Visit to Ikea

The first Ikea in Utah opened up around 10 days ago. We figured that if we took a tour late morning this past Thursday there would be very few shoppers. We were wrong; the place was mobbed, mostly by moms and their very young kids. We were amazed at several things; first the size; the place is a two-story “big box” that channels shoppers like cattle in a pre-ordaned flow so the surface area is maximized and so consumers are forced to see everything that is offered. Second, the overall style and offerings are decidedly European if not downright Scandinavian, and this might be a forceful element limiting Ikea’s American success. Third, Ikea's service is definitely European, meaning there’s none and all is geared to self-service; online is as bad too, with "Anna" the chatting "robot" which in many ways makes the whole process quite daunting and likely to scare off more than one shopper. Finally, the quality of their merchandise appears to be marginal and, for the most part, targeting the younger and budget-sensitive buyer. I personally liked their home office furnishing a lot and I might actually buy something from them to redo my home office if I ever figure how to put an order list together. Oh, I almost forgot; we had lunch at the store, the food was quite good and the price… dirt cheap!