We went to Ikea for the first time last weekend. You gotta love those
Swedes and Dutch. It was a marvel. Did you know they are the world's largest furniture manufacturer?
I've been in a Super Walmart before. But whenever I'm there, it reeks of sprawl and excess and gross consumerism. But while Ikea is absolutely huge, it somehow comes across as efficient, orderly, rational and oddly, conservation-oriented.
We went on a rainy day just after school started. It was MOBBED. It took us 30 mins just to get to the parking lot from the entrance road. We felt like we were part of a massive pilgramage.
We pilgrims were there to get Drew a desk, chair and bookshelf for his room. You see, he's now old enough to want to "grow up" his room, substituting Legos and toys for a desk, shelves for his books and music and eventually, an iPod with speakers.
The system at Ikea is amazing and a little daunting at first. But once you get it, you've got it.
Enter and head up to the showrooms which feature even more than you see in the catalogs you may get at home. Every kind of furniture for every kind of room or office, plus cabinetry, mattresses, sheets/towels/textiles/curtains, kitchen and housewares, children's stuff, storage solutions, lighting, mirrors, decorative items, outdoor stuff...it goes on and on.
This is no Walmart. It was set up like a furniture store with everything in rooms and displays. Displaying everyting in situ allowed you to pick it up, sit in it and see it all together as it would be in your house.
Bigger items (like the desk) you "order" right there in the showroom and they send down to the lower level warehose for it while you finish shopping. Mid-range stuff (like a bookcase) you note down the aisle and bin. Later you will pick it up in the self-serve warehouse. Other stuff (small items like desk mats) you just chuck in the yellow reusable bags you get when you come in.
The showroom is on an ongoing pathway that moves like a yellow brick road until at last you're done, wiped out and tired. So, strategically placed, the road leads you right to the cafeteria which is stocked with simple Swedish delights.
We had the traditional Swedish meatballs with gravy and lingonberry sauce (kind of like cranberrry sauce but sweeter). It cost $4.99. Free refill soft drink are available for .99 in a GLASS. They do it like good old cafeterias with little waste. You use real glasses, plates and silverware. You put your trays on racks that get washed. Hardly any plastic in sight. Attention to those with little kids - there is a spot there for kids to play and watch movies as long as they want.
Oh, did I mention there is a whole area at the beginning where you can drop your
kids off to play while you shop? Why was this not around when my kids were young?
Suitably refreshed, you and your soon-to-be-overflowing cart move on to the odyssey in the lower level. Here is where you can get a big cart and load up on lighting, textiles, decorative and home goods. It's also later where the bigger part of your order comes together. From there you go to the self-serve warehouse, get an easy to maneuver dolly and pick up your impeccably packaged goods (we got a bookshelf and an office chair).
The stuff is actually in the aisle and bins you marked on your list in the showroom. No problem. And the way the stuff is boxed is fascinating. Everything is optimized to take the least space and to break down to the flatest, easiest to ship unit. Very impressive and the least amount of packaging I've ever seen.
OK at this point you're thinking, yeah...but it's probably more expensive than Target. And the answer is no and yes - it depends. One thing is the quality is way better than Target. I mean, it's not fine furniture - lots of laminate, but it's well made.
Desk ($180),
Bookcase ($89.99),
Chair (our splurge $169)...and then the incidentals that you can't help but grab along the way - 49 cent kitchen towels, nice sheets for 20.00, a vase for $1.50, a chenille throw for $10.00, 6 glasses for $8.99. You get the idea.
The only thing that can make it expensive is your lust for getting too much affordable stuff :-)
After you get your warehouse items you go to the cashier. Have you figured out yet that this takes an entire morning or afternoon?
You pay for everything and then if you have big items (like the desk), you have to wait for them the area just beyond the vast bank of cashiers.
To help you pass the time, you can go to the conveniently located Ikea snack shop to have coffee, a free soft drink, ice cream, or cinnamon buns that I defy you not to gobble up. (I resisted thinking they are probably not as good as they smell...but really, what a fool!)
There is also a food mart stocked with Swedish delicacies like frozen crayfish, lots of fishy things, jars of lingonberry sauce, ginger thins and what else? Swedish gummi fish.
Now, if you're like us, at this point you've given yourself over to the long, wandering, captivating Ikea experience. You've called home and said "eat dinner without us, we'll be here a while." So you're not stressed. And you're at peace with the idea that you have to drive an hour to get home. After all,
Ikea's are few and far between so there is usually a long haul involved. Hey - life is good, you just got all this nice stuff for a song.
Eventually your name is called and you collect your bigger stuff.
It's easy to wheel your stuff down to the parking area and load your stuff in your car (OK having the minivan is a plus). But really, we were amazed at how hassle-free it was.
One last observation. When we were there we noticed that the place was filled with two kinds of people. Professional, upwardly mobile white people and Europeans/Asians/Arab of all kinds who knew Ikea from
back in their own countries. So I ask you...why did we not see a wider range of Americans there? I think it's because they think they can't afford it or they don't know about it. Because I'm telling you - it's affordable, good quality, long lasting stuff.
So if you have a chance...go!
