Day 43: I’m still trapped in ikea. I found another restaurant. I think it’s the same one from day 26! Which means I’m closer to the front, I might get out. I asked a guy in the restaurant if he could point me to the exit. He got up, put his hands on my shoulder and said “I’ve been here for a year, there’s know what out” I got spooked. I fell asleep on a blue bed with a bird blanket. I’ll keep it marked down. I’m running out of pages, I don’t know how long I’ll be in here.
Here in Slovakia when the swedish management left and let the slovaks run it and then came after few years to check it they were shocked how they fucked everything up. No more nordic socialism where everybody is equal and fairly payed. True capitalism where you have to shut up and the management makes 10 more then average joe :D
Same here! I love my coworkers and it is generally a very nice place to be. 99% of the customers are pleasant to deal with, because we all spread those good vibes, because we all cheer each other up.
Failed to talk about how it's completely vertically integrated! They grow the trees, cut them down, design and make the furniture, and sell it to you. There's no middle men taking profit away, that's why they can charge cheap prices and still make so much money
insiderunnernot actually not completly truth. Ikea finds "partners", and hire them to work with ikea, that can make the products how ikea wants it, and under ikea conditions for the workers amd the nature around.
China items arent necessarily bad. BUT ofcourse you get what you pay for! But one thing you know when you buy IKEA furniture, is that you are not paying extra for a name on the furniture. Also all the furniture are not made in china, but yeah, some of the items are made in china.
Im from the furniture Industry and yes they outsource most of their manufacturing, squeeze the manufacturers dry, count every nut and bolt and produce subquality furniture. I can get u cheaper better furniture than them.
I think one of the reasons IKEA is so successful is that when you go there, you get ideas. The mini apartments and kitchen set-ups show how it will look in real world applications. Even if you don't need a couch, the idea gets planted: You go home and you think, "that couch would really work here." So you go back and get that couch. As you're wandering about after writing down the couch's bin number, you see a table... They have so much, I know I'm going find something, even if it's just tea lights or napkins. Also, IKEA is pretty cheap. You can furnish a living room (with accent pieces) for about $1500, which is perfect for students and people just starting out. There is also the "divorced dad walk": generally guys that are getting a divorce so they have to set up a whole place on their own... cheap. They wander about with glassy eyes picking out whole rooms, even down to the vase on display. I've had more than one conversation with guys like that. They're usually coming from a home that's been decorated and designed, going to an unfurnished apartment with nothing. I was almost hugged by a guy when I told him that they have whole sets of dishes and flatware downstairs cheap! If there is an issue with IKEA is that the furniture doesn't move well. It works and looks great in your apartment, but when you move to another apartment or home...? Suddenly, it's a little wobbly after the move. I have a really great bookshelf that required a lot of structural support after the move to my house. It will not be making another move (it's currently anchored to the wall in several key areas). Same with the couch. I consider a lot of their pieces as place holders until I can get something more lasting.
basiclly it's successfull because it's cheap. People will put up with a lot of shit if it means they don't have to pay too much for something, it's that simple
Fun Facts: IKEA actually introduced restaurants because Ingvar Kamprad noticed that sales dropped during lunch hours. Also, most items names have Scandinavian places names as opposed to just Swedish names. I'm surprised you didn't mention that IKEA isn't publicly traded and is committed to its founder's values or that IKEA has a rather interesting structure when looking at its parent companies.
Its scandinavian names AFAIK. Rumors are that IKEA got into some heavy waters with the Danes because their dormats and rugs are often named after danish places and terms. Some feel like that carries a meaning to it.
another fun fact, the reason behind the names is that ingvar kamprad, the founder and IK in IKEA, was dyslexic! he found it difficult to have complex model designations, so each furniture category is assigned a different type of name - place names, boys names, foods, etc.
Another disturbing fun fact: Ingvar kamprad Ikea’s founder was a Fascist, who heavily funded fascist politics. Thankfully I’ve never shopped at low quality, overpriced ikea & won’t ever.
One added thing. Customer service. I have easily spent over 10-20kEUR at IKEA during the past 20 years or so. Some times things have broken, sometimes because I did something wrong, sometimes because there might have been something wrong with the product. You go to the store with the defective item, I often don't even have a receipt, and they replace it. I once broke a glass lamp on the way home. I went back the next day, and they just replaced it. Broken top of a small cupboard, two years later, no receipt. They just replaced it, no cost to me. Sometimes I needed something I had lost, they pointed me to a wall of spare screws, and asked me to donate to a charity as ways of payment (optional). This is the thing with IKEA, they seem to value you as a long term customer, and they don't mind short term loss. I went there with 5 broken LED lamps that broke in a power outage. They took them and gave me a gift card with equivalent money on it. I have more stories like this. It's just a no-nonsense customer care place, and when you buy things there you know they'll be decent to you (at least that's my experience).
They also have replacement parts for a very long time even for products that have been out of production for decades, it took my mum having a certain shelving system (that was clearance when she bought it) 25 years before they no longer had replacement parts. It's nice to just walk in and say this piece broke and they'll bring you a new one, and even when they didn't have the piece, they gave my mum a couple similar ones and told her to try them and come back if they didn't work. The automatic reaction wasn't to say she had to buy a new one, it was to come up with a solution. She did get a new shelving system about a year after that, but the replacement part although not perfect allowed her to set aside money instead of going into debt for it.
They seem too generous. If I buy a shirt and a bird shits on it..... I don't understand this kind of thinking. The cost of a product and the profit margin are what you pay for. If you buy something and it's all wrong and you break it then you are causing everyone else a burden.
Think of it as an added insurance. Also, I have spent probably 100-1000x the money with IKEA during my lifetime than they have spent fixing problems that I have had. It makes people come back to the store because they trust that they'll get taken care of in case of problems. IKEA stands behind their products and when you're a customer, they want to make sure you have a great experience with their products. It's just great customer care policy to make customers like IKEA and keep coming back.
One main reason I enjoy ikea is also their “As Is” section, where they sell all of the pieces that were used as displays throughout the store for clearance prices. It’s a great way to get markdowns on some of their pricier items! Great video 👍
IKEA as I kid I remembered being excited to go to ikea mainly do to the fun ballpit slides they had which I think is a pretty genius marketing strategy where you have kids actively wanting to go to a furniture shopping store.
I like the flat escalators in the uk ikeas are tall and I love the warehouse because my dad works in shoes and boots and I like warehouses and the lifts and it is in Coventry it is near Northampton
Yellow Pancake. I love going to IKEA on stormy Sat.'s Could just be me but it's fun meandering through there on a cold rainy day. Usually end up with something new for the kitchen.
It was allways the scale and the fact they had an entire floor of furniture, rooms and kitchens, it was like walking into another dimention where 20 houses were just mashed together into one massive building, it was stunning as a kid and super nostalgic now. It is truely unlike any other shopping center, even a mall cant compare to the atmosphere Ikea creates.
Including restaurants and play areas and whatnot in IKEAs is brilliant. It's a long trip to get there and not one you'll make often (few people go through furniture on a weekly or monthly basis), so why not make it more of "an experience"? The play area is especially genius; parents can't leave young kids at home for a few hours while they buy furniture, but the kids would quickly get impatient if they had to just follow their parents around even the prettiest furniture store...and impatient kids are disruptive and destructive. Keeping young children in their own fun zone not only keeps the kids separated from customers and displays, but makes them less obnoxious in the first place.
Reminds me of some of the banned commercials I've seen. One was for Ikea and it was obviously European as it featured a standing wardrobe. not a dresser or closet. Anyway. Guy comes home from work, apparently early. Finds his wife in bed dressed in nothing but lingerie. He's surprised but she pushes him onto the bed and starts to get frisky with him. That was until someone sneezed in the wardrobe and the wardrobe doors fell off revealing she was having an affair and the guy she was sleeping with was hiding in the wardrobe as her husband got home early. Then the commercial mentions that wouldn't have happened with Ikea who has better quality. :D
I have worked at IKEA, Älmhult where it all started. In the early days, Ingvar Kamprad would come once a year and shake hand with every employee and thank them for their effort. IKEAs success is primarily because they could offer cheaper furniture than others since you had to assemble it yourself they could keep prices very low. Also, Ingvar was a big employeer in Sweden and people liked him cause of his modesty (modesty is a big thing in Småland), and that he offered them good jobs (they used to be great, now... Not as good). Nice video! Thanks for bringing up the company of my small hometown :)
Cheaper furniture? Here in Lithuania, we only have one IKEA store, and the prices there are quite high, compared to JYSK, which is a danish furniture seller. We have tons of JYSK stores here, and the prices are fine & reasonable. Never been to IKEA in my life, I think I'll visit it someday.
@@UA-cam_Globetrotter handskakning och besök från Kamprad var långt före min tid. Det är min far, som också jobbat (gör ännu) sol berättat att Kampard dök upp runt Jul och tackade alla där. Är du också Älmhults bo?
Nä, det är jag inte. Har inte ens varit i Älmhult i hela mitt liv. Men jag har hört att man fick en julbonus av honom. Speciellt dom som jobbade i Älmhult.
Bruh, going to IKEA is the Disney Land of furniture. I swear, the first time I went, I’ve never felt so amazed by every floor in the store. Not to mention the restaurant with exquisite foods.
you could take there furniture to a wood worker and ask them to make a wood version of it. IKEA is perfectly fine with that. they won't do it theme self because it would make there stuff heavy and thus cost more.
ikea appeals to so many people because of the Scandinavian interior design, which is practical, sinple, not expensive and have an excellent sense of styling.
Digital downloads, the obnoxious pressuring to buy certain things, the overabundance of cheap overpriced plastic crap no one is buying, and the supposed bad conditions their employees are treated might be some reasons. People getting less and less excited at some releases due to various reasons (political issues from any side, censorship, the game outright has major flaws and needs patches, day one DLC or season passes) could be other factors. Or they could be stocking up on overpriced collector's editions that most people frankly don't care about buying.
I think that IKEA promotes there country of origin more so than most places is because they want to trick consumers into thinking that the furniture is high quality and cheap. If they didn’t promote Sweden so much people might think that stuff is cheep and flimsy because of how “cheap” everything is. When you go into the dollar store you know that everything is probably made in China and will break a few hrs after you get home but. IKEA items won’t do that because they are from Europe. Even if it’s not true
Funny thing is that local furniture brands in China actually charges way more than IKEA in China, because they are more of selling luxury furnitures while IKEA is mostly budget stuffs. Also, "made in China" would only break easily if you intentionally get the cheapest stuffs. But then it's really hard to change people's mind, even within China.
