I do not enjoy the experience of IKEA, but their things are nicely designed and reasonably affordable. I can appreciate the stuff enough to put up with the shopping experience. If you are just browsing, their displays can be kind of fun. The things that require assembly seem to work well and to be thoughtfully designed.
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Take out ‘reasonably’, and we march together.
I’m just not much interested in crowd dynamics. Remember when Krispy Kreme came to town?
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Yeah, crowds can be their own life form, not a friendly one.
An old classmate and I went to see a special Ikea design display at the College Park store maybe 25 years ago. It was several “living small” — and I mean really small — habitats staged in trailers/containers in the parking lot. Like the new micro apartments. The spaces were phenomenal. I’m setting the date at 25 years ago because the TVs they used were 4:3 and not flat-screen. I thought the living spaces they’d created were amazing— and attractive! Had I been a college student or young person just starting out, I would have been thrilled with such a space, tiny as it was. (I’m thinking 200-250 sq feet tops ) I wish my first efficiency apartment would have been even half as nice — or functional.
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Whose products were they outfitted with?
Think/live small. Everything you need is at IKEA.
They still have those. But staged in small cubes in the showrooms. You can walk theough a fully-staged flat in aeveral different sizes.
My local one also shows full rooms, along with the budget for the entire room, which is a helpful guideline, I think.
I’m with you. The stuff is nice. The store gives me hives.
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Their own. Except for the TV. And the kitchen appliances.
My store even sells appliances
Anybody mention the IKEA Test scene from 30 Rock?
All these years later, I still chuckle at the mention of “cute bowls,” from when the older couple loses their cool after lingering in IKEA too long. Moment is near the beginning of the clip.
“I’m going back for those cute bowls!” That guy could be me. 
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I once told H I would meet him at the cash registers after I grabbed some storage boxes or whatever. 15:00 of increasingly panicked wandering later, I grabbed an employee and forced him to walk me out. It was like that sequence in the The Blair Witch Project, when they’ve lost the map and keep passing the same landmark. THERE’S THAT SOFA AGAIN!!!
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Yup. I’ve done that with sister. Grab her and say “Just get me the eff out of here!” And then we end up dissolved in full-on giggles because neither of us can find our way out …and we run into others who are looking for the way out as well, so we ended up in a stream of people following one person who knows their way around.
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I’ll say that my PIC and I had an absolute blast putting together not just our bed (queen), but the guest bed (full). I’m not super-handy with these things, but I like a challenge.
Now that the drawers in the base have become useless (and by ‘now’ I mean ‘almost immediately’ 
), we’ve ordered a new bed… not from IKEA.
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The day I found out about the “secret” shortcuts was an epiphany for me. My GF at the time believed we were breaking the rules by using them and thought we were really daring. LOL!
I think they are on the floor layout signs but they are not clearly marked as such.
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I mean there are signs for them everywhere, but ignorance is… bliss?
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The last time I was anywhere near an IKEA store was years ago, but just to use their free parking cause it was close to the hospital where both my parents spent time to avoid the outrageous parking charges there. I did shop there once, at the behest of my sisters, many years ago to furnish my first apartment. Wasn’t a fan of the shopping or assembly experience, luckily I’m no longer a “povvo” so there’s no need for me to shop there anymore 
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My IKEA has arrows painted on the floor. I just follow the arrows.
Yes, I know there are shortcuts to exit the maze, but where is the fun in that.
IKEA is also a great “cheap date” idea, you can shop, waste time, look at unique designs/items, get an inexpensive hot meal and there is no admission fee or tipping. As a bonus, you can obtain an end table for $13 (win-win)!!
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Walk-ups are hard, but almost everything being packed compactly is very useful. Sofas are usually in sections, which are easier to get around those corners than ones that don’t come apart!
Re car — people rent cars, there are car services that specifically cater to getting back from Ikea, and there is both delivery from ikea and independent delivery services that will go there, pick up your stuff, and deliver it to you. They’ll also put it together for a price. That last thing has become a lot more common now, there are task rabbits and Craigslist services who specialize in it.
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Quite a few furniture stores that sell flatpack furniture offer a white glove service that costs around a hundred dollars, so you don’t have to organize the 3rd party to yourself. I used this service recently.
When I lived in Manhattan, a free bus to the Elizabeth NJ Ikea left the Port Authority every couple hours on Saturdays. I had my furniture delivered to my apartment and assembled it myself.
That trip to NJ was my first visit to Ikea. I brought a shopping list for all the furniture I needed. 95 percent of my first apartment was outfitted by Bed Bath and Beyond, Macy’s, Jennifer Convertibles and Ikea.
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