IKEA Stoughton

2/2/2013

Ikea is what it is.  but their delivery service/customer service has subjected my 15yo neice and her family to a clusterstrofkst of an ordeal (i believe this is the correct swedish term).

an absolute failure to complete the simple task of delivery of a $1400 furniture order.  after an apparent good-faith effort to correct that failure, a week later the same failure duplicated.  characterized by inaccurate information, misinformation, outright lies to the customer, and consistent blaming of other parties, their delivery contractor Urban Express, for their own errors.

the single greatest disappointment has been the lack of coordination and cooperation between Ikea and Urban Express in executing this simple delivery and assembly of furniture, as promised and billed for.  if one hand was aware of what the other hand was (not) doing, and such awareness were honestly communicated to the paying customer, our inconvenience would've been minimal.  instead, two saturdays waiting in vain for furniture never to arrive, making dozens of phone calls, literal hours spent on hold, numerous disconnections, hang-ups, and 'we can't do anything about that, you need to call another number', well, at least it is time spent with the family.

judging from other reviews scattered throughout yelp, such delivery failures and low regard for the customer is quite common.

6/18/2007

I can't break up with you, Ikea; your prices are too good, you sell pink sofas, the kids' playplace is free, and the hot dogs are worth waiting for.  However, if I may consider myself a S.O., I respectfully request that you stop playing songs by Oasis.  Nobody likes them, and the people who did like them in the 90s are now ashamed of themselves.  If not for my love, then for the love of your yellow-clad staff, please give up the Gallaghers and consider the ocassional nonvocal soundtrack, or at least one that does not circle from one Oasis track to another within the typical 2-hour visit timespan.  

Sigh.  

That said, I do love you, Ikea.  Where else can I get smoked roe in a tube?

3/30/2011

This place is like Christmas! I just want to strip naked and run through the showroom singing!
I love this place, it has everything you've ever wanted but never knew existed. If this place was closer to me I'd probably spend my paycheck on storage containers and wine bottle holders alone! Oh and that organized closet with roll-out shoe holder that's on display - can you say pure ecstasy! Seriously folks, this place is an idea generator, all of a sudden the impossible is possible for your dank little apartment. Even you can achieve some semblance of stylish organization. Sure the quality of the furniture is just above rotted wood, but it looks so good! And if you know you're in a temporary situation, why spend the big bucks?

1/31/2010

F-ing Ikea.  Oh geeze.  If ever do anything really really bad in my life -- send me to the check-out line at Ikea on a Saturday.  

Obviously the positives are that the stuff is cheap and looks good if you don't look to hard, but we REALLY struggled with their customer service yesterday.  All I wanted was a coatrack -- and they couldn't sell me a coatrack until I had the specific name of the coatrack.  Ironically, the official name of the coatrack was "coatrack," which I tried to explain to the man to no avail.
Go early in the morning if you're going, and on a weekday, or prepare to pay the consequences.

1/13/2008

I love SWEDISH MEATBALLS WITH LINGONBERRY SAUCE!!!  Yum!  

Great place for bookcases, dishes, glasses, pillows, bedding, tables, chairs.  And excellent for kitchens.....I saved quite a bit of money getting my kitchen cabinets here.  Most of my apartment is furnished from IKEA!  Gotta love getting modern stuff for a steal.  

The only complaint that I have - why is it that the IKEA directions feel like some sort of visual puzzle??  They never help you see that two similar shaped pieces are different - so inevitably you have to take apart what you've put together.

3/25/2008

The Stoughton IKEA is less a store per se, and much more of an experience.  To put it simply, going through this store is like experiencing a massive Scandinavian furniture/amusement park ride.  At some parts, I half-expected a magical figure with a colander hat and a chair that folds out for them automatically to appear and dazzle us with their wonderful wares.

To begin, you start in what looks like a panoply of rooms, with pre-built models of the different furniture options, all broken down by type of room. You'll have to write down the #, as well as where you will find it in the warehouse.   After this, you go through rooms and rooms of different random household items, picking out different needed or unneeded knick-knacks.  