I also think their online presence is amazing. Moving into an apartment and my closet has a large gap from the floor to the first shelf. Get the measuring tape after checking the Kallax shelf dimensions and it says it will fit. Put the bookshelf together and slide it underneath just as expected. You are lucky if most furniture stores have a website beyond a brief list of what they carry. Ikea has everything from colors and product dimensions to a phone app that uses augmented reality to place products into your space. Ikea has done just about everything imaginable to make it easy to shop.
Don't forget the value of not having to deal with pushy sales people following you throughout the entire store trying to upsale you on everything. I'll happily drive an extra half hour out of my way and build it myself to avoid that nonsense. I'd go to Walmart or Target instead, but their selections usually aren't that great.
I work at Walmart and can confirm. Even using the handheld computer, I can’t find where items go in that garbled nonsense that is our furniture section. Everything is just shoved in the shelves, the price label strips have fallen off, and the furniture selection sucks.
I think you are likely spot-on. As you said, IKEA IS an experience. It's not just shopping. Even living in a town with one, it's still a trip to plan. And in some ways that is work, but also kind of makes it fun. It isn't an amusement park, but then it kind of is: different worlds you visit (kitchen, living room, art), cheap but good food, and you can be a bit goofy if you want. Fewer staff means fewer observers (security cameras notwithstanding), so you can feel a bit freer to try stuff out and be a little silly (including doing Swedish Chef impressions reading the product names). Also, like a good theme park, theme is important, and I think in American minds we associate anything non-American as exotic and fancy. It's also furniture not produced in the US or Japan or China (well, it might be, but I'm sure most people assume it's all from Sweden) and that may help it avoid biases against goods from any of these countries. I also think IKEA's style is very universal. Many people can find something that fits their personal style, regardless of what it is. And it's relatively inexpensive (or as you say gives the appearance of being inexpensive). I think IKEA also taps into minimalism a bit, and that seems to be relatively popular in the US at least right now (tiny homes, etc.).
I was lucky enough to live about a 20 minute drive from the IKEA near me, and even as a local this was still a weekend adventure spot. I lived in Tampa, which is only an hour away from Disney, so choosing to go to IKEA for fun with friends is a pretty hefty statement. I think that there's a bit of a flaw in your first point. While I do agree that putting effort in yourself makes you value what you have more, I don't think that the draw of IKEA over other furniture stores is that additional work. The draw is that in IKEA, unless you want an employee to help you, you will not have to speak to an employee, ever. The bright colored uniforms and generally welcoming appearance of the employees is nice, but with a lot of shoppers, especially younger adults, they don't want to talk to associates they don't have to. What if they judge me for my choice in furniture or what if they try to upsell me something I don't need? When you're re-furnishing a home or buying high-ticket items for the first time, the awkward and confusing dance between someone working on commission trying to sell you the most expensive thing they can is utterly terrifying. With IKEA, you're welcome to browse, try things out, and at the end all you have to do is push a cart with a couple boxes on it out the door. And, as an add-on, I think that one of the benefits of IKEA is its designing. There are a number of furniture stores near me, and I'll visit them on occasion. Each one I have gone into is dark, with lots of wood, glass, and just generally cramped spacing. Every piece is hundreds of dollars, and can be difficult to find. This was an aesthetic that was pretty universal for a time, but now a lot of people go for either minimalism or bright colors - both of which IKEA is excellent at providing. The store is generally a lot more open, allowing customers to walk through showrooms, test out what's there, and envision what certain pieces would look like in their own homes. It makes me wonder, however, when minimalistic decor goes out of fashion if IKEA will keep up or fall out to a competitor? Needless to say, however, IKEA is also a very well-priced store. I was able to completely makeover my entire bedroom with brand new everything for only a couple hundred bucks. That was 7 years ago and all of the furniture is still holding up well and it's survived a total of 6 moves. I'd also say IKEA is simply a very well-thought out store. Families often need to buy new furniture, and most furniture stores are the bane of any child's existence. Every piece is sterile and they are explicitly told not to touch anything. In IKEA, the colors are bright and there's a good combination between big furniture to look at and touch, as well as smaller additionals (i.e. the towels, lint rollers, etc.) that you can pick up and mess with along the way. IKEA also has a wonderful practice of including children into their layouts as well. Living room sets will often have a small play area or a long roll of paper to draw on. All of the stairs have two sets of handrails - one for the adults and one for smaller children. They have a kid's section that is actually designed around what kids like, and the store has such a strong basis in safety of what they sell that it's very trustworthy. This makes it significantly easier to bring children along, and therefore bond a little bit in selecting new furniture as a family. And I'll wrap this up with one last thing. As the newest generations of young adults and teenagers have begun to flood the economy, the prevailing qualities consumers look for has become affordable (because who can afford thousands of dollars in new furnishings when you already have a ton of student debt) options from a well-reputed company. Every IKEA roof is consumed by solar panels to promote renewable energy, the scraps of food remaining from the restaurant guests is composted, and the employees typically make well above minimum wage - an entry-level position as a dishwasher at my IKEA was about $11-$12 an hour, if I remember correctly, when minimum wage in Florida was only $8.15. Supporting companies and brands that support issues like these is a way of directly putting money where our opinions are. I don't care how many mattress firms are in my area. I'd rather drive 6 hours to an IKEA to buy a bed than go to my local mattress firm.
I haven't visited this store often, but I really do respect the hell out of it. One opened near my church very recently, and it's always great to visit.
Our IKEA in Houston was about 30-45 minutes from my hometown of Katy. I always liked going there as a kid. It was exactly as you described: a maze. When I got older and moved out I started buying furniture there. I wanted to be more independent and I felt assembling my own furniture brought about a sense of accomplishment. As for the fact that they constantly display where they’re from, I always loved that too. Be like IKEA. Be proud of your origins :)
The first store in stockholm sweden was the real maze , not the ones in this video since i see them as simple layouts - That store was a circle and in it was 1.5, 2.5 , 3.5 floors above the 1,2,3, through patchways since the building was like a hollow cylinder - in there you never know in which direction you were facing - now when Im old - i wonder what was the fuzz - nowadays that store is smallish ( its protected and cant be demolished )
I've only ever considered Ikea furniture low-to-ok quality but the prices are fair for what you get. Shopping there is fun. The stores have a unique charm to them, selection is fantastic and the show floor are literally full of decor ideas. Spending 20 minutes assembling the furniture can be fun, too, and a great way to get young ones comfortable with working with their hands... It's kind of like Legos
Is pretty cheap when you compare to other furniture stores. A lot of stuff still works from ikea. As long as you don't abuse them they will last a while. My dad still have the ikdea desk he tog over 15 years ago. Sure the style is out of date but still works. However, now it seems the quality is not as great as before.
Shopping there can be quite fun. But I have a different experience with pricing. The pieces of theirs that I actually like and consider to be of decent quality are always way overpriced. A little searching online always yields me a better buy somewhere else, even if it does take a little more effort.
@@JM1993951 Bob's discount furniture just recently opened a store near me and their pricing seems at least as good as Ikea's and quality seems better. I wouldnt consider living room chairs or sofas from either but the dressers and cabinets and accent pieces seemed reasonable.
Ikea is just nostalgic. Whenever I go there, I just get these surges of memories coming at me all at once. I'd argue it's a better experience than Disney Land.
Lol it is for the adults. Pandemic brought up the home buddies mode for most people stuck at home. It’s funny how there’s even exclusive FB groups dedicated to home styling/renovation. That’s why IKEA hit a jackpot when they opened their first store in our country in 2020. Everyone was excited and the opening month was crazy. 3 years later they are still like a must visit store for most people here.
Yes, those lovely meatballs that were found to have horse meat in them. Yum! www.thestar.com/news/world/2013/02/25/horsemeat_found_in_ikeas_swedish_meatballs.html
To me their beef meat ball tastes like chicken for some reason... Even though tastes not bad it's definitely not the best kind of meatball in my opinion.
As to if IKEA presenting itself as very Swedish, I feel like it has a very large impact on the feel of it. It adds to the feeling of stepping into another world. An IKEA world where everything is magical. Honestly, IKEA has a similar feel to Disneyland to me.
Watershed44 as a Swedish person that has lived a major part of my life in a so-called "No-Go zone" according to some sources. I must say Sweden is perfectly safe even in No-go zones and Muslims is not destroying the culture quickly. But I must agree that the mass immigration has its problems when there was not a system in place. I would still argue that Sweden still productive and safe: RSF second place after Norway & HDI 14 place & GDP 22/23 place that is after only 7 other EU countries that most/all have a higher population than Sweden. Links: RSF (reporters without border): rsf.org/en/ranking HDI (UN): hdr.undp.org/en/composite/HDI GDP: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)
Jay Keep thinking it won't get any worse....it will, eventually these invasive creatures will take over and you will be living in hell. That's their plan after all. Sweden won't be "Sweden" when the third world immigrants out number native white Swedes. That wonderful culture and heritage will be lost forever.
I👏🏻love👏🏻ikea👏🏻 I needed a shower curtain and drove about thirty minutes out of my way because I was bored on a Saturday. I live two minutes from a Walmart and instead of running there getting the shower curtains and coming back home to do nothing I spent three hours looking at furniture and I had a great time doing it
Great video. You hit every single point right on the head, even your bonus reason. In particular, visiting the restaurant is a *must*, because you WILL end up spending hours in there. Do not go to IKEA thinking you'll just get in and get out. Especially if you have young kids, plan to take your time walking through this place. Also, beyond furniture they have basically every decoration you'd ever need for your house, fixtures, carpets, rugs, dining plates, as well as both real and fake plants.
actually if you really know that you go for one item and you know the code of the item you could go strait in to the warehouse part and be in and out in a few minutes.
Go to the website and browse. Grab the SKU of what you want and go downstairs at the entrance via stairs/elevator. Find the location of the flat pack via the computers within the warehouse, slap them on a cart and head to the register. The meatballs (both beef and chicken) are available in the freezers along the way. Nab a few bags and pay for it all on your way out. IKEA in 30 minutes.
They do have a lot of cheap "pottery barn" type stuff which is nice, but I spent hours walking about their store thinking "this is the almost the same price as real furniture" and also "do they have any real wood colored products" because their main color seems to be an ugly "black - brown" that is completely flat and has no depth or shine.
My son was in love (no quotes) with a Swedish girl in our town for 2 years (they were 11-12ish), He was too shy/anxious to declare how he felt, She seemed to 'like' him too., The only thing I could give him was the 45 minute drive to IKEA, at least 3 plates of meatballs (Swedish Flag toothpick included), Just being there made him happy. Of course, he found out that she actually did like him, but by then, she had returned to Sweden with her Family. IKEA played a big part in helping him deal, I am grateful,
I think the Swedish promotion and the store is definitely a factor in their success. There's something about it's foreign-ness that makes it a fun shopping trip.
