections area was the returns department which seems to have got it right by operating a “take and ticket and wait to be called” system using a loudspeaker. Much more efficient.
Anyway the day was made memorable by the fact that I was waiting beside a famous person. For those people who watch daytime TV in the UK he was Nick Knowles from the BBC’s DIY SOS. If IKEA is good enough for him, it’s good enough for me.
I think the basic philosophy behind IKEA is the same as that behind Habitat when it was originally started: that good design should be accessible to all, regardless of the depth of their pockets.
IKEA don’t pretend to be producing heirlooms; they are giving you what you want, at a price you can afford. I normally have an ever-changing wish list of furniture I want to buy, and I’ve been able to find (much, much!) cheaper versions of most of it at IKEA.
So far so sensible. The real problem starts when you get to the market bit. So pretty! So cheap! So useful! Or alternatively - I’m sure I can find a use for it when I get it home! If you are at all susceptible don’t, whatever you do, go there with someone who thinks the same way you do. Anyone who agrees with: “But it’s cute!” as justification for buying something should be left at home with the credit cards. Although those packs of three brightly colored plastic boxes are really useful. That’s why I’ve got five hundred of them.
Shirley Ujest, that was a BRILLIANT line. Be proud, be very, very proud. Cat-like physical and mental reflexes!
And just to prove how much I love IKEA, I’ll double post, as I got so carried away with exclamation marks I forgot to say this before: my IKEA buddy (Me: But it’s cute! Her: Yes it is! Buy four of them!) refers to IKEA as “The mothership”.
Yeah – and his disdain at how ordinary and unmanly it makes him feel are why he blew up his apartment and decided that getting punched in the mouth would be a better alternative.
On the other hand, I don’t think it’s a good idea to take interior decorating advice from a guy with dissassociative identity disorder who lives in a vacant house with no electricity, dirty mattresses and bad plumbing.
I went to the new one here in Minneapolis. It just opened two weeks ago.
Cool stuff. But my private version of retail hell.
I’ll return next in the middle of January, during the workday, if the weather is crappy. The workers were rude and clueless, the crowds cattle like and lost, as well as bitter, and the merchandise so handled that everything looked dirty.
Nice prices. Cool stuff. You’ll never catch me there again this year.
They won’t put an IKEA here in Las Vegas, So I have to drive for 5 hours down to San Diego if I want to go :mad: (I know there are ones in LA but I dont’ wanna go to LA)
I just was there last weekend, but I am going back in a few weeks. After we got back, my husband decided we do need more of the media storage shelves (I said that in the store… and he thought otherwise…) Oh darn I have to go back to San Diego… but still…
Why won’t they put one in Vegas? What is worse it that I can’t get a catalogue sent to me anymore. They only send them out in the areas around the stores… So my sister, who lives in CA, has to order one for me them mail it to me.
But if there was one here I would probably spend way too much money there.
I just found out that Cleveland ALMOST got an Ikea store a couple of years ago. The planned location was at State Route 2 (Lakeland Freeway) and Lost Nation Road in Willoughby. The site is still cleared and graded, but nothing is built.
Guess they figured they could get a larger ROI by building yet another store in LA or Toronto instead.
Michiganders get an IKEA in Canton (yes, there’s a Canton in Michigan) in 2005. That means I won’t have to drive from the Detroit area to Chicago (which I have done three times) or Pittsburgh (which I’ve never been to, even though it’s somewhat closer) to get to one.
I’ll miss going to the Chicago store. It has a Container Store nearby.