After you've gotten through all of this, finally you reach the warehouse.  It's kind of like Costco meets an actual warehouse:  you go through the aisles with your trusty rolling-thing, and pick out the furniture that you selected earlier (this can be a little tricky:  I didn't write down the row of a coffee table correctly, and ergo, I currently don't have a coffee table).    However, checkout wasn't too bad, which can definitely be a problem at a place with as many people around as IKEA.

The experience itself is great, though I was incredibly tired despite having had extra people with me on this adventure.

The other great aspect of IKEA is the building.  Yes, I actually had fun building my bookcase.  It was relatively easy and non-stressful to do, and while I did need some help with some of my furniture, some of it was quick and painless.  

So, it can be a long wait, and you should make sure to write down what you want when you're looking at the furniture, but overall, both the experience and the building are interesting, fun experiences.  Oh, and the furniture's cool too.

1/1/2009

Dennis and I took a trip here one Sunday to check out what they had for computer desks.
They had some really cool stuff, that one could not easily get here in New England. Yes, most of it poorly fabricated, but stylish non the less.
We got a cool medicine cabinet, shelf, and towel hook for our tiny water closet in the new basement room, as well as some other clever storage racks.
My word of advice: BRING YOUR OWN BAGS, H20 Bottle, measuring tape w/ measurements, and a truck.

11/28/2011

LIKE:  Awesome toys, cute kids stuff in general, cheap chow, small houseplants, and kitchen stuff.  

DISLIKE:  I'm not a huge fan of the furniture styles.  Flimsy.  Too boxy and mod for my taste, but I know a lot of people like it.  

HATE:  I don't want to go through the entire friggin store just to pay for one item that I found as soon as I walked in.    ARGHHHH!!!!!

1/12/2009

Don't get me wrong; I like the idea of IKEA.  Who doesn't appreciate a large inventory with competitive pricing for quality-ish products?  It's a great place to furnish an apartment, especially when the price tags at Crate and Barrel and Williams Sonoma give me a case of 24 hour epilepsy.  All I have to do is walk by one of those fancy home goods stores, and I can feel my wallet curling in on itself.

So, yes - IKEA is good.  I like IKEA.

I just can't *go* to IKEA.  

When you consider what Ikea does to most customers, you can see why this place makes my misanthropy flare up.  Give a shopping, nay, a utility cart to Joe Blow, and suddenly his clueless, bovine demeanor takes over.  He wanders aimlessly.  He doesn't pay attention to where he plants his soft frame and oversized cart.  Now fill the store with these people.  It turns IKEA into an obstacle course.  The constant dodging, swerving and "excuse me's" are exhausting.

That pretty much sums up my IKEA experience.  The thing is, this place is also pretty cool.  I really like the furniture.  I really like the neat displays, and I very much enjoy their macaroni and cheese.  I think this place does a great job at adopting some fairly innovative practices and ideas that make the shopping experience surprisingly more convenient.  

And as I sit here thinking venomous thoughts about shopping cart enemas (you know, when the person behind you bumps your butt with their cart hard enough to make you wonder if they mean it), I look around and see that my dining room curtains are IKEA.  My bed is IKEA.  My dresser is IKEA.  My tv stand and dvd holders?  Yep, IKEA.  You can see where I'm going with this.

I give up.  I'll try to start coming here on weeknights.

8/10/2008

I'm like a kid on Christmas morning when I go to IKEA.  I recently purchased a 6 drawer chest and a 2 drawer night chest for under $200.  Woot woot.

IKEA reminds me a bit of Disney World, where most everyone there shopping is not in fact American.  Half the conversation around you is some kind of Eastern European dialect.  So good.  

Let's hear it for diversity and let's hear it for cheap wooden goods.

9/28/2010

Have you ever wanted to go to a store that so closely resembled a maze you're handed a map on your way in? How about one that fulfilled your exercise requirement for the month, or maybe one that requires an entrance and exit strategy? Well now you can, with Ikea.

I went here to get some various items while I was redoing my room. To say the place is massive would be an understatement. You really do have to set aside a day to go shopping here, no exaggeration. You could easily stock your entire house (kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, living, and dinning room all included) with just this one store. I picked up a ceiling light and a couple of small accessories, all for pretty cheap. They've held up well (been a few months now) so I don't really have any complaints. Best bet is to go through the catalogue and highlight a few things you'd be interested in seeing and just attack those first.

