I really dislike the idea of Ikea.

[crispini]

Now, I have to start off with a disclaimer here, which is that I have never been to an Ikea store, nor do I own any Ikea products. However, I was just having a conversation with a coworker who was raving about the Ikea store he went to. It just sounded horrible to me. He said it was a huge, huge store, bigger than a Wal-Mart. I thought to myself, ok, now I know where YOU shop. :eyes: He said it sort of guided you through the store in one aisle so it wound around and walked you past the entire inventory. I thought to myself, that sounds very controlling and disorienting. He said he had to go THREE times to get the bed he wanted. I thought to myself, well that's great customer service. NOT. And then he said that he's heard the quality was not that great, but why does it matter, it's cheap?

I really dislike this throwaway society we live in. Throwaway beds, throwaway people.

[GOPisEvil]

1. Actually, although the store is laid out so you CAN see everything,

you are not forced to. And if it took your co-worker 3 tries to find a bed, he's an idiot. Ask an employee for crying out loud. They are always very helpful.

As for quality, they do offer inexpensive things that are made with pressboard, but they also make solid wood furniture.

I have several things from Ikea, and they all work well. They're designed well, and they are inexpensive. I haven't had quality issues, personally.

[Allenberg]

2. I'll second that.

I'm actually pretty pleased with the quality of the furniture I bought from Ikea. I'm a big DITY guy anyway, so I enjoy the experience. Besides, their in-store restaraunt meatballs are awesome!

[Richardo]

5. Plus, all you need to assemble the stuff is one of these:

We like our Ikea stuff a lot.

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

14. I love that gadget

Ingenious invention.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

24. Not entirely true

I always thought that, but the last desk I got at IKEA required a Phillips screwdriver also.

That said, it's a fine desk, was pretty cheap and is easy to break down and put together for moves.

[Richardo]

28. A screwdriver for Ikea? That's the fourth sign of the apocalypse...

:scared:

[LostinVA]

29. I've used a Phillips head for stuff, too

[crispini]

6. DITY?

:shrug:

[Heidi]

11. Do It Yourself, I think. (nt)

[Allenberg]

16. Yep.

:)

[crispini]

18. Where's the T come from?

I get D - I - Y ... :D

[Allenberg]

21. Heh

Do IT Yourself

:P

[crispini]

23. That's not an acronym!

:P Do you pronounce it D I T Y or "ditty"? :evilgrin:

[Allenberg]

32. "ditty"

At least that's what they told us to say in the Air Force :P

[progmom]

9. what he said

:thumbsup:

[crispini]

13. Do ya'll have one down there?

Or did you go to Houston?

I must confess to a bit of geographic prejudice as well. They built the store in Frisco. I don't like going north of 190, I'm afraid of those Republicans up there. :scared: :evilgrin:

[GOPisEvil]

20. I go to the one in Houston.

We're getting one down here in 2007, but it will be in Round Rock (all those Republicans - ewwww!) :D

[NV Whino]

3. Before you rant you need to visit an Ikea store

I, personally, have found their products to be good quality. They keep the prices down by making it a self-guided store (warehouse, actually), but there are staff to help you find thngs and answer questions. Another way they keep prices down is that you (unless you arrange otherwise) pick up and transport the goods. Keeping the overhead down does not equal shoddy merchandise.

[AlCzervik]

4. Ikea is cheap and cheerful and you can get quality things there if you

look and compare. I've purchased some things for my home over the past 8 years and they've held up quite well.

[crispini]

12. Well, that's good to hear.

Inexpensive and well-made is great, but hard to do.... and the way this guy just tossed this off made me mad. It's so cheap, when you're done, just throw it away! Wonderful, just what our world needs. More crap in landfills.

[AlCzervik]

15. it is hard to do and i haven't bought any thing big there

but i did buy cutlery from them and different fabrics and a whole bunch of picture frames and throw rugs from them, kitchen cabinets i wouldn't purchase there.

[Heidi]

7. I like Ikea.

You really need to go to an IKEA store (plan half a day for it) before passing judgment. Don't believe your co-worker until you've experienced IKEA. I'm glad to have IKEA as an option.

