March 18, 200817 yr ^a big box is a big box is a big box, simply put. Pretty much. One big box sends its money to China and the other sends it to Sweden. Does Ikea take better care of its workers? I just went to an Ikea for the first time this weekend (Pittsburgh). What an interesting place.
March 18, 200817 yr Ikea is more environmentally responsible, and they are a big box out of necessity. They are not just a retail outlet, but they also have a huge warehouse portion that makes it necessary to be so big.
March 18, 200817 yr ^a big box is a big box is a big box, simply put. ^again... I understand the economic location of the West Chester IKEA, but why cant a big box retrofit into an existing structure (i.e., abandoned building in a downtown, warehouse). I, personally, would be more attracted to shop at a place like that, even if it was a big box. Big boxes are ugly, and...well I'm not getting into the Big box discussion...
March 18, 200817 yr Ikea is more environmentally responsible How so?, I saw nothing really different about the WC IKEA site than any other big box. Maybe they make you pay 5c for bag; but they share in the same environmental damage that comes with having things produced in China. and they are a big box out of necessity They are not just a retail outlet, but they also have a huge warehouse portion that makes it necessary to be so big. "and they are a big box out of necessity" I'm cornfused on that --- if they developed their company in Europe, aren't fewer big boxes over there? Home Depot and Lowes have a lot on stock in store too. I'm sure at IKEA a lot of the smaller stuff in the Marketplace is delivered by the same "just in time" methods as the other big boxes. Don't get me wrong, I like the place and will buy some stuff there --- but I think a few on here give IKEA a "free pass" as compared to other stores due to 2 reasons: 1) It's from Europe..and 2) The stuff looks cool
March 18, 200817 yr hey -- its all done now. good news. it beat the "urban" brooklyn red hook shipyard ikea, which i saw in news today is still going up: In case anyone was wondering what the huge blue-and-yellow box on Beard Street in Red Hook, we now know: It's an Ikea! The big store has finally put up signs as it moves toward opening this summer. Racked also has a photo of one of the old Todd Shipyard Cranes being removed from the property yesterday. It's unknown how many Ikea is taking down. The Swedish retailer has had huge cranes on the property as docks behind the store are cut up. · Little Furniture Store Hangs Shingle in Red Hook [Racked] · Ikea Signage [Amy's New York Notebook] · RackedWire: Crane Action at Red Hook Ikea [Racked] http://curbed.com/archives/2008/03/18/ikea_marks_its_turf_in_red_hook.php?o=0
March 18, 200817 yr ^^While I very much dislike Walmart and think that Ikea is a better corporate citizen, we are sort of looking the other way with Ikea.
March 18, 200817 yr Don't get me wrong, I like the place and will buy some stuff there --- but I think a few on here give IKEA a "free pass" as compared to other stores due to 2 reasons: 1) It's from Europe..and 2) The stuff looks cool Don't get me wrong either...I'm just saying that Ikea is not the same as a Wal-Mart, Meijer, or whatever. I personally think Target has been doing the best job at creating urban stores and being good citizens, but Ikea is pretty good as well. I would have preferred Ikea go into an old warehouse or something, but we should all know that those kinds of reuses will never happen in our lifetimes. They want their specific layout, footprint, and location...whether it is right or wrong in our minds.
March 18, 200817 yr A little info for everyone, not sure if anyone was aware of this. This past weekend I had to go to my cousin's house in West Chester for my aunt's 60 birthday party. Anyways, of course the house is in your typical 1980's sub-division; no sidewalks, no trees (very little amount) and wide roads. Back to the point of this post, all of the residents of West Chester received a mailer for detours and alternative routes, to bypass the traffic caused by IKEA.
March 18, 200817 yr A little info for everyone, not sure if anyone was aware of this. This past weekend I had to go to my cousin's house in West Chester for my aunt's 60 birthday party. Anyways, of course the house is in your typical 1980's sub-division; no sidewalks, no trees (very little amount) and wide roads. Back to the point of this post, all of the residents of West Chester received a mailer for detours and alternative routes, to bypass the traffic caused by IKEA. What? No coupons?
March 18, 200817 yr Indy’s IKEA hopes dashed, but not decimated BY ANDREA MUIRRAGUI DAVIS | INDIANAPOLIS BUSINESS JOURNAL March 12, 2008 What does Cincinnati have that Indianapolis doesn’t? As of today, an IKEA. The popular Swedish home-furnishings chain opened its 34th U.S. store this morning in suburban Cincinnati, its final foray into the Midwest after a five-year growth spurt that never quite made it to Indianapolis. Instead, IKEA chose to add locations in Bloomington, Minn., near Mall of America; Bolingbrook, Ill., outside Chicago; Canton, Mich., outside Detroit; and now West Chester Township, Ohio, Cincinnati’s fastest-growing suburb. “This is it for the Midwest for the time being,” company spokesman Joseph Roth said. “We’re counting on Indianapolis customers to make the drive.”