Bring a large car because you will be buying more then you thought, and perhaps a friend or two to keep you company. Get a good nights rest and eat well before heading in (this is not a joke). Seeing as this is more of a warehouse then a store, don't expect too much in the way of customer service or assistance, but there is help should you need it.

8/17/2008

Where else can you have a surprisingly decent $2 breakfast, shop till you drop, and have a $2 lunch on your way out the door?  Nowhere but IKEA!  

(note:  this place should be avoided like the plague during the last 2 weeks of August and the first 2 weeks of September)

6/19/2011

Of all the IKEAs in the world, and all the disposable, incredibly not-sustainable furniture somehow arranged into temporarily appealing room ideas, this one takes the cake for an even more traumatizing than usual parking situation.  It's confusing to drive into, it's confusing to find a parking place, and it's perpetually too dark to have any sense of what direction you're traveling, let alone whether your are getting closer to, or further from, the store entrance.

Part of the IKEA business model is hunger-induced delirium, which tricks you into thinking that the purchase of a papier mache room divider, structurally-supported with toothpicks and hope, will transform your studio into a chic and cosmopolitan oasis of cool.  The other part of their model is lingonberry sauce and meatballs to counteract that hunger.

Once inside, it's an IKEA, and if you've been to one, you've been to them all, and had your heart broken with nearly every purchase. I've got my share of IKEA regrets, so I can't claim some sort of philosophical purity, but really, there are so many better furniture and homegood stores to patronize.  Save up for a Wooden Duck coffee table, or a Room and Board sofa, and get something that you'll love forever and that you won't need to replace in a year [if it makes it even that long].

3/7/2010

I love, Love, LOVE IKEA!! It' the holy grail of furniture and decorating. I always fill my trolley with awesome and affordable stuff like Snits, Trones, Blomsters, Bigarras, Fracks and Husnes, which I really do need. Screw Crate and Barrell and Pottery Barn with all their huge mark-ups. Who needs Six Flags when you can spend the day at IKEA?

I'm from Australia and IKEA has been in Australia for years and years and years. When I moved to the US my American boyfriend didn't know what IKEA was.... so I threw him in the car and made him drive (I didn't have an American driver's licence) to IKEA in Stoughton.  Well, he certainly fell in love with the famous Swedish meatballs and he was most impressed with the price. So much food, including sweets for two hungry people for only 15 bucks!.

Next we began our mission for awesome new things for our place. You can't go wrong with IKEA. Even though every thing is cheap it is all really good quality. They can keep their prices low because everything is flat-packed so you assemble it yourself, saving on shipping costs.

I miss family outings to IKEA with my family in Australia but at least IKEA is here as well. Assembling IKEA furniture is also a great way to bond and work together as a team.

The only negative point is that this store gets so crowded on weekends (compared to my usual Australian store and our low-population density). Parking is like searching for a needle in a haystack and walking around inside isn't fun like it should be because of all the annoying people and their bratty kids. So come here during the week instead to experience the true magic of IKEA.

2/18/2013

What a disaster this place is. Parking is a nightmare, the place is so crowded and we had to wait 20 minutes to check out.  I admit the products look cool and are cheap however I will never step foot in the place again. It is confusing with no windows. I feel like I am being herded through the place like cattle.

4/9/2007

I love IKEA, but timing is everything.  A Saturday afternoon trip will leave you stuck in traffic for over an hour with nothing but an overcrowded store and long lines to look forward to.  Weekdays are better but I prefer weeknights the best.  Fewer kids running around screaming and an all-over less stressful experience.

Once you get inside, the show room is a lot of fun.  I love walking around and looking at the different set-ups they have.  I'm not an overly creative person and it really helps me to see how different things will look together.

I always shop here with a plan in mind to avoid overspending.  The quarterly catalogue they send out is really helpful for this and it's free!  The merchandise is priced nicely, but there are far too many opportunities to impulse buy.  I also bring my boyfriend because someone has to carry all the little things I find that I just "must have!"

