posted on February 28, 2005 10:37:58 AM new
Does anyone shop there? I'm thinking about getting new kitchen cupboards from them and wondered if anyone has installed them themselves.
posted on February 28, 2005 10:57:55 AM new
I love browsing thru Ikea and getting accessories etc but when it comes to real furnishings... stay away!! They are great for 20 somethings, first timers and model homes but there is a reason eveything is so cheap. The materials are cheap and not made for long term usage. Kitchen cabinets are a big deal - invest the extra bucks - head down to Home Depot and get something something that will last thru the long haul.
(Check out the home Depot website - they have a virtual designer set up that rocks!)
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If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
posted on February 28, 2005 11:27:29 AM new
I have friend who shops there a lot and she likes the quality. I guess it how you look at things. They have some really nice pieces. You can also get bad merchandise at a good store where you will pay 3x the money. She has never done kitchen cabinets though mainly furniture.
posted on February 28, 2005 11:28:44 AM new
You should come here to shop more often Classic. Since the U.S. isn't willing to pay the price for it's own goods, and we don't mind paying for quality, Canada seems to be the only place left where you can buy American made stuff.
Thanks Fenix. I didn't know they were that cheaply made. I always though Home Depot would be worse. I didn't even know they had a website. Thanks!
posted on February 28, 2005 11:32:03 AM new
Well, Fenix did say it would appeal to people in their 20's, Libra - that's why we both like their stuff so much.
posted on February 28, 2005 12:27:43 PM new
Krafty - I remember when I first moved to LA me and it it seems like everyone I knew furnished their apartments straight out of IKEA. I knew at least 5 people with the same entertainment center - it became a running joke that you had to own one to be part of the group. After a few years the running joke was about the listing furniture, doors the never hung right, entertainment centers that now stood at wierd angles, collapsing drawers and the wonders of disintegrating pressboard.
If I never see another allen wrench it will be too soon
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If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
posted on February 28, 2005 01:19:26 PM new
I think so Double. Although they could be owned by the Chinese. As for American goods, I meant in general. We love the stuff the U.S. makes!
posted on February 28, 2005 01:25:50 PM new
It's funny I always thought they were Japanese or Korean. Just from the name. There aren't too many makers of much of anything in the USA anymore. But whenever I see such products, I usually like the quality of them.
posted on February 28, 2005 01:29:31 PM new
If the basic structure of your cabinets is sound, you should consider having fronts made for them. You will have better looking cabinets for about the same money or less as prefabricated modular units.
posted on February 28, 2005 07:19:00 PM new
I can't stand going to Ikea. The one here, you start at one point, and its a one way trip throughout the whole store (good marketing idea I guess)they even have the line drawn on the floor! your like cattle prodded through! LOL! until you hit the checkout. That way you don't miss anything they have. Their furniture is pretty plain, but decent, I guess thats the Scandinavian way.
It really is worth it to have your kitchen cabinets refaced, you'd save a lot more.
posted on March 2, 2005 08:02:30 AM new
Some interesting tidbits:
The origin of flatpack: "At which point he uttered the 12 words that would come to transform a culture: 'Oh God, then, let's pull off the legs and put them underneath.'"
It's pervasiveness and impact: "It has been calculated that 10% of Europeans currently alive were conceived in one of Ikea's beds."
On the catalog shooting logistics: "Just next to the studios, there are whole rooms filled with props to enhance this effect: thousands of entirely green books, entirely red books and entirely blue books - so that even the bookshelves match perfectly with the rugs and the covers of the sofa-beds."
IKEA as religion: "Like at least one other major world religion, Ikea began in a shed."
On the costcutting measures: "During the 1990s, the company is said to have marketed one line of picture-frames made entirely out of rubber offcuts from a Volvo factory."
On the founder's vision: "By the time [founder Ingvar] Kamprad wrote The Testament of a Furniture Dealer, his vision had grown more precise, more evangelical, and, you might argue, a fair bit more anally retentive. 'You can do so much in 10 minutes' time,' he declared. '10 minutes, once gone, are gone for good ... Divide your life into 10-minute units, and sacrifice as few of them as possible in meaningless activity.'"
On the business structure to avoid Sweden's oppressive taxation: "Kamprad set about creating a business structure of arcane complexity and secrecy. Today, therefore, The Ikea Group is ultimately owned by the Stichting Ingka Foundation, a charitable trust based in the Netherlands. A separate company, Inter Ikea Systems, owns Ikea's intellectual property—its concept, its trademark, its product designs. In a labyrinthine arrangement, Inter Ikea Systems then makes franchise deals with The Ikea Group, allowing it to manufacture and sell products."
Being inexpensive doesn't sacrifice profits: "… between 17% and 18% of the price of the average Ikea product is pure profit."
It's an interesting antipode to Wal-Mart