March 18, 200817 yr Indy’s IKEA hopes dashed, but not decimated BY ANDREA MUIRRAGUI DAVIS | INDIANAPOLIS BUSINESS JOURNAL March 12, 2008 What does Cincinnati have that Indianapolis doesn’t? As of today, an IKEA. OK fair enough. They'll drive here for IKEA and we'll drive there for H&M.
March 18, 200817 yr I must say as a long time defender of Cincy against those who think Indy's s**t don't stink, I experienced quite a bit of schadenfreude reading that article.
March 18, 200817 yr This article fails to point out that Indy is already only 3 hours from 2 stores in Chicago
March 18, 200817 yr "OK fair enough. They'll drive here for IKEA and we'll drive there for H&M." That's so odd that Cincy doesn't have H&M yet - not that H&M is such a omg-amazing store, but I think they'd do well in Cincy. clevelandskyscrapers.com Cleveland Skyscrapers on Instagram
March 18, 200817 yr ^Agreed...Cincy has an American Apparel, but no H&M. Doesn't make much sense to me.
March 18, 200817 yr What's H&M? Also, putting an IKEA in Indy wouldn't make any sense. Cincinnati is centrally located betweeen Lexington, Louisville, Dayton, Columbus, and Indy. Indy could pull customers from Cincy and Dayton, but it would be quite a haul from those other cities, and Chicago already has 2 IKEAs, so no one would be driving in from the north. Sorry, Indy! :-D
March 18, 200817 yr I don't know if I'd drive for H&M, but I always stop there when I'm in Philly or Chicago.
March 18, 200817 yr ^people really drive hours for a store like that? blah... i am amazed people drive hours for any store
March 18, 200817 yr ^But it's IKEA!!! Everyone should hate Walmart and McDonalds, I mean they're like, evil major corporations with marketing schemes that provide cheap products to exploit poor people. Unlike Target, Ikea and Apple who are like totally different.
March 20, 200817 yr I like that IKEA has this very functionalist/hi-tech looking store with the somewhat modern large-scale graphics scheme. Thats the way to do big boxes in auto-centric space off freeways and access roads.
March 20, 200817 yr ^So when are the Noise Barriers going to go up and block that Blue beauty? :wink:
March 20, 200817 yr Asking Questions, Causing Trouble By Joe Wessels Thinking outside the blue box The first phase of Cincinnati’s proposed streetcar line should be built between downtown and IKEA in West Chester. I offer that mostly in jest. But try asking a legitimate question about the streetcar plan to one of its staunch supporters, and you might as well duck and cover. I just love groupthink. It’s part of why Cincinnati is Cincinnati. And why, no matter how hard we keep trying, we might be stuck the way we are, seeing minor improvements implemented by those who bravely venture outside the given parameters. I like IKEA. Shoot me. MORE: http://joewessels.net/
March 20, 200817 yr Seems to oversimplfy a much more complicated issue...it is not the asking of the questions itself, but rather how they are asked. Life is black and white...but with many shades of gray.
March 20, 200817 yr Personally, I'm a big West Elm fan. The prices are good (esp. clearance items), the designs are awesome, and the quality is great as well. I'll admit though, I'll probably end up spending my money at IKEA if I can get the same item at a much cheaper price.
March 23, 200817 yr Went to ikea tonight, awful parking lot/location. The famed Swedish meatballs tasted familiar, ever have a hungry man salisbury Steak tv dinner w/mashed potatoes??? I wasn't impressed. They did have some cool kitchen stuff until I saw the labels, "made in china".
March 23, 200817 yr I like that IKEA has this very functionalist/hi-tech looking store with the somewhat modern large-scale graphics scheme. Thats the way to do big boxes in auto-centric space off freeways and access roads. It's a functionalist/hi-tech big box! I'm sorry, that's too funny. I've always contended it's a Swedish Wal-Mart. We've got three here in DC/Baltimore, all in out in the outer burbs where there is not real transportation options except driving and are next to shopping malls or gigantic strip centers. Hell the IKEA at Potomac Mills is next to a Wal-Mart. I don't get the love affair or the justifications that this company gets over others. If they all closed tomorrow, it wouldn't be a big loss to anyone inside the Beltway who dosen't drive.