One of the reasons that IKEA's furniture is popular in the US is that outside of spending thousands of dollars for vintage or high-end pieces, you can get furniture that is way outside the classic "American" mold -- IKEA definitely has a mid-century modern and post-modern feel to their stuff which is hard to find in places like Walmart, Belfort, or wherever else people buy furniture. American furniture has an overpowering "midwestern" -- that is to say, farmhouse-inspired,etc. -- aspect to it that doens't appeal to the entire country, especially the more urban coastal regions.
I know that, here in the states, a lot of people that think IKEA is cheaply made. It's not that bad, honestly, and I love the modern feel of most of the furniture.
Scandinavian design has a very minimalistic and functional characteristic that people seem to experience as modern. It's elegant in its ordinarity. Along with IKEA we have Volvo, H&M, Acne Studios, Fjällräven, Haglöfs, Iittala, Snøhetta, Bang & Olufsen, there are many more examples. I read a pretty good article the other day about it: www.thespruce.com/what-is-scandinavian-design-4149404
I applaud you for taking what _was_ a civil discussion about style and aesthetics and its role in supply and demand and turning it into a politically-charged tirade railing against the country's population centers. amazing.
i have both IKEa at home and the classic american heavy wood style of furniture. Im not sure which is better my parents prefer the american signature type of furniture or shopping at macys. THough idk how macys compares to ikea
Last year in Burbank they closed a “normal” sized IKEA and opened another one down the road that has to be the largest store I’ve ever been in. It’s so big that they named the road leading to entering the parking area IKEA way. It’s definitely not just a store but an experience.
More like how their employees are assumedly underpaid but still manage to have a home, furniture, and still continue to work at the Krusty Krab. Also, the incredible cost saving techniques they employ. No other company, as far as I know, have emulated the Krusty Krab in this area.
@@companyman114Watching from Sydney Australia 🇦🇺 where there are 3 IKEA stores and none of them have a children's play area But each of them have a cafe as well as a restaurant & a unlimited soft drinks bar . ♑️✍️🇳🇴
Dear Company Man, May you please make a video on Patreon that is more detailed. I've been curious for a while. How do you get paid? If you do make money and a lot of it where do you put that on taxes? Is there a special tax form? Also Nickelodeon isn't a good place to have a show, not anymore. With respects, Madison Christian Atteberry
He gets paid from the 2 ads played during every video😎👌 Also, when you work for yourself (UA-cam is self employment), you report your taxes on form 1099, same as if you have an esty store and collect payment through Square or something.
Can you do a video on Sysco? That food and restaurant supply company that always has trucks outside restaurants, and how they're more involved in those TGI Fridays/Applebees/Chilis/ Chain restaraunts than most people might think? (Hint: They dont just supply toilet paper and paper towels)
I LOVE IKEA because it’s like a mini vacation in Europe. I enjoy spending hours looking at items, testing out chairs/couches/ kitchens, shopping, “oh, I didn’t know I needed THIS!” 😆 I really like the restaurant area, too. The great variety. Those meetballs. Then taking my tray over to a table on the second floor, near a window, that overlooks the surrounding area. Yep, IKEA is an experience. Thanks for another great vid.
I'd like to encourage people to buy from Petco/PetSmart. I work in an Amazon warehouse and do not enjoy pulling 1,200lb. pallets of dog food around all day. Most pallets are fine, but my stomach turns when I see the pet food.
Some Swedish input here: I've never felt that assembling IKEA furniture is like building something myself. It's closer to plugging in a new TV. IKEA is usually located at the edge of cities with all the other stores. (I don't know if America has this concept, where there is a big, almost industrial-like shopping district coupled with cities) Buying things by NOT bringing it to a cashier and rather just chatting someone up, weirds me out. And I really really really like that IKEA is not a publicly traded company. Trading stock will be the undoing of humans, I swear
I've heard they deliberately avoid having windows or skylights in their store, as humans use natural light to tell the passing of time. With it being a consistent brightness the entire time, you spend longer in the store. Wonder if there's any truth to that.
they do have windows at the restaurant but most of the places don't but that has more to do with the effect sunlight has on furniture. do keep in mind some of those items have been standing in that store for years and years and they still have to look as new.
It's more like they skip it because its not neccesary and would make the building cost more. (Maybe reduce lighting costs slightly but not by too much.) Ikea is all about making things look nice (and generally be good enough quality) with a minimum of costs of all kinds.
I remember loving to go to an Ikea when I was younger. In Austria, there are Ikeas everywhere. They had decent 1€ hotdogs which was insane. They also had soft icecream machines. You only had to buy the ice cream cone. You were allowed to use the cone as much as you want to get free ice cream.
I looooove IKEA, for the last 12 years I’ve lived in an apartment, I’ve always had like 90% of my stuff from there. The price is the first reason, the second is the look, I love modern stuff, clean, simple. I now have to agree that the experience of going to an IKEA is now a 3rd reason. I love getting some food there, I love walking around, even the smell is awesome. And I usually loathe having to go to ANY other store...
As an Ikea worker, I have to say that you've summarized it pretty good! BTW- there are shortcuts in every store so... be aware of your surroundings and then find the exit much quicker ;) BTW 2-Two of the most frequent questions we are asked are "How the hell do I get out of here?!" / "Where are the toilets?!?" haha
I was there yesterday with my sister and niece, just walking around, seeing the new rooms and items. We go there pretty often, sometimes even to have a cup of coffee.
When i went to Sweden for a month, I was very curious on Ikeas, since there were none in my country. It was truly an experience. I was not going to buy furniture, only some bedsheets, but I loved the food, and other ornaments I was able to bring home. Plus its not like any store I actually had some fun getting lost in it.
@@oreo_6206 no i meant actual, real water that was deep fried yet not evaporated. americe is doomed www.eater.com/2016/6/7/11879680/deep-fried-water-video
The prices. The *experience* ! There's something so exciting about going to a store and envisioning and feeling like you've found your room. Coupled with the price and limited store locations, going to Ikea is like going to a theme park. It's simply exciting. Plus, the prices get you to buy so many things, even though you know you're going to spend forever putting it together or have trouble getting it in and out of the car lol my whole apt is Ikea. It's super affordable, cute and chic. I can easily spend hours there and not feel like I wasted my time (or money).
Ikea is by far the greatest furniture store I ever been in my life, their layout is innovative and fun with actual rooms showing the furniture and their swedish food restaurant is delicious. Given the store is so big, it is an experience to go there and buy products that you have to assemble. It is by far one of the best companies Sweden has produced for the world.
When I was in high school, I was involved in a work program my junior year. I worked at IKEA for the work program and absolutely loved it. I go there every once in a while. The customer service is top notch, the things they sell are good quality and the layout is nice. Love going there to see what's new and what I could find to spruce up my house
I went in for a linnmon desk. After my first job I wanted a new desk.. Spent around 700$ in a new room. Bed frame, desk (ended up with bekant instead), drawer, nightstand and some cable management stuff along with drawer liners and a throw blanket. I am not disappointed
Costco furniture reminds me of "how many years dark and dreary, do I ponder weak and weary.." and $$$!!! Ikea "funiture" is bright and cheery, useful and merry even at home. Costco could better attempt to "accentuate your positives" with Ikea accessories, to downplay their negatives. I always bypass Costco furniture. Made for old fogey, ready to die in musky and stogey folks. So very un-exciting. Yech! I'm off to the brighter parts of the store - fresh tuna sushi - never found again, steelhead now farmed, pickled herring in sour cream no more, but pickled herring with onions still $4.99 fo'evah! Just like the big fat rotisserie chicken. I tag along with my friends to Idea, er, Ikea, and always find colorful mood enhancing, anti-depressant items, like flashlights, better lamp, cuter towels, couch pillows, and a long green stuffed snake and always da meatballs for home.
Thats funny you say that. My now fiancé of 3 years took me there on out 2md "date". He texted me asking me if Id like to go with him to "run some errands" and get some food, as he needed some things for his new place. I obliged & off we went into the most beautiful furniture store id ever been in. At that point in life I barely had my 1st apartment & *_all_* my furniture was either hand-me-downs, _Salvation Army_ + _Goodwill_ finds (some cool stuff, but still) or walmart furniture. A "good furniture store" to me was *_Target_* and thats where I'd go for a little apartment decoration "splurge" & feel like I was really "treating" myself & "living the high life" lol. I Never even knew what _Ikea_ was exactly. (for some reason I thought it was a random ass _Big Lots_ type place that sold swedish meatballs?) So when I walked into that Ikea I was blown away. He really liked the look of my place (just cause i bought cheap dont mean i didnt know how to D.I.Y that hoe from shit to a showroom.) So gave me his list and asked me to pick out the what i think would look good in his place. My boyfriend later told me he took me in there to try and flex his wallet/impress me. It worked. We (by We I mean He) spent a little over 700 just on small home goods for him alone, plus a new stand for my computer and some really good food. We live together now and do go to Ikea still. Once we even fucked (really quickly) in one of the more hidden displays. Idk. Ikea really is kinda a romantic place.
I know you are focused on the corporate/retail side of things, and that's why we love you so much. Another thing that IKEA has revolutionized is the manufacturing and shipping components. Not within the stores, but the warehouse that builds and delivers the orders globally. There isn't a dude in the whole place; Robots rule. It's already been done on some show like Mega Machines or whatever, but worth a look. The business brilliance does however come from the flat-pack as far as overall concept. Without that concept the whole company would not have flourished.
The ultimate desk for a computer was the IKEA's Jerker. Because computer CRT monitors were heavy, the desk was OVER-engineered and , as a result, sturdy. They still pop up on craigslist. Thank you.
The way they show the setup of a room, kitchen, hall, or any corner of the house - damn that keeps you locked there like a fantasy and you want that badly. They got some damn good interior designers i have to say. They fit almost anything in a you name it any tiny place and still it does not look messy at all. Mostly i go to see those demo room and house setups. Feels so good
Also, the furniture they make is both by wood and wood powder that is left over from cutting and grinding a wood. That cut cost and makes a good difference in profit
Costco comes to mind... cheap food court items. The fact that the customer is forced to assemble the furniture and do the loading of the boxed one's self is analogous of having to buy in bulk and load and box the items being purchased again one's self. Both stores have very loyal followings and while Costco is not as much of a destination, I would still consider it a destination store where three hours can go by in the blink of an eye... Thanks for the content... always packed with informative nuggets! 👍
"it's one of those places that tends to be an hoUr away and you have to plan out your trip" How many swedish stereotypes do i account for by living in sweden a 20min walk/5 min drive away from the cloest ikea, literally been there 3 times within a month and going there tomorrow again to eat meatballs?
My grandparents are Swedish and for years as a kid they'd take me to this big thing they had every year around Christmas where they had a bunch of specialty food in the restaurant and it was a cool experience. I always used to love just going through the showroom as a kid, and even now, it's a good place to look for new furniture.
iirc the story is that they focused on keeping the menu small and excelling in what they sold, which worked. compare to many places with large menus but everything is mediocre. and in n out competition like 5 guys do a similar approach
I love Ikea food. Honestly going to Ikea is almost like going to an amusement park (especially when you're a kid and you get to stay in the play area, which I remember being super fun) and then you get to eat something.