3/17/2008

I love Ikea. Right off the bat, they give you a map of the store. It's huge and fantastic. It's very well maintained and I love the stuff they have there. The prices are amazing and the sections very well organized, giving you lots of options.

The concept revolves around kits for the most part although certain items are pre-build in some rare instances. That is a good thing though, since you can pack more stuff more easily in your car. The kits are usually pretty easy to build and they do deliver furniture you buy there as well, but at a very expensive rate so I'd avoid that at all costs.

As far as the quality goes, it's a standard. It's a good, reliable brand.

And while you wait for your order to be gathered from their stock room, I'd recommend swinging by their food stand and getting some Swedish food. Their meatballs with Lingonberry sauce is worth it! They also have a few more things like hot dogs and even Swedish treats.

Overall it's a fun, affordable place that mostly sells furniture and small things like silverware and what-nots. I love it.

8/3/2009

Just focusing on the food: YUMMY.

I always start my visit at the cafeteria.  Food is good quality at great prices.  The meatballs are the stars of the cafeteria, but they also have other good choices - like half a chicken, ribs, smoked salmon, and buttery garlic bread.

Back to the meatballs:  The next time you order them, bite into one and notice the texture.  It's different from an Italian meatball.  It's closer to a Chinese dim sum meatball.  I think it has to do with the tenderizing process of the meat - much more processed to develop a smoother consistency.  I have to follow up and check some actual recipes.

9/20/2009

I used to work at a real-wood furniture store, so I know what good quality pass-on-to-your-children furniture is like. Ikea doesn't sell anything like that. Nevertheless, I had no problem laying down $800 to furnish my new apartment.

I spent a good 7 hours on a Saturday shopping here, which was absolutely mentally exhausting trying to fight my way through crowds of screaming children, expectant mothers, and young couples. Thank God for their cafe area which provided some nourishment and respite from the crazy cattle maze which is the rest of the store.

My one huge annoyance with IKEA is that when I got to the pick-up area, THREE of the items I had picked out were gone. One of them had been recalled because of fire hazards, yet it was still being advertised upstairs and in the catalog. So instead of buying the items I wanted I ended up with unsatisfactory pieces that were the wrong color or wrong style from what I originally wanted.

And as I'm checking out with my three carts full of knick-knacks and furniture it turns out that I've picked one glass that doesn't have a price tag. I helpfully tell the cashier girl the name of the glass so she can look up the price, but NO, she has to call the manager. She then proceeds to take out her measuring tape and give the manager all the dimensions of the glass, the color, the shape, etc. All of this on a saturday afternoon where I'm buying hundreds of dollars worth of merchandise, and the line of customers behind me is only getting longer and more frustrated as she goes through this ten minute ordeal. And then she charges me like a dollar for the glass because she can't figure out what it is.

However, they get three stars for excellent prices, stylish furniture, and easy to follow directions.

10/17/2009

IKEA is pretty awesome.  I only wish it wasn't so far away!

We have gotten various things from here and been happy with them all.  Plus, the assemble yourself thing really makes my husband feel manly, haha.  We have a bookcase, kitchen table (with leaf), chairs, and a TV stand from this place.  Everything has lasted well so far and looks great.  I especially love our table and TV stand.  We needed to mount out TV on a stand because our walls are plaster of Paris (which is a HUGE pain in the ass) and we found one that is shallow enough but quite sturdy.  One of the two boxes weighed 141 pounds!  So you know it's good. =)

The only teeny gripe I would have about this store is that there didn't seem to be enough people working there.  Then the one lady who was around was completely oblivious to all of us waiting.  I guess people stand by service counters in a group just because it is fun.

I highly recommend this place for people starting out or college kids because it is cheap and durable - plus, it can be stylish!

12/3/2009

Ikea is friggn' awesome!!!! My husband and I just come here for a leisurely walk and stare at all the things we would buy if we had a bigger place.
Feeling exhausted and famished after all the walking.. we head over to the cafe and of course we have to buy the meatballs. Who can say no to the meatballs and fries.
Then we head downstairs and walk through the warehouse  and get nick naks for the house. Never can have too many wooden hangers and cute looking cups! Grab a few candles on the way too...
Sure.. you have to stand in line for about 15 min...then pack your own stuff. I find this place fun and cheap. Yay for Ikea..

