...and I'm okay with that.

I love Ikea.

Before I retired, my office was about a mile and a half from the Ikea store. Once a month or so, I'd go there for lunch and a quick trip through the AS-IS corner.

Once I bought some AS-IS adjustable table legs. I scrounged up a few 2x6s and built an awesome and sturdy stand for my Yamaha keyboard.

If it wasn't for Ikea and garage sales, I probably wouldn't have owned furniture for the first 20 years of adulthood.

And after going there several dozen times, I know all the shortcuts through the maze.



Costco puts the TP in the corner farthest from the door for a reason.

quote:

Originally posted by pianojuggler:
...and I'm okay with that.

I love Ikea.

Before I retired, my office was about a mile and a half from the Ikea store. Once a month or so, I'd go there for lunch and a quick trip through the AS-IS corner.

Once I bought some AS-IS adjustable table legs. I scrounged up a few 2x6s and built an awesome and sturdy stand for my Yamaha keyboard.

If it wasn't for Ikea and garage sales, I probably wouldn't have owned furniture for the first 20 years of adulthood.

And after going there several dozen times, I know all the shortcuts through the maze.



Costco puts the TP in the corner farthest from the door for a reason.

And candy near the register.

I’m not sure why dog food is in the back, but I’m sure there’s a reason.

I rarely head to IKEA these days but pre-COVID Mr wtg and I used to stop there every so often to catch lunch (or just a frozen yogurt cone) and to visit the food market to restock our Swedish pantry.

I'm pretty immune to the marketing tricks, even when I wander around the store.

I do love their kitchen cabinets and have helped a couple of friends design kitchens using IKEA cabinets. Not a huge selection of door styles, but the design of the cabinets is brilliant and if you're a DIY kind of person, a great value.

I’ve never been a big fan of IKEA. Nothing is particularly good, nothing is particularly cheap, and everything is a little smaller than what I want.

The stores are HUGE, which is a problem if you’re not there to shop. I don’t “shop” so much as I go to stores to procure the articles I need and get out. Sharon shops, I go out and buy stuff.

They’re popular, though. I’ve never been one of their stores that wasn’t mobbed.

I hate shopping in general. I go to Ikea for furniture like I go to Costco for veggies and TP. I know I'm going to get something serviceable for a reasonable price. Something equivalent might be cheaper elsewhere, but I go there first and only look elsewhere if I cant' find anything that would work.

Ikea has been hit HARD by global supply chain issues. It took three trips to get the dressers we wanted for DD's room. I would check the web site, it showed they had three in stock, I'd make a beeline for the store, and someone would be pushing a cart with the last one through the checkout as I was walking in.

Finally, I saw that they had gotten some of an acceptable alternative in. I showed up 23 minutes before the store opened (and I was nowhere near the front of the line). I cut straight through the forbidden zone between the front door and the registers, jumped a barrier at a closed register New York subway turnstile style, and went straight to the dresser aisle in the warehouse. I got the second to the last one.

Also by early summer of 2020, you could not get a desk or a basic dining table at all. Everyone was trying to set up their WFH setup.


The last couple times I've been there, the shelves were very empty.


I got a new iPhone and an Otterbox Defender case. The wireless charging pad I had wouldn't work with it. The Ikea ones do!

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:
... everything is a little smaller than what I want.

Ikea has had a hard time adapting to the US market. I have noticed a lot of their stuff is scaled to European apartment size.

They also didn't understand why free-standing "wardrobes" didn't sell in the US. They are one of the most popular items in Europe. Bedrooms in Europe don't have closets.

Those wardrobes are brilliant. Have they discontinued them in the US because of poor sales?

We were able to furnish a 2 bedroom apartment in YVR completely from IKEA, most of it done online. We shopped for the stuff here in the USA, logged the names (LOL, the names are something else) and ordered online in Canada. Paid some incredibly low rate for delivery and setup. If I recall correctly, it was a flat rate and we were literally furnishing a 2 bedroom apartment.

No way could we have done that with any other furniture store, online or otherwise. The only misfire was our kitchen chairs, which haven't held up. If I recall they weren't our first choice but were the only ones available at the time.

It ain't Stickley, but it's completely functional.

quote:

Originally posted by wtg:
Those wardrobes are brilliant. Have they discontinued them in the US because of poor sales?

I think they still carry them... it's just that the Ikea mothership was surprised that they sold very few of them in the US.