March 23, 200817 yr I have friends from West Chester, I don't care if they read this because I've already called them out on it. The "Omg, we were such a nice quiet beautiful neighborhood, now Ikea is moving in, it's madness". Please spare us all the subtle arrogance when in reality, people will now percieve you as the nice upscale community that won Ikea over. No one is driving through your tapeworm residential street on their way to Ikea, so no worries!
March 27, 200817 yr we were such a nice quiet beautiful neighborhood, now Ikea is moving in, it's madness Park and Vine are selling T-shirts that I recommend anyone wear to IKEA (I like IKEA by the way) DOWNTOWN west chester SCARES ME!
March 27, 200817 yr I was researching some old Plat Records for Butler County...and I notice the 1930 Plat Record of West Chester was no more than maybe a dozen streets...I think the size of the IKEA store would probably take up the size of West Chester in 1930...
March 27, 200817 yr Some pics from two weeks ago; you'll notice I didn't see anything inside worthy or taking out my camera with the mobs of lost, confused, and dazed customers. Too bad it's not IKEA Cincinnati
March 28, 200817 yr I went there for the Swedish meatballs and Lingonberry Soda, yum. We didn't buy any furniture though.
April 11, 200817 yr I went last weekend to pick up a few items. Always a fun time, but dear GOD could they have put this in a more depressing location? Endless sightlines of suburban sprawl and industrial rust coming in from 275 and 75. I'm sure if they built it in Columbus instead it would have been located up near Polaris, which isn't much better. Just feels sort of ironic since IKEA's products seem to embrace more of an urban small-spaces lifestyle.
April 11, 200817 yr ^ I know, that is funny how they have those displays "Living in 600 sq feet" when most McMansions around the stores have a living room larger than that. On the other hand, when Home (Depot) Expo opened in the city of Chicago, they had bathroom displays bigger than most city-dwellers Living Rooms. It didn't last long in the city.
April 11, 200817 yr Ink, from your IKEA pics - it looks like they didn't even mulch the landscaped islands in the parking lot and just put down some low-maintenance stone - that's top shelf, really classy. Reminds me of a big Hollywood Videa store site. :wink:
April 11, 200817 yr ^ I know, that is funny how they have those displays "Living in 600 sq feet" when most McMansions around the stores have a living room larger than that. On the other hand, when Home (Depot) Expo opened in the city of Chicago, they had bathroom displays bigger than most city-dwellers Living Rooms. It didn't last long in the city. Do most people really think about that? I mean, at least half of the people in the US live in suburbs and that is where Ikea is located. They probably just buy more furniture at Ikea to fill the dead space.
April 11, 200817 yr I went last weekend to pick up a few items. Always a fun time, but dear GOD could they have put this in a more depressing location? Endless sightlines of suburban sprawl and industrial rust coming in from 275 and 75. I'm sure if they built it in Columbus instead it would have been located up near Polaris, which isn't much better. Just feels sort of ironic since IKEA's products seem to embrace more of an urban small-spaces lifestyle. I think being that far out is just a necessary evil for them. I stopped by two weeks ago, long after the grand opening, and the place was a zoo. They still had cops directing traffic. I wonder how long that will last? Anyway, I can see why they need to be so far out, because I can imagine how much worse the situation would be with a downtown location.
April 11, 200817 yr Every IKEA that I've seen has been in the suburbs of a major city ... does anyone know of a location that is near the city center?
April 11, 200817 yr ^To be fair, it's in an old industrial zone and quite auto-centric so I wouldn't call it "in the heart of South Philly" unless you consider the Delaware River Broad Street. The only one I'm aware of is Brooklyn, but again, like Philadelphia, it's on an urban fringe and in an old industrial zone. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
April 11, 200817 yr Every IKEA that I've seen has been in the suburbs of a major city ... does anyone know of a location that is near the city center? Atlanta's IKEA is in the Atlantic Station development...which is directly across of the 20 lanes or so of I-75/I-85 from Midtown Atlanta.
April 12, 200817 yr They apparently have some in the City of Paris but I have no clue where'd they be unless they are in a creative re-use Hausmann building. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
April 12, 200817 yr The one I visited near Osnabruck, Germany seemed to be out in the middle of nowhere. /edit: Before anyone asks... No, the purpose of my trip was not to shop at IKEA. It just sort of happened.
April 13, 200817 yr I one I visited near Osnabruck, Germany seemed to be out in the middle of nowhere. /edit: Before anyone asks... No, the purpose of my trip was not to shop at IKEA. It just sort of happened. Suuure.
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