Ikea Shopping

 

I went shopping in Ikea for the first time last week.  Because there are no stores in Wisconsin, I traveled to Schaumburg, IL.

 

According to Wikipedia, ” The company’s name is an acronym that consists of the initials of the founder, Ingvar Kamprad, Elmtaryd (the farm where he grew up), and Agunnaryd (his hometown in Småland, south Sweden).”  It is the world’s largest furniture retailer.  Its systems of packaging and operations is impressive.

 

IKEA stores are usually blue buildings with yellow accents, Sweden’s national colors. They are often designed in a one-way layout, leading customers counter clockwise along what IKEA calls “the long natural way” designed to encourage the customer to see the store in its entirety (as opposed to a traditional retail store, which allows a customer to go directly to the section where the desired goods and services are displayed).

 

The sequence first involves going through furniture showrooms making note of selected items. The customer then collects a shopping cart and proceeds to an open-shelf “Market Hall” for smaller items, then visits the “Self Serve” furniture warehouse to collect previously noted showroom products in flat-pack form.  Finally, customers pay for their products at a cash register.

 

I spent about 5 hours in this store, including lunch time at the in-house restaurant.  Some unique items I purchased:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was impressed by the packaging of these bed pillows–they take up much less space in your cart when the air is removed and rolled up.  Of course, it’s unlikely that they will ever be rolled up again!

 

I also purchased two end tables, a utility cart, an end table,  plus some smaller items such as towels and kitchen items.

 

I’ve already used some of these items for staging projects.  Don’t forget to get some of those large blue bags to carry your staging items in.  Call Premiere Home Stagers if you want more information.  608-345-9396