Some of the furniture is crap and you do you have to assemble it yourself but for the price.. honestly.. what do you expect!?

5/10/2010

To me, Ikea is the kind of store that you make plans to go to, and then spend several days anticipating it and telling everyone you know about your upcoming shopping trip. I think it's because it's such a long trek from my house, and the fact that I still view it as a pretty unique store. I've been to better European markets, but nothing beats the selection of household items and affordable furniture that Ikea offers.

First off- if you don't like crowds then you really need to time your visit to fall on a random weekday (one that isn't near any major holidays). If you go on the weekend, there will be crowds, you will be elbowed, there will be screaming kids, and if you want to eat in the Cafe the wait will feel like forever. Just avoid the weekends if you hate crowds, and Ikea will be a great experience.

My boyfriend and I actually end up going on Saturday mornings. We time it so we're there about an hour after opening, and we have about an hour to browse before the Cafe switches from breakfast to their lunch meals. Yes, we can't resist the Swedish meatballs. I can't resist the almond cake either! Prices are great, but as I said before, lines and seating can be stressful.

The prices at Ikea are excellent. I've bought smaller furniture items like bookcases and nightstands- never anything big like a couch or bed. I guess that would be a drawback- you need a large enough car to get the bigger boxes home. My boyfriend loves to assemble things so that has never been an issue for us. If you're not good at it though, those directions might drive you batty!

The food section is great. You can buy all sorts of tasty treats. I always pick up a frozen almond cake and a bottle of Lingonberry preserve. Side note- why doesn't the Cafe serve Lingonberry soda now?! I am heartbroken over that!

I definitely recommend Ikea. You should take the time to experience it, at least once, even if you don't buy anything. And I agree with other reviewers that it's hard not to go crazy and come out with much more than you anticipated buying going in. Just be sure to go on an 'off' day if you hate crowds or you will be absolutely miserable.

3/31/2011

The IKEA business model is revolutionary. So revolutionary that I'd give the Stoughton store five stars even if it was surrounded by a ring of fire and cannibals.

Thankfully, it's not, and if you go early enough, you can beat the crowds, find a good parking spot and walk leisurely though the pleasantly labyrinthine store looking at all kinds of gadgets, end tables, beds and "500 square foot apartments" at your ease.

IKEA is one of the few stores that you can go to, even if you don't want anything, and still have a fantastic time. Bravo, IKEA.

7/11/2011

I have been to a gazillion Ikea's and this one, although HUUUUUGE has to be one of my least favorites. Here is why:

(1) Disorganized - I enjoy mazes. I enjoy air conditioned mazes even more, HOWEVER this one was RIDICULOUS. The departments were disorganized and the path was tortuous to get from one side to the next. Even if you know exactly what you want, enjoy your hike through the mounds of children and couples on PDA to get to your purchase.

(2) Mislabeling - Not all items, SOME items. Particularly the ones you want to buy. The displayed barstools showed they were on sale for $10/piece. We wrote down the name, number, aisle, everything and picked them up in the designated area. At check out, these cheap plastic bar stools rang up to be $30 a piece. We told the cashier this, and instead of just refunding it on to our bill, we had to line up in the returns department, wasting an additional 30 minutes for an overpriced item mislabeled by Ikea.

(3) OUT OF STOCK - Perhaps the MOST annoying thing of all. HOW does Ikea run out of 4 different patterns of bedsheets, 2 different kinds of shelves, and 50% of all the displayed shower curtains at 3pm on a Saturday????? There ain't no other Ikea within a 2 hour driving distance! Don't freakin' display things you don't have.

The only redeeming qualities of this Ikea was its food court. Cheap prices of edible food cannot be beat. The vegetarian sweet potato soup was surprisingly good, but the chicken noodle soup was in shambles by 3pm. Think...noodles that look like rags.

You can most DEFINITELY do better Ikea.

9/4/2011

Just like every other Ikea. It is a maze inside and really crowded. However, you will definitely find whatever you are looking for.

But my favorite thing about this and every other Ikea is the restaurant. I am a fan of their Swedish Meatballs. They are cheap, delicious, and satisfying.

