So I go to Ikea this past weekend to look for a desk for my stepson. After walking through their maze for fifteen minutes, we finally get to that section of the store and proceed to look for a desk. They have a large selection, but ultimately didn't have anything we were looking for. That being said...I thought they built the new Ikea to be larger than the old one. The two hours we were there, I must have dodged a couple thousand people walking by. The products are crammed so close together that you cannot get a good look at anything you're interested in. We live in Texas for pete's sake...you advertise your store as Texas-sized...give us the room that we expect. And for the love of God...make your parking lot bigger. I've probably made my last visit to Ikea...not because of bad service or products, but because it is absolutely UN-enjoyable to shop there.
I think it'll be better once the crowds get back to normal. I think its been packed with college kids lately. It seems like the upstair restaurant is the biggest addition. The area downstairs is also a lot easier to get around.
I only go to Ikea for the small things like flatware. I run through the furniture section. Their furniture prices are way overrated. Plus, I don't like to feel like I'm being a rebel just for turning around to go see something I want to get a second look at.
Man, you're complaint is that Ikea isn't big enough? With the labyrinthine layout, it takes forever to walk across that thing. My first experience with them wasn't good and I had sworn them off. Their mega-store equivalent of a velvet-rope line was pissing me off. But, when I went back, I went through the store backwards and it was a lot better.
I treat IKEA the same way I treat Guitar Center. I don't buy anything there that doesn't fit into the palm of my hand.
I guess I'm the only one that likes it. When I moved to H-town, I got my entire bedroom set for $365. For a single bachelor (at the time), that's not a bad deal for some good-looking stuff. It won't last a lifetime, but it'll last long enough for it to be worth it. My only complaint? Put some ****ing words on the instructions.
I think because they reopened it, and people want to see it. Like the post above, give it time, and it will ease out.
Some love it and some hate it. It is just one of those stores. Personally, I love it because it is the only affordable modern furniture in town. My wife and I have gone into places like Finger's and Gallery and Star, etc and found that there wasn't a single piece of furniture in the store small enough to fit our Heights bungalow or attractive enough to want to own. When you like modern, clean-lined furniture, you have three choices: 1. Buy from a place that carries modern stuff like Cantoni or Storehouse, both of which are almost always WAY too expensive. 2. Buy mid-century antique furniture like Haywood Wakefield which is either too expensive or impossible to find - and even then you still can't find things like comfortable chairs and sofas. 3. Buy from places like Ikea. It seems like in Houston if you want ornate, ugly ass mahogany crap or giant over-stuffed sectionals or massive burled oak entertainment centers that only fit houses with 10-foot ceilings, you're in business. I'd love to be able to find quality, affordable modern funiture but it just doesn't exist in Houston outside of Ikea.
My complaint is more along the lines that when I go into a furniture store and want to look at a particular item, whether it's desks, bedroom sets, kitchen tables, etc..., I want to be able to walk relatively straight to that section. In Ikea, it does not matter where you want to go, you have to meander through all of their department just to get there. As for the size...they may have increase showroom floor size, but their walking lanes are still the same old eight foot lanes. As for what they have and thier prices...it's fantastic for high school kids, college kids, small apartments, or artsy chicks that drive Cabriolets. It's actually better for these groups because they tend to design most of their stuff around working with limited room space and limited budget. Rant part two...over.
Correct! Almost all furniture stores seem to specialize in the "outside the beltway surburban home furniture setup." Ikea is actually a breath of fresh air...just make it more convenient to shop there. Granted...I did go on a weekend where school is coming back into session and the hype of the new and "improved" store is still pretty high. Maybe I'll try back in a few months and see if I change my attitude.
I NEVER EVER go on the weekend. Up until the Dallas store opened, Houston's was the only one within 1000 miles and on the weekends, shoppers from Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Alabama and elsewhere would decend on that store. It was the second biggest seller in the country behind the New Jersey store. I haven't been into the new store yet. My wife and I like to go to Ikea just to look around, but we knew it was going to be too crazy this close to the opening. We'll probably head over some weekday afternoon - I'll get her to bail out of work early and we'll go.
I do despise the maze-like layout of the store. I don't like being forced to check out every piece of crap in the place just to reach the exit. But Ikea does have some good stuff if you can't afford or don't have room for the bourgeoise, mammoth apolstered nests that Gallery and its ilk dole out.
I went to the new Ikea store on the weekend. Same old stuff, takes 50% longer to walk through. The only redeeming factor was the occasional TV that was playing the US-Puerto Rico game on it. The bizarre thing is they have these sample apartment-type areas that show how, with IKEA, you can have a complete living space in 277 sq.ft. or 540 sq.ft.. How man people in Houston can this possible be applicable to? In New York or Japan, sure. But Houston? The cafeteria looked decent though - and not overpriced.
There's a Dallas IKEA? People up here are going nuts on the various forums because IKEA will be building a new store and opening by Summer of 2005.