I’m in love with the furniture it’s cheap smartly designed and I prefer to pay less and build it myself. Everything is half the price for similar products in American stores. I could go on and on about the smart designs that I can’t even find something as nice or well thought out in an American store. Also gimmie all the meatballs yum!
I love the idea they promote their home country using lil' bits of grammar, product display and color choices... especially their home cuisine. I think this makes the place more vibrant.
I think people associate Sweden with modern design and since they design their own products the Swedish theme helps promote them as well designed. Personally I don't like being manipulated into walking through areas of a store I don't need to go to. There's an IKEA within 30 minutes of me and I've been once in the 10 years or so they've been here. I'm also a woodworker and IKEA doesn't have the greatest reputation for quality furniture among people who know how to make furniture themselves. Its considered disposable, which is fine if you're a college student and only need it to last a year or two before you're going to move and don't want to fool with it. Not so great if you're settled and want something to last a while.
Ikea is an experience, we don't have ikeas in my country and when I first went to one in the US I was surprised by how pleasant it was! The sections are carefully arranged so you can see how a room would look like, in contrast to other furniture stores where you see an individual piece and constantly have a salesman breathing on your neck. Also, after going through all of ikea you get to the ending and you don't even have to pay to go have lunch and sit down for a while
I think IKEA is a bit more organized than you let on. Areas are not in a random order. The names of items are in certain groups. For example, one type of furniture uses male names. The clean, trend-free look of their products could also help. Oh, by the way, IKEA hacking is also a thing.
The only time I've been to an IKEA, if you ate at the restaurant first, whatever the food bill came too would be taken off the total of your furniture purchase. So if you bought other things at the store, you could've eaten for free in a sense. No clue if that's the standard model or if it was just a cool promotion they were doing.
Ria Wilkinson I totally remember doing this when I bought my college furniture. Invited my friend, we got tons of food, and took leftovers inside the IKEA Tupperware with the green lids. Food for days, no shame lol.
I ordered my first piece of IKEA furniture online this week, got it, and loved it to death. Not only was it perfectly sized just as measured, but it was very stylish and matched my room perfectly. The more and more I look at their company I have completely fallen in love with them. You can furnish an entire room with IKEA at the same cost as say a crappy mattress and bed from a regular furniture store, and it looks GOOD, and holds up pretty well. They even have full sets you can use if you want to theme an entire area with the same furniture style. Or if you are feeling creative they have modular furniture too. Now knowing what their store experience is like makes me actually want to go shopping for once in my life because the satisfaction of buying pretty nice furniture for cheap, making it yourself, and the countless designs to make sure what you’re getting is something you know you will love (So long as you work for it a little) hands down makes them the best furniture store. Sweden must be proud to have IKEA.
One of their newer stores in Milwaukee has shortcuts between sections. It’s more simple then some others, but remember, this is IKEA simple. This is the one I go to, as it’s closest to me
Great video and good points. I also think that a bonus of having the restaurant just before you go into the market/warehouse could potentially make you more eager to spend money. People are happy after eating good food, so that could have an affect. They also essentially make the customers the pickers in the warehouse, so there's less warehouse staff required. All really clever stuff.
I like IKEA because there aren't any pushy salespeople. I find the experience relaxing to walk through the maze of different themed rooms for inspiration.
The issue with IKEA being Swedish is that they've created a complicated ownership scheme that will lead you to several different companies, groups and holdings in several different countries.
I worked at ikea for over 10 years and you are completely right with your reasoning. Actually there are so much more of these neat little tricks they do. For example the yellow bags you grab when entering the store are purposely oversized, so smaller items tend to get lost in there and it feels like you picked up less then you actually did. Also the margins on furniture are quite small which allows them to offer amazing deals to get people coming to the stores. The money makers are all the added items you didn’t know you were buying before haha Amazing content thank you man
I love you're videos, they're very interesting. Would you ever consider doing some for Film studios? Like Disney, and Dreamworks? Or even the comic book companies like DC and Marvel?
Day 43: I’m still trapped in ikea. I found another restaurant. I think it’s the same one from day 26! Which means I’m closer to the front, I might get out. I asked a guy in the restaurant if he could point me to the exit. He got up, put his hands on my shoulder and said “I’ve been here for a year, there’s know what out” I got spooked. I fell asleep on a blue bed with a bird blanket. I’ll keep it marked down. I’m running out of pages, I don’t know how long I’ll be in here.
Being trapped in an IKEA wouldn't be too bad. Only problem is that you would have to survive off Swedish Meatballs.
@@applescruff1969 and why would that be a problem?
Wait do u mean SCP 3008
he was there so long they gave him a job.
i fuckin love swedish meatballs
I actually work at an IKEA. It's hands down the most positive and constructive work environment I've ever been a part of.
Here in Slovakia when the swedish management left and let the slovaks run it and then came after few years to check it they were shocked how they fucked everything up. No more nordic socialism where everybody is equal and fairly payed. True capitalism where you have to shut up and the management makes 10 more then average joe :D
Same here! I love my coworkers and it is generally a very nice place to be. 99% of the customers are pleasant to deal with, because we all spread those good vibes, because we all cheer each other up.
At my location, everyone said it sucked working there.
thank you Godzilla(?), Very cool.
I wanna work with IKEA, please connect me
True key to IKEA success:
1)Lock you in a Maze for 3 hrs
2)Sell your starving family Hot Dogs & soda afterwards
If you ever played Theme Park on the P.C. back in the 90's... (They'll be over salting the fries next.)
@@Vulcano7965 Built towns out of the furniture and defend from them
@@macldinc and randomly move the exit around.
scp gang
*neck snaps*
why they sell food inside Ikea stores, what's their strategy behind that?
Failed to talk about how it's completely vertically integrated! They grow the trees, cut them down, design and make the furniture, and sell it to you. There's no middle men taking profit away, that's why they can charge cheap prices and still make so much money
insiderunnernot actually not completly truth. Ikea finds "partners", and hire them to work with ikea, that can make the products how ikea wants it, and under ikea conditions for the workers amd the nature around.
@@BenjaSonne interesting, thanks
its made in your own home, you have to build it yourself.
all it is, is a few pieces of wood. doesn't matter where it is created
China items arent necessarily bad. BUT ofcourse you get what you pay for! But one thing you know when you buy IKEA furniture, is that you are not paying extra for a name on the furniture. Also all the furniture are not made in china, but yeah, some of the items are made in china.
Im from the furniture Industry and yes they outsource most of their manufacturing, squeeze the manufacturers dry, count every nut and bolt and produce subquality furniture. I can get u cheaper better furniture than them.
I think one of the reasons IKEA is so successful is that when you go there, you get ideas. The mini apartments and kitchen set-ups show how it will look in real world applications. Even if you don't need a couch, the idea gets planted: You go home and you think, "that couch would really work here." So you go back and get that couch. As you're wandering about after writing down the couch's bin number, you see a table... They have so much, I know I'm going find something, even if it's just tea lights or napkins.
Also, IKEA is pretty cheap. You can furnish a living room (with accent pieces) for about $1500, which is perfect for students and people just starting out. There is also the "divorced dad walk": generally guys that are getting a divorce so they have to set up a whole place on their own... cheap. They wander about with glassy eyes picking out whole rooms, even down to the vase on display. I've had more than one conversation with guys like that. They're usually coming from a home that's been decorated and designed, going to an unfurnished apartment with nothing. I was almost hugged by a guy when I told him that they have whole sets of dishes and flatware downstairs cheap!
If there is an issue with IKEA is that the furniture doesn't move well. It works and looks great in your apartment, but when you move to another apartment or home...? Suddenly, it's a little wobbly after the move. I have a really great bookshelf that required a lot of structural support after the move to my house. It will not be making another move (it's currently anchored to the wall in several key areas). Same with the couch. I consider a lot of their pieces as place holders until I can get something more lasting.
basiclly it's successfull because it's cheap. People will put up with a lot of shit if it means they don't have to pay too much for something, it's that simple
Yet.. they are far from the inventors of showrooms.
TheCMLion dude you pretty much just wrote an essay
This is very good information
Good points!
Fun Facts: IKEA actually introduced restaurants because Ingvar Kamprad noticed that sales dropped during lunch hours. Also, most items names have Scandinavian places names as opposed to just Swedish names. I'm surprised you didn't mention that IKEA isn't publicly traded and is committed to its founder's values or that IKEA has a rather interesting structure when looking at its parent companies.
Its scandinavian names AFAIK. Rumors are that IKEA got into some heavy waters with the Danes because their dormats and rugs are often named after danish places and terms. Some feel like that carries a meaning to it.
another fun fact, the reason behind the names is that ingvar kamprad, the founder and IK in IKEA, was dyslexic! he found it difficult to have complex model designations, so each furniture category is assigned a different type of name - place names, boys names, foods, etc.
Mr Woolworth could have told him that.
IKEA is actually pronounced EEE KAY A.
Another disturbing fun fact: Ingvar kamprad Ikea’s founder was a Fascist, who heavily funded fascist politics. Thankfully I’ve never shopped at low quality, overpriced ikea & won’t ever.
One added thing. Customer service. I have easily spent over 10-20kEUR at IKEA during the past 20 years or so. Some times things have broken, sometimes because I did something wrong, sometimes because there might have been something wrong with the product. You go to the store with the defective item, I often don't even have a receipt, and they replace it. I once broke a glass lamp on the way home. I went back the next day, and they just replaced it. Broken top of a small cupboard, two years later, no receipt. They just replaced it, no cost to me. Sometimes I needed something I had lost, they pointed me to a wall of spare screws, and asked me to donate to a charity as ways of payment (optional). This is the thing with IKEA, they seem to value you as a long term customer, and they don't mind short term loss. I went there with 5 broken LED lamps that broke in a power outage. They took them and gave me a gift card with equivalent money on it. I have more stories like this. It's just a no-nonsense customer care place, and when you buy things there you know they'll be decent to you (at least that's my experience).
Mikael Abrahamsson
Part of Swedish culture too this kind of looking out for the best interests of all their citizens, not found many places.
HettGutt i agree. wish steve jobs was back.
They also have replacement parts for a very long time even for products that have been out of production for decades, it took my mum having a certain shelving system (that was clearance when she bought it) 25 years before they no longer had replacement parts. It's nice to just walk in and say this piece broke and they'll bring you a new one, and even when they didn't have the piece, they gave my mum a couple similar ones and told her to try them and come back if they didn't work. The automatic reaction wasn't to say she had to buy a new one, it was to come up with a solution. She did get a new shelving system about a year after that, but the replacement part although not perfect allowed her to set aside money instead of going into debt for it.
