[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by SPIKE ARRESTOR

Really? Breakfast for 1€? 1€ is at present around 79 INR, so 220 INR will be approx 2.78€. Need to check out in a local IKEA store in Stuttgart, what they have on offer.

Yes, most Ikea stores in the Netherlands still have this early in the morning till 09.30 or so. I know that some time ago Ikea in Delft stopped this promotion for a while. It attracted huge crowds and they had to close down the motorway exits to the store!

As it so happens, my wife made me take her to Ikea last night. We usually end up having a quick bite as well. The prices on their specials are you unbelievable.

This is the Ikea in Utrecht, right smack in the middle of the Netherlands. Less than a thirty minute drive from where we now live.

A complete meal for less than 2 Euro. To put that into perspective, if you go into any cafe in the Netherlands a cup or regular coffee will cost a little over 2 Euro. Your typical Starbucks would cost at least 4 Euro



A little bit more expensive, but still very cheap:



This is what both my wife and me had: 12 Swedish meat balls, fries and vegetables. Probably the most expensive dish that night at a whopping Euro 5,60!



Not sure about the Ikea in India. In the Netherlands (and various other countries) it is not only DIY in the warehouse and DIY assembly at home, the cash registers are DIY as well.

Here my wife in one of the aisles of the warehouse. She wanted two bottle racks and a few other small items. So she has the list that shows the locations where to pick them up. I get everything out of the racks and I load them on the trolly.



Here the DIY check out counter:



You scan all the items yourself, swipe your bank and or credit card. The receipt has a bar code and opens the exit barrier and you walk out. Staff is at hand to help out and there is the odd random check to make sure everybody stays honest.

These DIY or Self Check Outs are limited to 15 pieces per customer.



My wife is also a member of the Ikea Family. Basically you get notified of special sales promotion, sometimes you get some discounts and you get free coffee and tea in the restaurant. Cost nothing, free membership. So for the coffee alone it is great value

Jeroen

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

My wife is also a member of the Ikea Family. Basically you get notified of special sales promotion, sometimes you get some discounts and you get free coffee and tea in the restaurant. Cost nothing, free membership. So for the coffee alone it is great value

True, the member offers especially on food are good.

Though the products are normally good, I found that some of the furniture doesn’t hold up well if you need to assemble and reassemble a couple of times – say if you have to dismantle and transport during relocation; mostly applicable for shelfing units, bed frames etc.

But otherwise their products will just go on and on. You may still change them after a few years; not because it gave up, but you got bored

[Samurai]

Like many here, I was exclusively buying IKEA products for home and office when I lived in USA. That is late 90s and early 00s. And I used to assemble it all myself. My wrists used to be sore for days after that. The product quality is top notch, no question about that. I am curious to find out whether the same quality will be maintained in India.

In fact, I became a big fan of their L shaped office tables, which allowed me to overcome my RSI problem in the 90s. After returning to India, I didn't find anyone making L shaped table. So I had to get custom made L shaped table to replace the IKEA office tables I was addicted to. When I checked the office desk option on IKEA India web site, guess what I found? L-shaped tables!

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by vb-san

Though the products are normally good, I found that some of the furniture doesn’t hold up well if you need to assemble and reassemble a couple of times – say if you have to dismantle and transport during relocation; mostly applicable for shelfing units, bed frames etc.
)

True, but I will say this, just about any other brand is likely to do a lot worse when you take them apart en re-assemble a few times. At least that is what we found.

On most of the shelves and the cupboards, the back wall/plate is typically a thin sheet of wood. And you need to nail it in place as per the assembly instructions with a billion little nails. It also provides some of the rigidity. You need to be quite careful taking those nails out, making sure not to damage the wood to much.

But again, I do believe they tend to wear better than most other brands I have come across.

The other thing is that everything fits together really, really well. If it doesn’t fit, you have most likely not followed the instructions correctly. It has happened to me a few times, halfway into the assembly you ran into some problems. But so far, it was always because I misread an instruction, misinterpreted a drawing. As a said earlier. You really need to go in dummy mode and not think for yourself. Just follow the very detailled assembly instructions one at the time.

Jeroen

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

But again, I do believe they tend to wear better than most other brands I have come across.

I agree, and compared to many of the local products sold at similar price range (at least in Kerala), IKEA ones are far better in quality and finish.

We have this couch at home for the past 5 years and its absolutely brilliant, especially for those with active kids at home.

[avinash_m]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

the cash registers are DIY as well.

Here the DIY check out counter:
You scan all the items yourself, swipe your bank and or credit card. The receipt has a bar code and opens the exit barrier and you walk out. Staff is at hand to help out and there is the odd random check to make sure everybody stays honest.
These DIY or Self Check Outs are limited to 15 pieces per customer.