About the throwaway thing: when I married Mr. Heidi, he had some IKEA bookshelves that he'd had for 10 years, in very good shape. We still have them, so that makes them 15 years old; hardly throwaway stuff.

:hi:

[Texasgal]

8. The products I don't mind.

I find Ikea to have some really cool inexpensive things, the thing I hate is the size of the store. It's HUGE!

They are building one in Austin... just another HUGE building screwing up our pretty little jewel. :( I know that some people are happy about IKEA coming to town, and I don't mind them coming.... it's just the size of the store... good god.

[GOPisEvil]

22. The Ikea is going to be in Round Rock.

So, while we have our own big box issues here, Ikea is Williamson County's problem.

[Mizmoon]

10. I will never buy from them again

only because I'm done with assembling my own furniture. During my salad days I could not have lived in a furnished place without them. Have you seen the price of a dresser in Levitts?

[bleedingheart]

17. I actually like Ikea because it has tasteful choices for all budgets

you can even create a kitchen rather cheaply...

They also have a daycare at the one in Pittsburgh which is great for parents.

I shopped there frequently in college and every once in a while when there is something that I want but can't find anywhere else...Ikea has it.

[Lex]

19. People on a limited budget can buy good products from IKEA

and they last for a good long time (my direct experience).

Not everyone can afford to spend a lot of money for the furnishings they need.

[tigereye]

25. I like Ikea

it's fun, it's pleasant, it's somewhat European, they have some nice affordable stuff that isn't boring to look at. They have lots of bookcases to choose from. And they have a great cafeteria that is very kid friendly. It's a nice half day jaunt, too.

[LostinVA]

26. No! IKEA is wonderful!

Great quality, inexpensiveish furniture, great meatballs to eat in their cafe, a retail company that treats it's workers great (lowest retail turnover in USA), it's a Swedish company, clean, greatly organized store, nice and inexpensive kitchen/bathroom/garden etc. stuff. I love it!!!

And, I have a hell of an Allen wrench collection now!

[LostinVA]

27. The quality is very good

I've bought 95%n of all of my furniture there, and have had zero problems with anything. You can buy inexpensive stuff to "nice" things. Consumer Reports rates them highly, too.

Three times for a bed? Maybe they just had one of their bedroom sales and inventory was low. It's unusual for the big stuff to run out like that.

[auntAgonist]

30. I like IKEA. I wish there was one closer than Chicago.

I lived about an hour from one in Ontario and it was wonderful. You can get everything you need to well equip a kitchen.

[Lilyhoney]

31. I have never been in one or owned anything from one.

But I have read the catalogue. I think I like the company but my only real information about it came from the catalogue. I did see that the Ikea guy is wealthier than Bill Gates. So I don't really know if you can get that big without being bad.

[LostinVA]

37. That guy lives REALLY frugally

Which helps him keep his money. For real: he's an old guy, lives in a smallish house, bikes, etc.

[Lilyhoney]

53. I have also heard the company is kind to the enviornment.

Yet again from the magazine. :shrug:

[LeftyMom]

33. I really like Ikea

We're getting one here in Sacramento (well over the River in West Sac, but much closer than Alameda, in any case) and I'm quite happy about that. LK needs a bigger bed, I'm hoping I can put it off until then and get it from them, they've got decent quality captain's beds at an affordable price.

They have really nice toys and children's furniture. :D

The huge store is kind of chaotic, but they divide the space up nicely so it doesn't get too loud or overwhelming and doesn't have a warehouse vibe. I always get the store map and just hit the sections I need rather than staying on the trail through the store, it reminds me a bit of being a hamster in one of those tangles of plastic tubing.

[IntravenousDemilo]

34. Cheap doesn't necessarily mean throwaway

I have mostly cheap things, but I've kept them for a long time because they're still serviceable and I can't afford to replace them with something better. They aren't from Ikea, though. I don't care for Ikea stuff because I think it's just boring as hell. This is Ikea's latest wallpaper pattern, PSIKADELIK:

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Yeah, I know, the pattern is a little busy for Ikea...