1/18/2012

This is a huge store!  It's easy to get lost.  The food court has some really good inexpensive food though!

The furniture is decently priced as well.

5/23/2008

I have a love-hate with Ikea.  I LOVE putting stuff together and love that I can just follow the pictures and don't have to decipher real terminology.  I love that I can afford to furnish my apartment well, on a budget.  I love the $30 duvet covers.  I love getting ideas on how to use things creatively walking through the showroom.  I even love that they use their own tables, stools, glasses, and tableware in their food court.

I HATE that everyone now has all the same stuff.  I knew about Ikea long before it existed here....doesn't that count for something?!  Instead, it's become easy to identify an apartment as Ikea'd.  Embarrassingly I can even tell you the names of some of the furniture.  I hate the crowds (go on a weekday afternoon for a nearly empty store).  I hate that delivery costs $110 and I hate that there are many big pieces you can't order online.  Mostly I hate that it's far away/difficult to get to without a car!

ps for ideas to tone done the overwhelming ikea-ness of a totes ikea'd apartment, check out ikeahacker (http://ikeahacker.blogsp…)
afterthought: should i even be sharing this?  or is this going to lead us to all have the same hacks too.  dammit.  no winning!

6/9/2009

What's to say that hasn't already been said?
As far as the actual layout of the store goes, it's pretty cool- you can get lost for hours wandering around.
I'm not a fan of most of the furniture though. I live in a 3BR apt with two roommates- if something broke now and i needed a quick fix, I'd head to Ikea. If i was buying a house/condo or renting an apt. that I had to furnish myself, I would most likely NOT choose Ikea, at least for the major items. They do have some cute kitchen appliances, but I find a lot of the major furniture to be fairly cheaply made. You get what you pay for.

4/30/2009 Updated review

I feel like the place has calmed down quiet a bit since the first year it was opened, and am thus upping my review. I guess Mass has filled up on its initial cravings of funnily named plastic and sawdust and IKEA has become much more shoppable.

I admit it. I can not get enough of cheap, Swedish, paper-enveloped sawdust. Hey, it makes my apartment and my wallet look good. My dining room is all pimped out for a few hundred dollars with a nice wall, table and chairs. The Malm bedroom set is great (splurge on the Tempurpedic, save on the frame).
Plus, call me sick but I actually enjoy assembling the stuff and I do not think it is at all that complicated. Its like a nice, calming, jig-saw puzzle, and you get a prize in the end in the form of new furniture. And no..the pieces have never been missing.

12/13/2007

It's a good think I have to get a Zipcar in order to go here, otherwise I would live here.  My entire apartment is furnished by IKEA.  Ya it's a bitch to put some of the things together, but the fact that it comes in a box that you can just shlep into your car is awesome.

One time, I went with 3 other people, and bought about 8 thousand pieces of furniture, and loaded it into a Hybrid Element, I couldn't see anyone anywhere.  It was an adventure.

I've had ONE bad experience with IKEA.  I bought a dresser, and there are 3 boxes, and two of them were Made in Poland and one from Canada.  Therefore, my BF tried putting it together, but there were missing pieces, extra pieces, blah blah blah.  I was pissed because I had to get a Zipcar and make the trip back, but I bitched hard enough and they gave me my $$ back for my zipcar.  It made me love them even more.

And come on $4.99 for a thousand swedish meatballs?! Fuck yeah.

I can't wait until the one in Sullivan Sq opens.  It will be my new Mecca.

12/13/2007

I love IKEA.  I really do.  I love our Expedit bookcase and our Herman dining room chairs and our half-Lack (no longer made, but you can get the full Lack)...

However, I have to say this: IKEA is great for structural furniture like bookcases, and for smaller items like lamps, picture frames, etc...but I worry about anyone who buys IKEA beds, desks, and couches who is older than 22.   We had one small desk fall apart before it was even off the showroom floor.  And their couches look pretty flimsy and are also really SMALL compared to a normal sized couch. BTW, Jordan's is much better priced for couches, and they're right across the way. Buy most of your stuff at IKEA and then go over to Jordan's for your couch and bed needs.