They seem too generous. If I buy a shirt and a bird shits on it..... I don't understand this kind of thinking. The cost of a product and the profit margin are what you pay for. If you buy something and it's all wrong and you break it then you are causing everyone else a burden.
Think of it as an added insurance. Also, I have spent probably 100-1000x the money with IKEA during my lifetime than they have spent fixing problems that I have had. It makes people come back to the store because they trust that they'll get taken care of in case of problems. IKEA stands behind their products and when you're a customer, they want to make sure you have a great experience with their products. It's just great customer care policy to make customers like IKEA and keep coming back.
Mom: Hey son you want to go to Disney Land?
Me: Nah let"s go to Ikea.
theloseracrossthe street that’s actually what I said to my mom...
I mean it's like a trip already lol
Low key, I go there for my birthday. 10/10
I actually said that.
Same thing
One main reason I enjoy ikea is also their “As Is” section, where they sell all of the pieces that were used as displays throughout the store for clearance prices. It’s a great way to get markdowns on some of their pricier items! Great video 👍
TIME TO DELIVER A PIZZA BALL
My comfy couch and my tv table (which both were on sale) agree
And if you came through my line with “As Is” merch. If the price was left blank. I would simply charge $1.00.
IKEA as I kid I remembered being excited to go to ikea mainly do to the fun ballpit slides they had which I think is a pretty genius marketing strategy where you have kids actively wanting to go to a furniture shopping store.
I still want to go just to have fun
I like the flat escalators in the uk ikeas are tall and I love the warehouse because my dad works in shoes and boots and I like warehouses and the lifts and it is in Coventry it is near Northampton
Yellow Pancake. I love going to IKEA on stormy Sat.'s Could just be me but it's fun meandering through there on a cold rainy day. Usually end up with something new for the kitchen.
DarkshadowXD63 i loved throwing the balls into the birdhouse
It was allways the scale and the fact they had an entire floor of furniture, rooms and kitchens, it was like walking into another dimention where 20 houses were just mashed together into one massive building, it was stunning as a kid and super nostalgic now.
It is truely unlike any other shopping center, even a mall cant compare to the atmosphere Ikea creates.
Including restaurants and play areas and whatnot in IKEAs is brilliant. It's a long trip to get there and not one you'll make often (few people go through furniture on a weekly or monthly basis), so why not make it more of "an experience"? The play area is especially genius; parents can't leave young kids at home for a few hours while they buy furniture, but the kids would quickly get impatient if they had to just follow their parents around even the prettiest furniture store...and impatient kids are disruptive and destructive. Keeping young children in their own fun zone not only keeps the kids separated from customers and displays, but makes them less obnoxious in the first place.
Timothy McLean lol I remember going to Ikea as a kid and liking it
the restaurant at ikea is sooo good
I first saw high school musical in the play area
i like how you put emphasis on kids being somewhat a bother in there.
Actually we have ours directly in the city. For most people here (Austria and it's the same in Germany) it isn't a long trip at all.
Reminds me of some of the banned commercials I've seen. One was for Ikea and it was obviously European as it featured a standing wardrobe. not a dresser or closet. Anyway. Guy comes home from work, apparently early. Finds his wife in bed dressed in nothing but lingerie. He's surprised but she pushes him onto the bed and starts to get frisky with him. That was until someone sneezed in the wardrobe and the wardrobe doors fell off revealing she was having an affair and the guy she was sleeping with was hiding in the wardrobe as her husband got home early. Then the commercial mentions that wouldn't have happened with Ikea who has better quality. :D
that's so fucked up but so funny source?
Where can I find this
I have worked at IKEA, Älmhult where it all started. In the early days, Ingvar Kamprad would come once a year and shake hand with every employee and thank them for their effort. IKEAs success is primarily because they could offer cheaper furniture than others since you had to assemble it yourself they could keep prices very low. Also, Ingvar was a big employeer in Sweden and people liked him cause of his modesty (modesty is a big thing in Småland), and that he offered them good jobs (they used to be great, now... Not as good). Nice video! Thanks for bringing up the company of my small hometown :)
NrNi9e kul jag e uppvuxen i Älmhult o IKEA
Cheaper furniture? Here in Lithuania, we only have one IKEA store, and the prices there are quite high, compared to JYSK, which is a danish furniture seller. We have tons of JYSK stores here, and the prices are fine & reasonable. Never been to IKEA in my life, I think I'll visit it someday.
Fick ni något extra betalt när han hälsade på?
@@UA-cam_Globetrotter handskakning och besök från Kamprad var långt före min tid. Det är min far, som också jobbat (gör ännu) sol berättat att Kampard dök upp runt Jul och tackade alla där. Är du också Älmhults bo?
Nä, det är jag inte. Har inte ens varit i Älmhult i hela mitt liv. Men jag har hört att man fick en julbonus av honom. Speciellt dom som jobbade i Älmhult.
Bruh, going to IKEA is the Disney Land of furniture.
I swear, the first time I went, I’ve never felt so amazed by every floor in the store.
Not to mention the restaurant with exquisite foods.
isn't it "the disneyland of furniture"? the other means the literal furniture that you can find in disneyland
the softest voice
Fixed
Salmon at a department store restaurant?? Hell yeah!
I wish they had an option to buy real wood versions of their furniture.
you could take there furniture to a wood worker and ask them to make a wood version of it. IKEA is perfectly fine with that. they won't do it theme self because it would make there stuff heavy and thus cost more.
ikea appeals to so many people because of the Scandinavian interior design, which is practical, sinple, not expensive and have an excellent sense of styling.
A video about the decline of GameStop would be cool to see. They have been having trouble as of recent.
Digital downloads, the obnoxious pressuring to buy certain things, the overabundance of cheap overpriced plastic crap no one is buying, and the supposed bad conditions their employees are treated might be some reasons. People getting less and less excited at some releases due to various reasons (political issues from any side, censorship, the game outright has major flaws and needs patches, day one DLC or season passes) could be other factors. Or they could be stocking up on overpriced collector's editions that most people frankly don't care about buying.
Gamestop is the worst. Will never shop there again.
Good. Fuck em
Ive been boycotting Gamestop since 2011. Havent been in one since.
@Snipe M.D bro it's been declining since like 2015 you are very late
I think that IKEA promotes there country of origin more so than most places is because they want to trick consumers into thinking that the furniture is high quality and cheap. If they didn’t promote Sweden so much people might think that stuff is cheep and flimsy because of how “cheap” everything is. When you go into the dollar store you know that everything is probably made in China and will break a few hrs after you get home but. IKEA items won’t do that because they are from Europe. Even if it’s not true
So interesting thanks for bringing that hypothesis.
Designed in California, Made in ________
Funny thing is that local furniture brands in China actually charges way more than IKEA in China, because they are more of selling luxury furnitures while IKEA is mostly budget stuffs.
Also, "made in China" would only break easily if you intentionally get the cheapest stuffs. But then it's really hard to change people's mind, even within China.
very good point
Smart bitch
I also think their online presence is amazing. Moving into an apartment and my closet has a large gap from the floor to the first shelf. Get the measuring tape after checking the Kallax shelf dimensions and it says it will fit. Put the bookshelf together and slide it underneath just as expected. You are lucky if most furniture stores have a website beyond a brief list of what they carry. Ikea has everything from colors and product dimensions to a phone app that uses augmented reality to place products into your space. Ikea has done just about everything imaginable to make it easy to shop.
Ikea: JUST DO IT...yourself.
I swear to god your everywhere I look
I ones went to Ikea for 8 hours without noticing it before I stepped outside and saw that it was dark outside
I read that in Shia Lebuff's voice.
@@adv5755 happens...
We want yahoo and MySpace video damnnn it
Don't forget the value of not having to deal with pushy sales people following you throughout the entire store trying to upsale you on everything. I'll happily drive an extra half hour out of my way and build it myself to avoid that nonsense. I'd go to Walmart or Target instead, but their selections usually aren't that great.
And their furniture falls apart within a year. 100% of my Walmart furniture is no longer in my house because it all fell apart.
My book cases are holding up like new as is a side table, but garage shelves I bought at Lowes are warping.
oh man, those sales people are my #1 hurdle when visiting any store at all.
I work at Walmart and can confirm. Even using the handheld computer, I can’t find where items go in that garbled nonsense that is our furniture section. Everything is just shoved in the shelves, the price label strips have fallen off, and the furniture selection sucks.
That’s what the internet is for.
Fun Fact: IKEA's meatballs are made out of people who couldn't find the exit!
Huh... That's why they taste good...
Just like how mom used to make them, before she was the main ingredient.
Wait what?
I used to work at IKEA and can verify this is a fact.
Scp
I think you are likely spot-on. As you said, IKEA IS an experience. It's not just shopping. Even living in a town with one, it's still a trip to plan. And in some ways that is work, but also kind of makes it fun. It isn't an amusement park, but then it kind of is: different worlds you visit (kitchen, living room, art), cheap but good food, and you can be a bit goofy if you want. Fewer staff means fewer observers (security cameras notwithstanding), so you can feel a bit freer to try stuff out and be a little silly (including doing Swedish Chef impressions reading the product names). Also, like a good theme park, theme is important, and I think in American minds we associate anything non-American as exotic and fancy. It's also furniture not produced in the US or Japan or China (well, it might be, but I'm sure most people assume it's all from Sweden) and that may help it avoid biases against goods from any of these countries. I also think IKEA's style is very universal. Many people can find something that fits their personal style, regardless of what it is. And it's relatively inexpensive (or as you say gives the appearance of being inexpensive). I think IKEA also taps into minimalism a bit, and that seems to be relatively popular in the US at least right now (tiny homes, etc.).
My local IKEA Store located in Spreitenbach AG, Switzerland, was the first IKEA outside Scandinavia!
I was lucky enough to live about a 20 minute drive from the IKEA near me, and even as a local this was still a weekend adventure spot. I lived in Tampa, which is only an hour away from Disney, so choosing to go to IKEA for fun with friends is a pretty hefty statement.
I think that there's a bit of a flaw in your first point. While I do agree that putting effort in yourself makes you value what you have more, I don't think that the draw of IKEA over other furniture stores is that additional work. The draw is that in IKEA, unless you want an employee to help you, you will not have to speak to an employee, ever. The bright colored uniforms and generally welcoming appearance of the employees is nice, but with a lot of shoppers, especially younger adults, they don't want to talk to associates they don't have to. What if they judge me for my choice in furniture or what if they try to upsell me something I don't need? When you're re-furnishing a home or buying high-ticket items for the first time, the awkward and confusing dance between someone working on commission trying to sell you the most expensive thing they can is utterly terrifying. With IKEA, you're welcome to browse, try things out, and at the end all you have to do is push a cart with a couple boxes on it out the door.
