Heard an interesting story on the news tonight, IKEA is opening up a store in Round Rock, Texas. (north of Austin.)
A average Wal-Mart is 98,000 square feet, Cabellas is 185,000 sq. ft. Ikea will be 252,000 square!
I think if I want to prepare for the future I should start to learn how to put IKEA stuff together,looks like that’s the future.
Imagine all the work that a store that size will generate.
A recent thread on BT 61583.1 leads me to believe there is a lot of the stuff being sold, and will only increase!
Doug
Replies
Believe it or not here in Metro Toronto, a population of 5M, there are two Ikea stores and there are two more within a twenty minute driver from city boundaries. I believe there are less than twenty stores in the whole US.
I have no idea why but Ikea is very popular with new immigrants and people with roots from countries other than North America.
Any explanation or thought??
cheap but reasonable quality.never ever go to ikea at the weekend!!!!!my brother went with his girlfriend the other week a round trip of 50 miles because she saw a stool or something like that (really small thing about $30)and wanted it!!!
I have no idea why but Ikea is very popular with new immigrants and people with roots from countries other than North America.
Probably because that's what they're used to at home. I read once that something like 25% of Europeans were conceived on an Ikea bed.
Probably because that's what they're used to at home. I read once that something like 25% of Europeans were conceived on an Ikea bed.
Wow, I don't know how true is that.
From cradle to grave, may be they should think about making self assembled gaskets, they are not meant to last anyway.
Yeah I consider Ikea as temporary furniture. If you think you can disassemble them, move them to your new place and reassemble them, forget about it.
Yeah I consider Ikea as temporary furniture. If you think you can disassemble them, move them to your new place and reassemble them, forget about it.
That's a BIG part of the appeal. Remember alot more Europeans live in apartments than we do, and many are life-long renters. Apartments in Europe generally do not include kitchen cabinetry; you need to furnish your own.
Stuff you can disassemble and take with you has great appeal.
Edited 8/18/2005 1:53 pm ET by BarryO
I think like everything else in the world we buy today IKEA products are disposable. No one buys a kitchen to last 50 years anymore.
They are not the best quality but for the price compared to semi-custom cabinet suppliers you could replace it every 5 years and still come out ahead.
Mav
I think your right about the disposable qualities of IKEA.
There was an article in Woodshop several months ago talking about this very thing.
Some premier woodworkers expressed their concern for the trade and the people in it.
Doug
And very popular with college kids and urbane folks in their 20's.
In their price range, Ikea is much better quality and, most significantly, much more stylish (Scandinavian, of course) than anyhthing else on the market.
It will take you through your twenties, but that's about it.
dont eat the sweedish meatballs either Buckism: Will show you the the way
My wife and I shop at the one next to the Mall Of America. This was put in a couple years back. Found everything to be inexpensive, no exactly cheap. We did get some counter stools. Quite sturdy but a "X" pattern in the back is quite thin and our children found a way to break all but one.
Did buy a blind that we hung up in the porch to see if we liked it. After 6month we decided to buy 9 more to finish the other windows. Won't you know it we get them home and find that Warning Stickers are stuck to the bottom of the blind rail. These are in Three differnt languages and have a picture a a child tangled in a blind cord.I'm not saying this is not a concern, don't get me wrong, but this label is stuck really good to the rail and it's in Blaze orange. My kids are now old enough to know better and I didn't want to see this everytime I'm in the room....Eventually had to disessemble the rails and soak in mineral spirits to finally get them off. Still like the blinds though.
heat gun is easier for those stickers...
Saturday afternoon stop by Ikea. Buy a pop and a hotdog for a buck or two. watch Yuppy couples trying to load boxes of Ikea MDF and particleboard into minivans.
Beats paying seven bucks for a movie, and you always get good value entertainment
I dunno, Sphere says use mayonaise.It's Never Too Late To Become
What You Might Have Been
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Thats right. I had forgotten about that trick... Does it really work?
I think we only have Miracle Whip.
then use vegatable oil instead...
after all that is what mayo is... consider if you want the oil on something or not...
If you want to become a millionaire, find a source for the drawer slides and other hardware they use in their furniture and you'll never run out of business replacing the ones that break!
-Jazzdogg-
"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Gil Bailie
I live in Eugene, Oregon. About every six months or so, my wife and I make a trip up to the IKEA in Seattle. I don't know what to say about the folks that think IKEA is only for people in their twenties. We're in our forties and still find good stuff there.
There is truth in the statement that the stuff doesn't tear down and reassemble well, particularly the particleboard stuff, but most of the other stuff seams to wear very well. Much higher quality than you could buy for the same price locally.
Right now in our house both of our kids rooms are furnished entirely from IKEA. We also have nightstands, a maple coffee table and end tables, shelves and entertainment center in our playroom, our computer desk and bookshelves in our office, and lots of other odds and ends from there.
I am willing to spend on high quality when high quality is important, but I see nothing wrong with only buying reasonable quality stuff when that is important. You could say, I don't put Michelin tires on my utility trailer, it's just not worth it, so why would I spend $300 for a coffee table in our playroom just so our kids can put their feet up on it? Would you put 50-year shingles on your garden shed?
By the way, I LOVE their swedish meatballs, but my wife says she can make better. Unfortunately, she just never gets around to it...
Tell us what you think when it opens and you see the stuff up close. We'll be curious.
It's a staple here. I cannot count the hours I've spent swirling in the Ikea (Toronto) parking lots.
They do carry fun/cheap "for-now" stuff, and stuff that is very good. By good, I mean carefully selected straight solid hardwoods, nice tough finishes, and good hardware. Stuff built exactly the same as high-end manufacturers, but prices are much lower because of their huge buying power and volume of sales.
I'm 40 now and have my grown-up house: full of antiques, original art, and even a few pieces of furniture I've commissioned from custom craftspeople. But we still have about a dozen pieces of furniture from you know where. Now, we never say "ooh, gotta have it" when we get the catalogue, but we do always check there when looking for a specific casual, small-space, or storage item.
And all the other Ikea furniture we've owed over the last 20-25 years? A lot has been passed along and is still in use by someone, or their kid brother, or their kids.
True, you will not be satisfied for long with their particle-board dressers and similar stuff. But, compare apples to apples. Lifetime-quality furniture is a big investment (especially pieces like dressers and dining room chairs - which if best quality are TRULY expensive). Simply can't buy the good stuff as a starving student.
Last point, I usually LOATHE furniture from most major North American retailers until it gets into the $high-end$ designer range. The simpler Scandinavian designs (rather like Shaker furniture) stands up to being lived with for umpteen years better than 99.9% of the fake antiques (pseudo-colonial/ Chippendale/ Hepplewhite), or too-trendy (was Mission; now mid-century modern) or too gaudy (Italianate)....... furniture from most retailers.