That's exactly how it is in the Hyd store as well, although I am not too sure about the item limit. I had about 12 items with me and hadn't even seen this DIY counter earlier, so was waiting in a normal queue. A staff member came over and kindly guided me there. Another staff was on standby for helping customers in these counters. Best part was no more waiting in long queues, although I still saw many people waiting?! They've about 15 manned cash counters here, excluding the DIY one, which as per what I could see were 6.

My wife is also a member of the Ikea Family. Basically you get notified of special sales promotion, sometimes you get some discounts

[benbsb29]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Not sure about the Ikea in India. In the Netherlands (and various other countries) it is not only DIY in the warehouse and DIY assembly at home, the cash registers are DIY as well.

You scan all the items yourself, swipe your bank and or credit card. The receipt has a bar code and opens the exit barrier and you walk out. Staff is at hand to help out and there is the odd random check to make sure everybody stays honest.

These DIY or Self Check Outs are limited to 15 pieces per customer.

The same DIY counters are seen here in Australia too. Infact, it is so prevalent that its seen in most supermarkets too. I usually prefer these over the standard counters.

[sandeepmohan]

Very nice. It is going to be a new concept of sorts for us and I think it will work. The new generation demands modern design, that is easy to build/put together, live with and IKEA does this really well.

As for me, I don't see myself running into a IKEA store any time soon. I like their design but am not convinced about their longevity. I need to own one first before commenting further though.

The last time I took a serious interest in furniture was when I got living room and bedroom furniture made to my own design. The wood used was teak and Rose wood. I had access to a good carpenter in a village who took his own sweet time and built it in such a way that everything could be disassembled if needed. I've now done this a few times and everything has held up well. Solid stuff though using such wood is probably illegal today.

IKEA's only challenge will be to get customers to change their mindset towards furnishing their home, by themselves and with their own ideas. We are used to trusting our local carpenter and they do a really good job too. It will probably cost the same as well.

Maan I wish there were real meat balls on offer.

[redcruiser]

Guys how is the crowd now at IKEA. I want to drive all the way from Bangalore visit the store but I am waiting for the craze to die down so that I don't get disappointed.
Need to see stuffs that can be useful for my new house.

[ajmat]

My impression is that IKEA is a restaurant that happens to sell furniture

[am1m]

Originally Posted by redcruiser

I want to drive all the way from Bangalore visit the store...

Seriously?! Obviously what one does with their time is no one's business but their own, but just curious why someone would consider driving 600km to check out what is essentially a big shop. An interesting shop and perhaps a very efficient one, but still just a store, nothing more. Don't they have an online catalog?

[KiloAlpha]

Originally Posted by redcruiser

Guys how is the crowd now at IKEA. I want to drive all the way from Bangalore visit the store
...

Originally Posted by am1m

Seriously?!
...

Yes. Seriously. This is what we do when we "Live to Drive".
I will also be doing the round trip to IKEA from Bangalore some time in the near future. Furniture for the new house is merely half an excuse to allow my car to stretch its legs.

p.s -> I have also driven 200km one way to deliver a few documents simply because I felt it would be easier than finding a courier office.

[manas_270]

Originally Posted by redcruiser

Guys how is the crowd now at IKEA. I want to drive all the way from Bangalore visit the store but I am waiting for the craze to die down so that I don't get disappointed.
Need to see stuffs that can be useful for my new house.

Check their site https://www.ikea.com/in/en/ where they started displaying the wait time as they were overwhelmed (literally) by the rush.
The rush seems to have died down considerably as they show zero wait time. Got to check what the weekend wait times are though.

Originally Posted by KiloAlpha

Yes. Seriously. This is what we do when we "Live to Drive". .

Agree. We even drive 100 kms for a Rs.100/- breakfast too since its the kms that matter and not the price

[cooljai]

Drove to Hyderabad this morning from Bangalore and came straight to IKEA.
Interested in picking up some stuff, like tables and some other furniture which come in flat packages, but those will not fit into the boot of my car.
Can someone suggest the safest mode of moving these from hyderabad to bangalore?
How about intercity busses, any idea how much they charge?
Is it per kg or by volume?

[Sebring]

We usually head out to the outskirts for the IKEA B'fast. Counters open at 10 AM to a huge rush. We are 'IKEA family' as well so its kinda subsidized fare. Comes to around AED 25 (UAE) per head. The plate is heavily laden and offers unlimited cappuccino

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Yes, most Ikea stores in the Netherlands still have this early in the morning till 09.30 or so.