And, as an add-on, I think that one of the benefits of IKEA is its designing. There are a number of furniture stores near me, and I'll visit them on occasion. Each one I have gone into is dark, with lots of wood, glass, and just generally cramped spacing. Every piece is hundreds of dollars, and can be difficult to find. This was an aesthetic that was pretty universal for a time, but now a lot of people go for either minimalism or bright colors - both of which IKEA is excellent at providing. The store is generally a lot more open, allowing customers to walk through showrooms, test out what's there, and envision what certain pieces would look like in their own homes. It makes me wonder, however, when minimalistic decor goes out of fashion if IKEA will keep up or fall out to a competitor? Needless to say, however, IKEA is also a very well-priced store. I was able to completely makeover my entire bedroom with brand new everything for only a couple hundred bucks. That was 7 years ago and all of the furniture is still holding up well and it's survived a total of 6 moves.
I'd also say IKEA is simply a very well-thought out store. Families often need to buy new furniture, and most furniture stores are the bane of any child's existence. Every piece is sterile and they are explicitly told not to touch anything. In IKEA, the colors are bright and there's a good combination between big furniture to look at and touch, as well as smaller additionals (i.e. the towels, lint rollers, etc.) that you can pick up and mess with along the way. IKEA also has a wonderful practice of including children into their layouts as well. Living room sets will often have a small play area or a long roll of paper to draw on. All of the stairs have two sets of handrails - one for the adults and one for smaller children. They have a kid's section that is actually designed around what kids like, and the store has such a strong basis in safety of what they sell that it's very trustworthy. This makes it significantly easier to bring children along, and therefore bond a little bit in selecting new furniture as a family.
And I'll wrap this up with one last thing. As the newest generations of young adults and teenagers have begun to flood the economy, the prevailing qualities consumers look for has become affordable (because who can afford thousands of dollars in new furnishings when you already have a ton of student debt) options from a well-reputed company. Every IKEA roof is consumed by solar panels to promote renewable energy, the scraps of food remaining from the restaurant guests is composted, and the employees typically make well above minimum wage - an entry-level position as a dishwasher at my IKEA was about $11-$12 an hour, if I remember correctly, when minimum wage in Florida was only $8.15. Supporting companies and brands that support issues like these is a way of directly putting money where our opinions are.
I don't care how many mattress firms are in my area. I'd rather drive 6 hours to an IKEA to buy a bed than go to my local mattress firm.
I don't think I've ever seen a comment this long...
Those matress firms are too firm
tldr
@@toor1554 there’s longer
I haven't visited this store often, but I really do respect the hell out of it. One opened near my church very recently, and it's always great to visit.
Our IKEA in Houston was about 30-45 minutes from my hometown of Katy. I always liked going there as a kid. It was exactly as you described: a maze. When I got older and moved out I started buying furniture there. I wanted to be more independent and I felt assembling my own furniture brought about a sense of accomplishment. As for the fact that they constantly display where they’re from, I always loved that too. Be like IKEA. Be proud of your origins :)
Elizabeth Dickey I live in the close to Houston too and I’m guessing we go to the same ikea, love that place to death.
I got my desk from the Houston IKEA as well, same experienced.
I'm from Houston too. I've been to that Ikea too. Love the place.
The first store in stockholm sweden was the real maze , not the ones in this video since i see them as simple layouts - That store was a circle and in it was 1.5, 2.5 , 3.5 floors above the 1,2,3, through patchways since the building was like a hollow cylinder - in there you never know in which direction you were facing - now when Im old - i wonder what was the fuzz - nowadays that store is smallish ( its protected and cant be demolished )
I used to live in Katy lol. IKEA was def longer to get there for me because traffic was prob bigger then
I've only ever considered Ikea furniture low-to-ok quality but the prices are fair for what you get. Shopping there is fun. The stores have a unique charm to them, selection is fantastic and the show floor are literally full of decor ideas. Spending 20 minutes assembling the furniture can be fun, too, and a great way to get young ones comfortable with working with their hands... It's kind of like Legos
ExaltedDuck I think that it is overpriced crap furniture. You can get equivalent crap furniture from Sauder at half the price!
Is pretty cheap when you compare to other furniture stores. A lot of stuff still works from ikea. As long as you don't abuse them they will last a while. My dad still have the ikdea desk he tog over 15 years ago. Sure the style is out of date but still works. However, now it seems the quality is not as great as before.
Shopping there can be quite fun. But I have a different experience with pricing. The pieces of theirs that I actually like and consider to be of decent quality are always way overpriced. A little searching online always yields me a better buy somewhere else, even if it does take a little more effort.
@@johnp139 My 7 bookshelves are from Sauder. They look a little better than Ikea, in terms of my color scheme in my room, and cost much less.
@@JM1993951 Bob's discount furniture just recently opened a store near me and their pricing seems at least as good as Ikea's and quality seems better. I wouldnt consider living room chairs or sofas from either but the dressers and cabinets and accent pieces seemed reasonable.
Ikea is just nostalgic.
Whenever I go there, I just get these surges of memories coming at me all at once.
I'd argue it's a better experience than Disney Land.
It’s probably better than Disney Land but i think it’s a close second to Disneyland.
Lol it is for the adults. Pandemic brought up the home buddies mode for most people stuck at home. It’s funny how there’s even exclusive FB groups dedicated to home styling/renovation. That’s why IKEA hit a jackpot when they opened their first store in our country in 2020. Everyone was excited and the opening month was crazy. 3 years later they are still like a must visit store for most people here.
The meatballs.
The meatballs are why they're so successful.
And those oat/chocolate cookies. Mmmmm
That is a pathetic excuse for a meatball
VegasStuto Du har så jälva fel
Put those meatballs and gravy over fries and mozzarella cheese and have yourself a Swedish poutine!
Yes, those lovely meatballs that were found to have horse meat in them. Yum!
www.thestar.com/news/world/2013/02/25/horsemeat_found_in_ikeas_swedish_meatballs.html
3:15 - For some reason I interpreted this as...
"IKEA is an acronym meaning:
I - Each
K - Letter
E - Stands for
A - Something"
...i was very confused
Linneus I just laughed my ass off after reading this comment
Don't worry 3:37.
😂
The furniture quality is decent, prices are low and assembling is easy. Plus the meatballs are godlike
To me their beef meat ball tastes like chicken for some reason... Even though tastes not bad it's definitely not the best kind of meatball in my opinion.
@@FlameRat_YehLon It's definitely not my meatball of choice usually, but it's great once in a while
Looks good but never felt like going there and I have one close to my home.
The "assembling is easy" is kinda subjective... if you have zero motor skills like me, the 4 legged nightstands were easy, but the bed, not so much...
The furniture is crap. I can't believe they sell anything.
As to if IKEA presenting itself as very Swedish, I feel like it has a very large impact on the feel of it. It adds to the feeling of stepping into another world. An IKEA world where everything is magical. Honestly, IKEA has a similar feel to Disneyland to me.
Sweden is magical
Watershed44 as a Swedish person that has lived a major part of my life in a so-called "No-Go zone" according to some sources. I must say Sweden is perfectly safe even in No-go zones and Muslims is not destroying the culture quickly. But I must agree that the mass immigration has its problems when there was not a system in place.
I would still argue that Sweden still productive and safe: RSF second place after Norway & HDI 14 place & GDP 22/23 place that is after only 7 other EU countries that most/all have a higher population than Sweden.
Links:
RSF (reporters without border): rsf.org/en/ranking
HDI (UN): hdr.undp.org/en/composite/HDI
GDP: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)
I think thats why they so heavily emphasize "Hey! We're sweedish!" Just like volvo is now. And it works.
What's a no-go zone?
Jay
Keep thinking it won't get any worse....it will, eventually these invasive
creatures will take over and you will be living in hell. That's their plan after all.
Sweden won't be "Sweden" when the third world immigrants out number native white Swedes. That wonderful culture and heritage will be lost forever.
I👏🏻love👏🏻ikea👏🏻 I needed a shower curtain and drove about thirty minutes out of my way because I was bored on a Saturday. I live two minutes from a Walmart and instead of running there getting the shower curtains and coming back home to do nothing I spent three hours looking at furniture and I had a great time doing it
I did the same once.
Interesting. Might do the same one day.
Your "Great Time" Is my nightmare
So it's more like experience shopping,
That's the fun part, IKEA sells you a fun/satisfying experience, not only a shower curtain
"They NEVER HAVE TO LEAVE".
Love IKEA forever.
Live in IKEA forever.
Die in IKEA forever.
I heard they will start selling memberships that enable you to exit the store from many different areas.
@@Kruppt808 Well you can't spell IKEA without *'EA'*
I mean they have nice furniture to settle in and they have food. Why would you wanna leave anyway? XD
Great video. You hit every single point right on the head, even your bonus reason. In particular, visiting the restaurant is a *must*, because you WILL end up spending hours in there. Do not go to IKEA thinking you'll just get in and get out. Especially if you have young kids, plan to take your time walking through this place. Also, beyond furniture they have basically every decoration you'd ever need for your house, fixtures, carpets, rugs, dining plates, as well as both real and fake plants.
actually if you really know that you go for one item and you know the code of the item you could go strait in to the warehouse part and be in and out in a few minutes.
As a child-less swede I just go in and out every now and then. It's in the city's shopping district
Go to the website and browse. Grab the SKU of what you want and go downstairs at the entrance via stairs/elevator. Find the location of the flat pack via the computers within the warehouse, slap them on a cart and head to the register. The meatballs (both beef and chicken) are available in the freezers along the way. Nab a few bags and pay for it all on your way out.
IKEA in 30 minutes.
They do have a lot of cheap "pottery barn" type stuff which is nice, but I spent hours walking about their store thinking "this is the almost the same price as real furniture" and also "do they have any real wood colored products" because their main color seems to be an ugly "black - brown" that is completely flat and has no depth or shine.
Fake plants are dope!
Too bad, you didn’t mention the pencils.
Alvinsland2 Greedy.
@@beckigreen How? It's free.
Steal all the pencils >:)
How about the ceramic power coupler that now make cute decorations.
@@audreyyishere Its not stealing if its free xD
My son was in love (no quotes) with a Swedish girl in our town for 2 years (they were 11-12ish), He was too shy/anxious to declare how he felt, She seemed to 'like' him too., The only thing I could give him was the 45 minute drive to IKEA, at least 3 plates of meatballs (Swedish Flag toothpick included), Just being there made him happy. Of course, he found out that she actually did like him, but by then, she had returned to Sweden with her Family. IKEA played a big part in helping him deal, I am grateful,
Lol. "Patreon - How the donation platform became such a profitable business model"
Cody Jackson This is actually a brilliant topic!
