Why You Treat Me Like a Dog?: Ode to Ikea

Sunday, January 29, 2006

Ode to Ikea - Home of New Beginnings

Some time last year, the founder of Ikea, a Swede named Ingvar Kamprad, overtook Bill Gates as the richest man in world. Who would have thunk that the maker of put-it-together-yourself particleboard furniture would build an empire of almost 200 stores in 30 countries and end up the richest man in the world?

What is it about Ikea that makes it so popular? A recent trip by Bella's Mom and I to our neighborhood Ikea could be instructive.

First of all, there's that escalator ride up to the showroom. Reminisicent of the lines to Space Mountain at Disneyland, its as if you have left your normal life behind, and are ascending to a new level. The showroom. The furniture of course is nicely laid out, looking stylish and now. There's the Ektorp and the Lyckeby and the Malm and the Hensvik (the names make me laugh). Sure there's some nice stuff, but that's not what it is.

There's the restaurant with the full breakfast for $0.99, or the Swedish meatballs and the lingonberries (what are those?), or maybe the Swedish applecake with the vanilla sauce. Some of it sounds good, but then again, Sweden isn't exactly known to be a culinary powerhouse.

You continue through the serpentine showroom, careful to follow the big blue arrows on the floor, brightly lit from above. You enter the "marketplace," with the shiny utensils, the colorful textiles, the hip lighting fixtures, and the pop art, ready for framing. Nice, but the richest man in the world?

As you look at the people around you, it dawns on you. People come to Ikea when they're at a new beginning. There's the two obviously college roommates you see looking at the $99 table with the four chairs. There's the young newlywed couple trying out the different couches. The pregnant woman is looking at the cribs and changing tables while clutching her back. The woman with the clipboard is watching the man with gloves load up twenty single bookshelves - are they for a new library, a new store? The guy with the torn T-shirt is checking out the CD racks, the woman with the baby in the cart is choosing new curtains for the nursery, and on and on.

This wasn't meant to be an ad for Ikea (though I will of course accept any offers of compensation), its just a place I used to go to when I was in college, its where we bought our bookshelves when we were newlyweds, and where we just bought a little nightstand to put by the rocking chair in our son's bedroom. Ingvar Kamprad hit on something by putting together a clean, well-lit store with hip home furnishings at reasonable prices. Sure they may be made of thick cardboard held together by wooden divets and the customer's own elbow grease, but they look and feel new, have exotic names and fit the customer's needs to a tee.

As long as people continue to have new beginnings, Ikea will continue to succeed. People come there to start something new, and they bring their positive energy with them. Ingvar Kamprad just found a way to channel that energy into his pocketbook, which is now apparently bulging at the seams. Even though it may not be the best quality furniture, and it isn't necessarily built to last, it still gets the job done, and most importantly, it gets those new beginnings off to a good start. Here's to you Mr. Kamprad, I raise a Svalka in your honor.

- posted by wanderer @ 5:01 PM

Comments:

Oh my Goldstone, now I feel guilty! But, Wanderer, you are dead on with your description. My oldest son opted to stay home and locally attend college this year as a freshman...so we figured we'd redo his room with, you guessed it...IKEA furniture (a new beginning). The truth is...it's not well made but has a "look" that suffices for those new beginnings. When I was in college in my own apartment, we used bricks (or stole milk cartons) and boards to make shelves. Is anyone still doing that, or has IKEA made that practice obsolete?!

# posted by

cruisin-mom : 1/30/2006 10:13 AM

Oh dang goldstone, you had to go and drudge up that Nazi stuff now... Well at least he "bitterly" regretted it later (I guess...) We'll just go ahead and put that Svalka down and save it for someone who likes Jews.

BTW - I don't remember the incident involving your desk and carpeting. You and I actually lifted something and moved it?!?!

CM - yup, I think IKEA has replaced milk crates and boards. These days you get arrested for stealing them and IKEA is cheaper than bail...

# posted by

wanderer : 1/30/2006 4:39 PM

oh, darn...I was just about to redecorate in "early milk-carton"

# posted by

cruisin-mom : 1/31/2006 12:46 PM

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