Opening Minds to Possibilities. (Ikea)

Member Name: thingywhatsit

Product:	Ikea
Date:	12/01/07 (820 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Large range of goods.

Disadvantages: Quality not the first consideration.

I was never sure how the concept which is Ikea would cotton on in France. The French are traditionalists, love their old furniture, passed down from generation to generation, and I thought that Ikea would have difficulty breaking down the defences and establishing a market in rural parts of France.

The Ikea that I visited was in Nantes, and approaching it, it was not surprising that there was a lot of traffic. This is a major town, although Ikea had the sense to have their store easily accessible from the ring road, so that people didn't easily get lost in the centre of the town trying to find it. The parking was strange, and most of it was away from the Ikea building, which forms the end of a shopping arcade. The difficulty of this is that for those people who are making bulky purchases is that they have a fair distance to walk to load their vehicles.

Ikea itself was a bit of shock to my system, and I took the whole tour, because little arrows on the floor neatly take visitors from one section to the other, and it is difficult in fact to give any given area a miss. I suppose this works well, because it means that customers will pass through areas they would not have thought of passing through, and in fact increases passing trade.

Their layout is quite well thought out, giving rooms displaying how their furniture fits in, and here Ikea got the right idea, because they actually dressed the areas adding personal effects to make each scene look like a real home that people could imagine. Unlike traditional furniture stores here in France that are generally a huge warehouse type layout with all the furniture in the same room, Ikea have thought about how best to deal with the unimaginative customer that seeks ideas, and have done this exceptionally well in this particular store.

Products

Kitchen and Dining Room

I have to admit, I didn't like the Ikea Kitchens, saw them as too temporary and perhaps even to contemporary for my tastes, though I could see their point. They are offering kitchens with a ten year guarantee, and these seem to attract younger buyers who perhaps are beginning the process of home owning. One of my french friends said that she liked the conception of Ikea because for the first time here in France, she felt she was being offered an alternative to the traditional. She was realistic about quality and price, and said that at Ikea prices, she could afford to change things on a regular basis. Personally, I looked at the quality of the kitchen units and wasn't impressed. I was impressed with the fact that their design service offers people the chance to design their kitchen online, and to print their requirements, thus saving valuable time whilst shopping. The Dining furniture was basic at best, and I really do believe there are better alternatives on the market, though do see that many of the offers would be great for families with kids, who can be destructive. I was impressed for example with the stools offered at about a fiver each, and thought that for a playroom environment, or even picnic environment on a terrace that they offered a cheap alternative for people with kids.

Credit cards for the store are offered, though I did notice that the interest rates are exceedingly high and would not consider credit.

Kitchen Products in general

Racks and utensils is the order of the day, and here the choice was enormous, though ranged in quality from cheap to very good quality at a reasonable price. The glasses and crockery is limited and not of very good quality, though I was tempted into parting money for a garlic press in tubular brushed stainless steel, exceedingly sturdy and good quality at less than 3 Pounds.

Lounges and Bedrooms.

The Lounge furniture in general was poor quality, although there were exceptions. I think anyone wanting to spend money in a store like this really needs to do comparisons with other shops, write a list of what they are interested in and then examine the things that they have shortlisted. We did this, and found that the quality of sofas varied from mediocre to reasonable. Some were badly designed and had little support, though in fairness not everyone wants support. It's a personal preference that suits my age. One of the things that they do rather well is to have standard designs of sofas in a classical style, which can be ordered in different colours, and the in store demonstration of how these can fit into a room was first rate. Although the range for youngsters was enormous, for me the range of classic styles was limited to two sofas. Ancillary furniture for lounges was bitty to say the least, offering anything from a plastic coffee table which looked very retro, to pictures, cushions and throws and little fineries to enhance the look of a room. The pictures were reasonable quality though I thought overpriced, but to cater for those with a smaller budget, these are reproduced in postcard form, and there is a good range of budget frames to go with them which was a good idea. Rugs and throws varied in quality, though I was impressed to note the range and prices of good quality traditional oriental rugs.

Storage cabinets for the lounge were weird. It was like taking a step back in time to the sixties with huge wall units, basket storage (which I detest) and television stands which didn't look strong enough to trust with an expensive television. Out of a range of hundreds, I only liked one.

Bedrooms were different. I didn't like the styles of wardrobes, the quality of the beds, but found myself fascinated by the range of bedcovers and cushions. The colours are bright and attract the eye, although here one needs to be very aware of sizes, since the sizes of double bed quilts etc., were strange to say the least and would have been too long and not wide enough for most double beds. Similarly with bed linen, the duvet covers were either too big or too small. They look better in the catalogue than they do in real life, and you are offered blinds, cardboard storage boxes, dressing tables etc., though again, the quality disappointed me. Wardrobes were unimaginative, and although they produce instant storage, think more effort could have been put into the design. They felt old fashioned and dull.

There are other departments within the store such as a designer area for childrens rooms, although from what I saw, what they were offering wasn't that imaginative or realistic. The soft toys that they sell are a very limited range as well.

Staff and help.

The staff seemed pretty on the ball and helpful and friendly, although asking for a catalogue proved difficult. These are hidden behind information desks, and you are only allowed one copy. As for help in store with ideas, I thought the staff tried really hard and worked under pressure, since the store was buzzing with activity.

Cashing out was difficult, since the queues were enormous, although this gave me a chance to peek around the warehouse part of the store which leads to the cash-out and where they keep the bargains. The range of sales items was enormous, from plants to candles, candle holders to lighting, although the lighting area in the main store is very limited, though had one or two very imaginative and impressive light styles.

I liked their bag system in that clients were offered huge sacks to carry their purchases, as well as the usual trolleys, but that at the cash desk, the bags were handed back for re-use.

My thoughts on Ikea.

I think Ikea is worthy of a day out. Even though I didn't like many of their furniture ideas, I did like the fact that even someone such as I, who considers themselves to be relatively creative, could pick up ideas because of the layout of the store, and the demonstration of how best to use Ikea products. Their kitchenware department was impressive. The pans and kitchen ovenware was exceptionally good value for money. I have bought the odd bits of Ikea furniture in the past, though don't much like the temporary nature of most of it. I can however see that Ikea is helping youngsters to be able to afford to break away from traditional values and experiment, and in that sense is opening up a market in France that didn't really exist in this part of France before Ikea came on the scene. People are experimenting. I see it all around me, and it really is new. Some of the ideas that Ikea have such as blinds, fabrics, cushions and curtains, can mix and match, and showing the public the manner in which these blend is a good idea.

Well worth a visit to me, though widening their range to cater for good quality longer lasting items may also increase the amount of people and the age ranges that buy there. It's a busy shop and must be doing something right.

Summary: A good day out with loads of promise for future projects.