It is an amazing topic, now put that idea on patreon xD
Ikea is listed as an attraction on the freeway exit you take to get there
In Columbus Ohio it is on IKEA Way.....
Mine is located on Stockholm blvd
@@clifffton Mine, too. The busses even have "IKEA Way" signage
Donald Clifton Aay! Columbus
Lol i allways remembered my mom asking us on roadtrips "what local attractions are in this area"
**looks at gps, um theres an IKEA?**
I think the Swedish promotion and the store is definitely a factor in their success. There's something about it's foreign-ness that makes it a fun shopping trip.
One of the reasons that IKEA's furniture is popular in the US is that outside of spending thousands of dollars for vintage or high-end pieces, you can get furniture that is way outside the classic "American" mold -- IKEA definitely has a mid-century modern and post-modern feel to their stuff which is hard to find in places like Walmart, Belfort, or wherever else people buy furniture. American furniture has an overpowering "midwestern" -- that is to say, farmhouse-inspired,etc. -- aspect to it that doens't appeal to the entire country, especially the more urban coastal regions.
Wow.
You like just totaly read my mind and then educated me about what you found and i realize now that your 1000% correct......
I know that, here in the states, a lot of people that think IKEA is cheaply made. It's not that bad, honestly, and I love the modern feel of most of the furniture.
Scandinavian design has a very minimalistic and functional characteristic that people seem to experience as modern. It's elegant in its ordinarity. Along with IKEA we have Volvo, H&M, Acne Studios, Fjällräven, Haglöfs, Iittala, Snøhetta, Bang & Olufsen, there are many more examples.
I read a pretty good article the other day about it: www.thespruce.com/what-is-scandinavian-design-4149404
I applaud you for taking what _was_ a civil discussion about style and aesthetics and its role in supply and demand and turning it into a politically-charged tirade railing against the country's population centers. amazing.
i have both IKEa at home and the classic american heavy wood style of furniture. Im not sure which is better my parents prefer the american signature type of furniture or shopping at macys. THough idk how macys compares to ikea
The real question is, did the costumers have to assemble their fish?
Plot twist: the customers actually have to cook their own meals
I don’t think that’s how it work back then.
what the fuck is even this lol
i am in fact the man who made ikea and yes i can confirm they had to put the particles that make up a fish to buy it.
are they in any way involved with the creation of sweedish fish?
Last year in Burbank they closed a “normal” sized IKEA and opened another one down the road that has to be the largest store I’ve ever been in. It’s so big that they named the road leading to entering the parking area IKEA way. It’s definitely not just a store but an experience.
Can you do a video on the Krusty Krab and the controversies behind it?
Wow, the Krusty Krab? Like how they've had trouble keeping their secret recipe under wraps?
Do it for real, but save it for April.
More like how their employees are assumedly underpaid but still manage to have a home, furniture, and still continue to work at the Krusty Krab. Also, the incredible cost saving techniques they employ. No other company, as far as I know, have emulated the Krusty Krab in this area.
That would make a great April Fool's day video.
Lmao
Funniest Patreon plug I've ever seen. Company Man has a great sense of dry humor.
Thanks man. I wasn't even trying to be funny during it.
@@companyman114Watching from Sydney Australia 🇦🇺 where there are 3 IKEA stores and none of them have a children's play area But each of them have a cafe as well as a restaurant & a unlimited soft drinks bar .
♑️✍️🇳🇴
Also the employees are friendly and they are encouraging when it comes to trying out the furniture.
Dear Company Man,
May you please make a video on Patreon that is more detailed. I've been curious for a while. How do you get paid? If you do make money and a lot of it where do you put that on taxes? Is there a special tax form?
Also Nickelodeon isn't a good place to have a show, not anymore.
With respects,
Madison Christian Atteberry
Madison Atteberry I think a video on Patreon would be excellent!
Look it up yourself
He gets paid from the 2 ads played during every video😎👌
Also, when you work for yourself (UA-cam is self employment), you report your taxes on form 1099, same as if you have an esty store and collect payment through Square or something.
Twice The Mega Power Pretty sure he means how does he get money from Patreon.
Hardcore Weeb don’t talk to Madison Christian Atteberry like that.
Can you do a video on Sysco?
That food and restaurant supply company that always has trucks outside restaurants, and how they're more involved in those TGI Fridays/Applebees/Chilis/ Chain restaraunts than most people might think?
(Hint: They dont just supply toilet paper and paper towels)
Sysco is everyone's favorite restaurant, they just don't know it.
M E Forget Blue Apron, can I just get Sysco to deliver directly to my house?
Sysco is also supplier to the U S military food service division.
My FIL has worked for Sysco foods for 30+ years. Its way more than paper goods. It's mostly bulk restaurant food.
SYSCO and HMS Host... cringe at HMS...
I LOVE IKEA because it’s like a mini vacation in Europe. I enjoy spending hours looking at items, testing out chairs/couches/ kitchens, shopping, “oh, I didn’t know I needed THIS!” 😆
I really like the restaurant area, too. The great variety. Those meetballs. Then taking my tray over to a table on the second floor, near a window, that overlooks the surrounding area.
Yep, IKEA is an experience.
Thanks for another great vid.
ua-cam.com/video/NgNjFgcHhgs/v-deo.html
Man, you have a talent for delving into history in a way that makes it so engaging and interesting. I'm absolutely enthralled.
Can you make a video on Petco/ Petsmart?
I'm curious to know how they grew to be the only massive pet / pet supplies store.
I need this
That is interesting
I'd like to encourage people to buy from Petco/PetSmart. I work in an Amazon warehouse and do not enjoy pulling 1,200lb. pallets of dog food around all day. Most pallets are fine, but my stomach turns when I see the pet food.
Mud Bay is pretty big where I live.
I love IKEA so much. Roaming around in there is like walking around in a bunch of different houses at the same time.
Some Swedish input here:
I've never felt that assembling IKEA furniture is like building something myself. It's closer to plugging in a new TV.
IKEA is usually located at the edge of cities with all the other stores. (I don't know if America has this concept, where there is a big, almost industrial-like shopping district coupled with cities)
Buying things by NOT bringing it to a cashier and rather just chatting someone up, weirds me out.
And I really really really like that IKEA is not a publicly traded company. Trading stock will be the undoing of humans, I swear
P
They do that too in the US. Most of the IKEAs Ive seen are away from the cities.
@Truthfears Guilty Where was the device you were typing on made?
@Truthfears Guilty How about you reply to me on something not made in a sweat shop
Suzanne Diwa yeah
I've heard they deliberately avoid having windows or skylights in their store, as humans use natural light to tell the passing of time. With it being a consistent brightness the entire time, you spend longer in the store.
Wonder if there's any truth to that.
Yeah casinos and Walmarts do that too
Most large stores do that
My local Ikea has windows including skylights. I have heard this about casinos though
they do have windows at the restaurant but most of the places don't but that has more to do with the effect sunlight has on furniture. do keep in mind some of those items have been standing in that store for years and years and they still have to look as new.
It's more like they skip it because its not neccesary and would make the building cost more. (Maybe reduce lighting costs slightly but not by too much.) Ikea is all about making things look nice (and generally be good enough quality) with a minimum of costs of all kinds.
I remember loving to go to an Ikea when I was younger. In Austria, there are Ikeas everywhere. They had decent 1€ hotdogs which was insane. They also had soft icecream machines. You only had to buy the ice cream cone. You were allowed to use the cone as much as you want to get free ice cream.
I looooove IKEA, for the last 12 years I’ve lived in an apartment, I’ve always had like 90% of my stuff from there. The price is the first reason, the second is the look, I love modern stuff, clean, simple. I now have to agree that the experience of going to an IKEA is now a 3rd reason. I love getting some food there, I love walking around, even the smell is awesome. And I usually loathe having to go to ANY other store...
Do a video on Lego and there close call with bankruptcy. And the rise they’ve had since then to become one of the biggest toy companies today.
HJL30 Captain BACON agreed
HJL30 Captain BACON there’s a documentary show on Netflix called the toys that made us and has a episode hits all of it
bonkles
DON'T FORGET BONKLES SAVED LEGO
I want to hear about how they went from creative buckets to strict kits, & how they got away with ripping off Kiddicraft.
As an Ikea worker, I have to say that you've summarized it pretty good!
BTW- there are shortcuts in every store so... be aware of your surroundings and then find the exit much quicker ;)
BTW 2-Two of the most frequent questions we are asked are "How the hell do I get out of here?!" / "Where are the toilets?!?" haha
Am I the only one who goes to Ikea for fun? Like I go with no intention of buying anything lol.
Jehf Slaps I was just there two days ago, with my mom and sister who is visiting back to the US from Guam, and we did exactly that. LOL
Nope do that too but the ikea closest to me is 5 minutes walking distance
Nevir202 Guam is US
I was there yesterday with my sister and niece, just walking around, seeing the new rooms and items. We go there pretty often, sometimes even to have a cup of coffee.
my wife and I went for fun
When i went to Sweden for a month, I was very curious on Ikeas, since there were none in my country.
It was truly an experience. I was not going to buy furniture, only some bedsheets, but I loved the food, and other ornaments I was able to bring home.
Plus its not like any store I actually had some fun getting lost in it.
Honestly this channel's speaker is one of the nicest behaved ones on YT. Keep going man! Much love from India
It is said that one in ten Europeans is conceived in an IKEA bed.
And 9/10 Europeans have sex on an Ikea bed
And half of those are conceived in-store on a display bed.
@ger du I guess the correct stat is 6/9 Swedish teens
It's Swedish humor - regarding the 'not actual size' sign:)
😅
it's American disappointment that there isn't one that size :P
@@millimetersofmercury only in america would a sweet be that large. they fricking made deep fried water... DEEP FRIED WATER.
@@NuggetOG deep fried water is my shit, I've been trying to drink more water
@@NuggetOG *deep fried water*
did you mean:air
@@oreo_6206 no i meant actual, real water that was deep fried yet not evaporated. americe is doomed
www.eater.com/2016/6/7/11879680/deep-fried-water-video
Me: Mom, can we have IKEA?
Mom: We have IKEA at home.
IKEA at home: SCP-3008
The store is now closed.
"The store is now close"
"Please exit the building"
Normie
@@Perririri damn😔
The prices. The *experience* ! There's something so exciting about going to a store and envisioning and feeling like you've found your room. Coupled with the price and limited store locations, going to Ikea is like going to a theme park. It's simply exciting. Plus, the prices get you to buy so many things, even though you know you're going to spend forever putting it together or have trouble getting it in and out of the car lol my whole apt is Ikea. It's super affordable, cute and chic. I can easily spend hours there and not feel like I wasted my time (or money).
Ikea is by far the greatest furniture store I ever been in my life, their layout is innovative and fun with actual rooms showing the furniture and their swedish food restaurant is delicious. Given the store is so big, it is an experience to go there and buy products that you have to assemble. It is by far one of the best companies Sweden has produced for the world.