10/4/2009

Right now, I'm sitting at my Ikea desk as I type this review.  My Ikea desk that is exactly what I needed and wanted.  My Ikea desk that was completely impossible to find on Craigslist, those cheapo furniture stores in Allston, and any other furniture store, for that matter.  My Ikea desk that was $25.  Twenty. five. dollars.

One part of me thinks the "the furniture is so cheap it's disposable" Ikea-culture can be dangerous.  But despite my best intentions when it comes to recycling/reusing, sometimes Ikea just has the best product for me.

Now, the store itself is like a giant Disneyland for adults.  "Oooh, look over here!  OMGGG how cute!  OMG I sooooo need this!"  Everyone walks through those faux-apartment setups and turns them into their own domestic fantasy.  Hell, I can even get lost in excitement while  flipping through their yearly catalog.

Anyhoo, I give Ikea two thumbs up.  I'm knocking off a star for their notoriously difficult assembly (my desk instructions included two imaginary holes that I ended up having to drill myself).

2/11/2007

Continuing my reviewing of IKEAs, I must say that while living in Boston, it was a HUGE relief that this one opened up. I got most of my room there for my last apartment, and it was the usual joy of IKEAness. However, this location SUCKS. I have never been to as crowded and useless of an IKEA. And I know from IKEA, ok?

Me: Where can I find bedrooms?
Staff Person: Um...bedroom area?
Me: (blank stare, silence)
Staff Person: You wanna know where that is?
Me: Sigh. Yes.

And this happened repeatedly. It took almost an hour to get into the store between looking for parking and actually getting to the parking lot (the traffic, wtf??? one lane in each direction, what is this, your first IKEA???)

It's almost more worthwhile to drive to CT from MA and have a calmer experience.

NOTE: This review in no way alters my deep love for IKEA. Thank you.

8/19/2008

We have our ups and downs with Ikea. Most of the furniture in our apartment was purchased there.

Some of the furniture is cheap, and you can tell the quality makes it easy to destroy quickly, while other things are just way way too overpriced. We bought a Malm Queen bed, which turned into a disaster. The middle beam has bent, the slats that hold the mattress up (mattress was purchased there was well) fall apart making the mattress fall through to the ground. We ended up going to Lowe's and rigging our own wood thing to the bottom of it to make the bed more sturdy.

Other things are decent, the sofa, although not something I'd see in my mother's house, appropriate enough for a college-20-something. And the furniture does have a "trendy" appeal.

I like Ikea, but I think it's best to head here in the middle of the week when it's not as crowded. If you go on Saturday or Sunday you're just asking for hell.

1/3/2009

If I could kiss Mr. Ikea, that adorable little Swedish muffin (I imagine), I would. Ikea has provided me an endless source of entertainment on days when I couldn't think of anything better to do AND decent furniture on a poor lady's budget.

Nothing delights me more than finding a new Oglong or Sleeganlangen or a Poang! Some items are adorable, some are horrid and directly from the 80's... and that is all part of the fun. The quality can be debated, but then again, isn't that the point? My pieces start to wear out right around the time I am ready to move or redecorate anyway. Great customer service, well planned store layout, and easy check out too.

I realize that IKEA is not place for everyone. To be sucessful and enojy yourself you need to know the right way to shop here. The unwritten rules like... NEVER go on the weekend... take a break and mull over your overflowing cart with a slice of apple cake from the food court... bags now cost .10 each and they make you feel guilty about buying any, so bring along your reusable tote bag... bring a measuring tape (their paper ones aren't the best)... park all the way at the top level of the garage, it's always empty and has the easier access when you exit with a cart full... and never underestimate your need for anything that costs .50 cents.

3/22/2009

Like Randall falling on his knees at the big video store in "Clerks," I bow to the housewares superstore IKEA.  Although the place can seriously be maddening, it is still an amazing store for inexpensive furniture, kitchen and everything in between.  I've only been on a weekend, so I'm used to the hullabaloo that is inevitable.  Today, my friends and I started out by touring the upstairs inspirational galleries.  It would be really fun to decorate my house that way, if I had a house. :(   Then we ate at the cafeteria, but first, we had to wait for several people to leave because it was so packed.  I had the chicken fingers with fries because I was craving them and they were okay, but I should've gone with a wrap sandwich.  