[LostinVA]

38. I love IKEA, but bwwwaaahhhhhh

It sounds just LIKE one of their product names!

[SOteric]

35. Yes, IKEA's inventory is inexpensive.

What exactly is wrong with producing product that the population can actually afford to furnish their apartments and homes with?

[crispini]

43. I don't have a problem with cheap and long-lasting.

I have a problem with cheap and it breaks and let's just throw it away and get another one. It's shortsighted, it costs more in the long run, and that mentality is what is screwing up our planet, IMO.

[LostinVA]

45. I've had some of my IKEA stuff for over a decade

furniture, bookcases, etc. It holds up nicely.

But, I get what you're saying. It's why I won't go cheap on shoes: cheap ones last a few months and that's it. I wear Doc Marten's that I bought before Clinton became President...

[rockymountaindem]

36. I couldn't find my way out of there one time.

I was literally like "where the hell did I come in?" Seriously, I'm almost never lost. I can tell you which way is north when I'm inside a building most of the time. I swore never to go back. Not to mention the fact that all that ultra-modern furniture kind of creeps me out.

[chaska]

39. Yes, yes, yes!!! More...

When I lived in Seattle all the girls in the office were raving about Ikea. I had never been there, didn't know anything about it. My girlfriend dragged me there. I was struck, stunned really, by just how vilely capitalist it was. Yes, it's very much a herd the cattle through deal. I was actually joking about being slaughtered at the end of the line.

The products themselves are designed chiefly, if not exclusively, to be easily shipped. Everything folds or is designed to be easily assembled, so you can get a billion chairs (or whatever) on a truck. Depending on how you look at it, it's either an extremely frugal or just cheap design philosophy. On the other hand, they do have some nice designs from a purely esthetic (sp?) standpoint.

When you visit, if you are at all sensitive to such things, you will be overwhelmed at just how much big business considers you sheep to be shorn, or maybe a buying machine might be more accurate - it's very much a product of the industrial age. Ikea is an extremely dehumanized marketing phenomenon/concept.

That said, the sweedish meatballs they sell in the food section are to die for.

[LostinVA]

40. The guy who started it did it so that poorer people

Could buy decent stuff by his cutting out the overhead. That's one reason why most of the products have to be assembled. They ARE designed to fit into/onto cars and trucks: again, so people don't get hit by huge delivery fees. It's actually a great, very progressive concept. The founder also lives very frugally.

IKEA is also an excellent company to work for, and has -- by far -- the lowest retail turnover rate in the US.

I love IKEA. It's the only way I can afford to have decent furniture that lasts a long time.

[chaska]

41. Yes, great concept, but....

Great concepts can still be a tool of investors.

Corporatism has really gone too far.

[LostinVA]

44. I don't get what you're saying here

Because IKEA is still a good choice for people to buy at: inexpensive,quality stuff, and a "blue" company. But, I don't want to argue about something in the lounge, so...

[hfojvt]

42. at first I thought you were talking about IGIA

and I thought - they have stores full of IGIA products? :scared:

[Dukkha]

46. I'm not into the cubism look myself

just too ultra-modern for my taste. The designs just have no human feel to is and makes your home look more like a dentist's office.

[LSK]

47. cheap price doesnt mean bad quality

Maybe they dont have rich CEOs to pay for. Considering they are big in Europe, Id guess that is true. I have some books shelves and just purchased a lounge chair (POANG) from there. Good stuff.

[crispini]

48. What's a POANG?

That's one weird word! :P

[Moriarty]

51. Its a brand of furniture found at IKEA...

they have all sorts of weird names that I'm not even going to attempt to re-spell here :) and it is one mighty comfy chair.

I don't know if I'd ever buy big furniture there (ie. beds, sofas, dining room tables, etc.), but if you're looking for anything around storage or organizing, IKEA shelves and storage units are wonderful.

[LSK]

52. its a cheap lounge chair

Ikea has some weird names. I think they name everything in swedish.

[Taverner]

49. Ahhh but Ikea is a totally socialist company

Profit sharing, employee voting on policy....

The idea is furniture for the masses....

[crispini]

50. as long as it's GOOD furniture for the masses,

sounds good to me.