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July 19, 2004

Earth Shakes

IKEA opened here in the Twin Cities last week.

Or so I'm told. I haven't been yet. Probably won't for a while, either. Truth is, I don't have the faintest idea what the fuss is about.

Part of it is that I'm - how shall I put this - a straight guy, with no aptitude and not much interest in furniture. Part of it is that I hate hate hate, as in hate hate hate hate, big stores and long lines.

Luckily, Chumley Wonderbar went, so I don't have to:

My opinion might be slightly skewed here because they were really busy, but I felt a little like I was wandering through a museum dedicated to what the future of economy furniture was envisioned to be in 1970 Europe. Actually it was more like being pushed through (did I mention they were really busy?). I don't know how far spread Service Merchandise was in their heyday, but I shopped there a lot as a young'en and IKEA employs a very similar concept of putting most of their merchandise in a storage zone at the end of the guided tour. In both cases you had to write down on your shopping list (utilizing the provided golf pencils) what exactly it was that caught your eye in their various room displays. At the end of the road at IKEA, however, is a very Menardsesque warehouse from which you must procure your own goods before heading to their bevy of checkout lines (all of which were extremely long since they were so busy).
Ugh.

What is the fuss? And when you answer, please don't use the phrase "all that cool furniture". I just don't get it.

Posted by Mitch at July 19, 2004 05:36 AM | TrackBack
Comments

My girlfriend is all excited about the new IKEA. She's convinced I'll be able to buy all sorts of cheap furniture there. Maybe. I still think I'll prefer Ashley furniture.

Posted by: Ryan at July 19, 2004 09:47 AM

Neither my wife or I can stand most of the furniture at IKEA. It's high priced glossy particle board crud for the most part. Appliances are tacky looking. We found some cheap rugs there, and there were one or two shelf units that looked like they might hold my over-collection of technical and history books, but if you don't go your not missing anything.

Posted by: Aodhan at July 19, 2004 10:51 AM

Why IKEA?

1. Really, really cheap furniture and housewares.

2. Really, really cheap furniture and housewares.

3. Meatballs.

That's it, but it's enough. I don't actually think the design is the big draw here. It's all about the cheapness. Nothing wrong with that.

And the cafeteria is cheap, and not bad.

Posted by: Jeff Fecke at July 19, 2004 11:16 AM

They should do land-0ffice business up there, given all the Minnesota and Wisconsin plate I see on cars parked at the Schaumburg (AKA "Chicago") IKEA on my weekend visits there. The $1.99 breakfasts kick ass!

Posted by: Rick Rock at July 19, 2004 11:26 AM

Really cheap?

I dunno - I looked at the website, and it looked pretty normal (i.e., expensive enough to repel my scando-scottish financial tastes).

But maybe I'll check it out.

WHEN the crowds die down.

Posted by: myatch at July 19, 2004 11:58 AM

"But maybe I'll check it out.

WHEN the crowds die down."

Now that...that makes sense. It was a wee bit crowded.

But I must say, I do like my $.99 slippers.

Posted by: Jeff Fecke at July 19, 2004 12:47 PM

"$.99 slippers"

Scando-caledonian ears perk up...

Posted by: meeotch at July 19, 2004 01:24 PM

We've got an IKEA in Houston, Texas. I've never been convinced that the furniture there is particularly cheap. Neither is it that nice. I do recall the meatballs. About the same as you can get at friday evening happy hours at local bars for nothing.

Posted by: Bob at July 19, 2004 03:47 PM

I went to IKEA over the weekend, and the only things I got out of the trip were some tasty swedish meatballs ($1.99 for a meatball dinner - 50 cents for cake), and a $5 desk lamp. Other than that the furniture was described by a friend as an overpriced version of what you can get at your local target store - particle board and veneer furniture.. there were some good deals to be had, but not a huge amount..

Good meatballs though!

Posted by: peter at July 19, 2004 04:51 PM

As a former boss of mine once said, "IKEA - it's Swedish for 'junk'."

Posted by: Kevin at July 19, 2004 04:55 PM

Coming soon from Blogumentary: IKEA Parking Lot.

Posted by: Chuck Olsen at July 22, 2004 06:16 PM
hi