Ikea. (Ikea)

Member Name: JumboCow

Product:	Ikea
Date:	31/03/09 (87 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap prices, nice shop to visit, flat packed.

Disadvantages: Having to assemble furniture, some shops are huge and take a lot of searching.

Ikea is a Swedish furniture store which was founded in 1943, it has however expanded into a very large international company since then, famous for its goods which are similar to those in other stores but are considerably cheaper.

Ikea sells furniture which is generally flat-packed. This is advantageous to the consumer as it's reduces the cost of the goods as well as making them easier to transport, once again limiting the costs by reducing the need to hire a van or pay for delivery from Ikea. The smaller, accessories aren't flat packed obviously, although they are still as cheap probably due to good selection of materials and mass production due to Ikea as well as the reasons I have previously given.

The main reason that I, and probably everybody else, shops in Ikea is because of the staggeringly low prices, especially in comparison to other high street furniture stores such as DFS and Harvey's and all of those general shops which you see the adverts on TV for.

A few examples of what I've bought recently is a £4 bedroom lamp which is about 6ft high. I was very impressed by the price of this lamp and I have always thought that the range of lighting at Ikea is great however the bulbs which you can buy at Ikea are often more expensive than the light itself which I have always been a little bit curious about. I had to assemble the lamp myself but it took me literally two minutes and despite popular belief the instructions were easy to understand and I managed fine.

I have also bought two leather settees and an armchair from Ikea. This totalled around £300 to £450 pounds (just I rough estimate as it was a while ago). This does seem like a lot and I completely agree but it is once again a contextual thing with Ikea. Depending on which shop you buy from you could expect to pay two to five hundred pounds more for similar items and this is most likely being very generous when you start looking in some of the more "designer" shops. This low price however does not mean that the goods are lacking quality. Both items I have bought recently function extremely well and seem very durable.

The shop (I use the Gateshead branch) is very nice to visit. The employees are always helpful and well trained and the shop itself is very cleanly and has a very clinical finish to it. This gives the impression that the goods they are selling are of a high standard and that they can be trusted. This is no doubt a very simple marketing ploy, but it makes a nice change from being bombarded by sales assistants at other shops. The feel of Ikea is much more leisurely; you can ask for assistance from the staff if you want but you can deal with everything by yourself as a lot of the shop relies on self service and finding the goods you need by yourself. There are also some great mini-shops within Ikea, namely restaurants and a food store. These restaurants sell simple meals and hot dogs and there is also a shop which sells Swedish goods which is a nice novelty on the way out of the shop if nothing else. There is even a play area where you can leave your kids supervised whilst you look around the store!

Overall Ikea is a great shop to visit; it is consumer and child friendly, but most of all the goods are all at excellent prices! You can't afford to miss it, especially in the currently economic climate.

Summary: A Swedish furniture shop dedicated to providing value and high quality.