When I was in high school, I was involved in a work program my junior year. I worked at IKEA for the work program and absolutely loved it. I go there every once in a while. The customer service is top notch, the things they sell are good quality and the layout is nice. Love going there to see what's new and what I could find to spruce up my house
I went in for a linnmon desk. After my first job I wanted a new desk.. Spent around 700$ in a new room. Bed frame, desk (ended up with bekant instead), drawer, nightstand and some cable management stuff along with drawer liners and a throw blanket.
I am not disappointed
Costco: we got pretty big warehouse
IKEA: hold my beer
Hold my meatballs*
Costco furniture reminds me of "how many years dark and dreary, do I ponder weak and weary.." and $$$!!! Ikea "funiture" is bright and cheery, useful and merry even at home. Costco could better attempt to "accentuate your positives" with Ikea accessories, to downplay their negatives. I always bypass Costco furniture. Made for old fogey, ready to die in musky and stogey folks. So very un-exciting. Yech! I'm off to the brighter parts of the store - fresh tuna sushi - never found again, steelhead now farmed, pickled herring in sour cream no more, but pickled herring with onions still $4.99 fo'evah! Just like the big fat rotisserie chicken. I tag along with my friends to Idea, er, Ikea, and always find colorful mood enhancing, anti-depressant items, like flashlights, better lamp, cuter towels, couch pillows, and a long green stuffed snake and always da meatballs for home.
I live in Edmonton AB, and people go on dates to IKEA. It’s a whole day trip kind of thing. It’s never not busy. IKEA is truly something.
Thats funny you say that. My now fiancé of 3 years took me there on out 2md "date".
He texted me asking me if Id like to go with him to "run some errands" and get some food, as he needed some things for his new place.
I obliged & off we went into the most beautiful furniture store id ever been in.
At that point in life I barely had my 1st apartment & *_all_* my furniture was either hand-me-downs, _Salvation Army_ + _Goodwill_ finds (some cool stuff, but still) or walmart furniture.
A "good furniture store" to me was *_Target_* and thats where I'd go for a little apartment decoration "splurge" & feel like I was really "treating" myself & "living the high life" lol.
I Never even knew what _Ikea_ was exactly. (for some reason I thought it was a random ass _Big Lots_ type place that sold swedish meatballs?)
So when I walked into that Ikea I was blown away.
He really liked the look of my place (just cause i bought cheap dont mean i didnt know how to D.I.Y that hoe from shit to a showroom.)
So gave me his list and asked me to pick out the what i think would look good in his place.
My boyfriend later told me he took me in there to try and flex his wallet/impress me.
It worked.
We (by We I mean He) spent a little over 700 just on small home goods for him alone, plus a new stand for my computer and some really good food.
We live together now and do go to Ikea still.
Once we even fucked (really quickly) in one of the more hidden displays.
Idk. Ikea really is kinda a romantic place.
OH!! I live there too!! And i live around 15 minutes away from one, it is GREAT
@@litbopeep5726 that is the wildest thing anyone has ever replied to a comment of mine with
I know you are focused on the corporate/retail side of things, and that's why we love you so much. Another thing that IKEA has revolutionized is the manufacturing and shipping components. Not within the stores, but the warehouse that builds and delivers the orders globally. There isn't a dude in the whole place; Robots rule. It's already been done on some show like Mega Machines or whatever, but worth a look. The business brilliance does however come from the flat-pack as far as overall concept. Without that concept the whole company would not have flourished.
The ultimate desk for a computer was the IKEA's Jerker. Because computer CRT monitors were heavy, the desk was OVER-engineered and , as a result, sturdy. They still pop up on craigslist. Thank you.
The way they show the setup of a room, kitchen, hall, or any corner of the house - damn that keeps you locked there like a fantasy and you want that badly. They got some damn good interior designers i have to say. They fit almost anything in a you name it any tiny place and still it does not look messy at all. Mostly i go to see those demo room and house setups. Feels so good
Also, the furniture they make is both by wood and wood powder that is left over from cutting and grinding a wood. That cut cost and makes a good difference in profit
Costco comes to mind... cheap food court items. The fact that the customer is forced to assemble the furniture and do the loading of the boxed one's self is analogous of having to buy in bulk and load and box the items being purchased again one's self. Both stores have very loyal followings and while Costco is not as much of a destination, I would still consider it a destination store where three hours can go by in the blink of an eye... Thanks for the content... always packed with informative nuggets! 👍
I like Scandinavian design, that's why I like Ikea (and that's why I drive a Volvo).
I like the blondes...otherwise, I'd go for Irish redheads...
I honestly enjoy assembling it. They make you feel skilled and that you have through hard work built something useful and that you love.
Even if it kills me, I'm gonna find that Cinnamon Bun.
I must have it.
Good luck. Find an IKEA where the disclaimer is missing and demand it.
Have you tried Amazon?
The food isn't too special but it's freaking cheap. They have some damn good swedish-style chocolate too
"it's one of those places that tends to be an hoUr away and you have to plan out your trip"
How many swedish stereotypes do i account for by living in sweden a 20min walk/5 min drive away from the cloest ikea, literally been there 3 times within a month and going there tomorrow again to eat meatballs?
My grandparents are Swedish and for years as a kid they'd take me to this big thing they had every year around Christmas where they had a bunch of specialty food in the restaurant and it was a cool experience. I always used to love just going through the showroom as a kid, and even now, it's a good place to look for new furniture.
How about a video about In-N-out and how they've been so successful while never changing the menu for decades.
Maybe down the line. I've recently talked about fast food and I have another one planned in the near future.
Let's see.....there's missionary, doggy, girl on top, reverse cowboy.....oh, just get a copy of the Kama Sutra for the rest.
iirc the story is that they focused on keeping the menu small and excelling in what they sold, which worked. compare to many places with large menus but everything is mediocre. and in n out competition like 5 guys do a similar approach
An experience like no other for sure. It's like walking through a theme park specifically for furniture hungry moms
Perfect description.
I love Ikea food. Honestly going to Ikea is almost like going to an amusement park (especially when you're a kid and you get to stay in the play area, which I remember being super fun) and then you get to eat something.
I’m in love with the furniture it’s cheap smartly designed and I prefer to pay less and build it myself. Everything is half the price for similar products in American stores. I could go on and on about the smart designs that I can’t even find something as nice or well thought out in an American store. Also gimmie all the meatballs yum!
I went to IKEA for the first time in my life last year. It was a lot of fun.
ua-cam.com/video/NgNjFgcHhgs/v-deo.html
I love the idea they promote their home country using lil' bits of grammar, product display and color choices... especially their home cuisine. I think this makes the place more vibrant.
11:05 I guessed that Spotify came from USA
I think people associate Sweden with modern design and since they design their own products the Swedish theme helps promote them as well designed. Personally I don't like being manipulated into walking through areas of a store I don't need to go to. There's an IKEA within 30 minutes of me and I've been once in the 10 years or so they've been here. I'm also a woodworker and IKEA doesn't have the greatest reputation for quality furniture among people who know how to make furniture themselves. Its considered disposable, which is fine if you're a college student and only need it to last a year or two before you're going to move and don't want to fool with it. Not so great if you're settled and want something to last a while.
Ikea is an experience, we don't have ikeas in my country and when I first went to one in the US I was surprised by how pleasant it was! The sections are carefully arranged so you can see how a room would look like, in contrast to other furniture stores where you see an individual piece and constantly have a salesman breathing on your neck. Also, after going through all of ikea you get to the ending and you don't even have to pay to go have lunch and sit down for a while
I think IKEA is a bit more organized than you let on. Areas are not in a random order. The names of items are in certain groups. For example, one type of furniture uses male names. The clean, trend-free look of their products could also help. Oh, by the way, IKEA hacking is also a thing.
The only time I've been to an IKEA, if you ate at the restaurant first, whatever the food bill came too would be taken off the total of your furniture purchase. So if you bought other things at the store, you could've eaten for free in a sense. No clue if that's the standard model or if it was just a cool promotion they were doing.
Ria Wilkinson I totally remember doing this when I bought my college furniture. Invited my friend, we got tons of food, and took leftovers inside the IKEA Tupperware with the green lids. Food for days, no shame lol.
P
I ordered my first piece of IKEA furniture online this week, got it, and loved it to death. Not only was it perfectly sized just as measured, but it was very stylish and matched my room perfectly. The more and more I look at their company I have completely fallen in love with them.
You can furnish an entire room with IKEA at the same cost as say a crappy mattress and bed from a regular furniture store, and it looks GOOD, and holds up pretty well. They even have full sets you can use if you want to theme an entire area with the same furniture style. Or if you are feeling creative they have modular furniture too.
Now knowing what their store experience is like makes me actually want to go shopping for once in my life because the satisfaction of buying pretty nice furniture for cheap, making it yourself, and the countless designs to make sure what you’re getting is something you know you will love (So long as you work for it a little) hands down makes them the best furniture store. Sweden must be proud to have IKEA.
I love how the company name was basically just dude's address 😂
He doxxed himself lmao
One of their newer stores in Milwaukee has shortcuts between sections. It’s more simple then some others, but remember, this is IKEA simple. This is the one I go to, as it’s closest to me
Great video and good points. I also think that a bonus of having the restaurant just before you go into the market/warehouse could potentially make you more eager to spend money. People are happy after eating good food, so that could have an affect. They also essentially make the customers the pickers in the warehouse, so there's less warehouse staff required. All really clever stuff.
Do a video on Walmart's rise. Would be very interesting.
I thought he did that already
WAAAAAAALMAAAART
simple, Walmart has bargaining power, and killed their competitors
Matthew Mccullagh you beat me to it
Company man now has a patreon, put your idea there and it can became true : D
Please never stop making vids!!!
I never plan to.
Company Man Thank you!
I like IKEA because there aren't any pushy salespeople. I find the experience relaxing to walk through the maze of different themed rooms for inspiration.
Tbh I only do to Ikea for the food. Their food is freaking awesome!
Hyalina Music what food do they have?
The issue with IKEA being Swedish is that they've created a complicated ownership scheme that will lead you to several different companies, groups and holdings in several different countries.
Tax evasion.
I worked at ikea for over 10 years and you are completely right with your reasoning. Actually there are so much more of these neat little tricks they do. For example the yellow bags you grab when entering the store are purposely oversized, so smaller items tend to get lost in there and it feels like you picked up less then you actually did. Also the margins on furniture are quite small which allows them to offer amazing deals to get people coming to the stores. The money makers are all the added items you didn’t know you were buying before haha
Amazing content thank you man
I love you're videos, they're very interesting. Would you ever consider doing some for Film studios? Like Disney, and Dreamworks? Or even the comic book companies like DC and Marvel?