The shopping experience was a little stressful today.  I couldn't find a citrus zester or the perfect knife for a sushi class I'm taking next month.  But I did find a really adorable lamp, a knife sharpener, really cute finger puppets for my nephew, ballerina cookies, and the best cinnamon rolls you can buy for your money (by the way, you can smell them right when you walk in the door), so I guess it wasn't a total waste.  I've never actually bought furniture in the store, but I know people who have and they like it well enough.  

Yay for Swedes, but not for the parking situation, the crowds,  or the fact that they no longer have any bags to give you for the stuff you buy (or sell them at the cash register).  As much as I do like IKEA, I can only handle it once a year.

8/1/2009

Their meatballs rock!  You have got to try all of their grub.  Yes, you can purchase almost everything in their grocery section.  Then you can recreate these yummy things in the comfort of your own home.  I like to keep the meatballs on hand in my freezer.  IKEA could school Lay's on the art of making a potato chip.  

Oh, but mainly, IKEA is a furniture and everything you might ever want for your home store.  I love IKEA, everything in our little 360 sq. feet of pure love crib is decked out in IKEA.  Really, our place looks like their catalog.  When I grow up, I may out grow IKEA but I doubt it.

12/13/2009

Of course I love Ikea- I got almost everything for my new apartment there without breaking the bank....and then I saw the round bed... Had to have that! Paid $100 to have it shipped to my place and should have paid someone $100 to help me put it together! It came in 4 pie pieces that had to be stacked on end and clamped together before setting it back down onto the floor. The entire bed weighs about 1000 pounds, and the diagram showed 3 people assembling it, but I did it by myself! (I don't recommend that to anyone who may be reading this.) All in all, I spent about 3 days assembling everything I got, but I think it was worth it. Nothing is falling apart yet (although I'm sure it will when I try to move something across the room).

As far as the store goes, well, I like to go just to try out all the chairs and couches, etc... That can take awhile, so if you go, plan on being there all afternoon. Luckily, there is a cafe inside for when you get hungry. (Try the Swedish meatballs, I dare you!) Also, when you go, borrow a friend's SUV or pickup truck, because chances are the flat pack or patio furniture you are picking up will not fit into your energy efficient Smart Car.

9/2/2006

IKEA is fantastic, right on down to the ridiculously named furniture. Once you get the bug, you'll notice it's a favorite go-to of home improvement shows, especially for lamps, curtains, and small accent pieces.

Don't go on the weekends during the day, if you can help it. The Stoughton store has possibly the worst traffic accessibility of any Ikea I've ever been to, starting with access from the highway.

The lingonberry drink is reason enough to go. Bring a piece of paper and sketch out some ideas for your room.

By the way, you'll have a tough time programming the location for IKEA into your GPS, so just look up the address for the Jordan's Furniture in Avon. Ikea is just down the road and is visible from Jordan's.

3/25/2008

No one needs me to explain what IKEA is, right? It's home stuff and furniture done Norwegian style. Well-organized, extremely practical products, and very thoughtful as to the customer experience, esp those with kids.

The style is distinctly modern and kind of minimalist, though it uses bold colors and patterns. It isn't for everyone. Still, the cheap to modest prices work for most young people and those starting off families. Most of the furniture is not meant to last and become heirlooms, but at these prices, I'll take it. Europeans have some experience when it comes to crowded living quarters, so there are a lot of neat things for city dwellers.

Some examples of great shopping perks/pluses:

-overall very clean
-extremely cheap food and snacks (try the Swedish meatballs, excellent french fries and FroYo cones)
-supervised child play area for potty-trained kids (1hr free, then paid)
-family-friendly parking spots
-plenty of bathrooms scattered around the store
-covered parking garage w/ plenty of close loading zone parking spots
-well packed, compact boxes for easy transport
-furniture is very easy to assemble, can use right away
-carts with four-wheel steering, able to use escalators

Some things to be aware of: it gets very, very crowded on weekends and holidays. If you must go on those days, it's best to go early, when it opens at 10AM. IKEA does deliver, but they charge, so be prepared.

There's another IKEA coming to Somerville (Assembly Sq area) within the next year or two, which should help the congestion some.