IKEA Stoughton

5/20/2009

Dear IKEA patrons.  Here are some helpful hints to make mine and your shopping experience so much more pleasant.

01.  Now it's one thing if your kids are the quiet, behaved type but otherwise, please leave the wailing, crying children at home.  Either that or make use of the handy day care facility conveniently located first thing through the front door.  Judging by their tantrum throwing faces I am convinced staring at plastic chairs and wicker baskets for three hours isn't the most amusing day trip for a four year old.  Clearly they're not interested in being there and I'm not interested in having to listen to their headache inducing screams.  Please.  Utilize the daycare.  This is essential to having an enjoyable shopping experience.

02.  Which brings me to our next helpful word of advice.  Please.  Do not change your child's diaper in the food court.  On the tables we eat.  Ever.  Enough said.

03.  Exercise any and all basic manners you were taught as a child.  Such as a "thank you" when someone holds open a door for you as opposed to simply rushing by.  Then there's the all too rare "excuse me" when walking in front of someone as opposed to slowly drifting between myself and the shelf I'm looking at, then lingering for a good 30 seconds before I have to step in and excuse myself for you.  When you're 32, with three children and a dog I would assume you're capable enough to excuse yourself.  In addition, please do not attempt to cut me in line by pushing me aside with your purse and squeezing into the space between myself and the dividers.  This is just childish.

04.  Do not expect exemplary customer service.  Most IKEA employees are more than happy to point out this is a 90% self-serve establishment and we should be more than happy to allow them to point such out.  Asking questions should be strictly limited especially when the employee available is busy idling in his/her department.  Do not expect said employee to go out of their way to assist you in any shape or form.  And no, arguing with a manager does not fix this.  I've learned from various visits that it's a positive move on my part to decide what I'm looking for ahead of time and this includes checking the products I've purchased after receiving them at the pick-up desk.  There's nothing more frustrating than sitting in line for a half an hour then making the 60 minute, traffic filled trip home only to find they gave you the wrong size cabinet.  

05.  And finally, please do realize that while the products are designed nicely and look extra special in your urban setting, apartment living room, their quality is essentially no better than what you would purchase at a Target or Walmart.  Yes, they do have pricier items that are of slightly higher quality.  Yes, the prices are generally inexpensive.  Yes, the designs are much more suitable, efficient and lovely than anything you could possibly get at the big W.  However, when the stapled plywood backing of your $20.00 flower patterned bookcase splits off, please remember that no, the quality really isn't any different.  I will outwardly admit, I shop at IKEA for the design and the price alone.  It simply comes down to paying $20.00 for something that will fall apart in twelve months or paying $20.00 for something that looks gorgeous that will fall apart in twelve months.  Simple options there.

Follow my easy five-step program above and I promise your visit will be ever so much better.   In all seriousness, plan your trip ahead of time.

10/18/2011

The only place I choose for lingonberries and informal furniture
Engaging enough to take the kids
Fair prices everyone knows about

I think everyone knows what to expect from IKEA, writ large - semi-sturdy DIY furniture for fair prices, with a Scandanavian design-for-the-people ethos.  We good here?  Good.  Bonus points that the building is LEED-certified.

This location, as mentioned severally in other reviews, is a centrally-situated site for the greater Boston/South Shore/Rhode Island set, relatively easy to reach via MA-24...which is to say that it's an equal-opportunity trek for just about everyone.  The trade-off is that traffic is a little lighter than it could be, had they located closer to a central metro area.  All in all, you're not heading there as a convenience play anyway, so throw some good tunes on in the car, buckle up, and make a mini-adventure out of it.

Probably of note for my family moreso than the furniture and accoutrements available here is the fun destination that my kids see it as.  There is the mighty draw of the Swedish cafeteria area, replete with inexpensive food offerings, IKEA's own design cues, and a kids' area playing G-rated films.  There is a kids' play center where parents can leave their children while SERIOUS shopping occurs.  There are child-specific decor areas, including a decent selection of simplistic-design toys, games, stuffed animals, etc.  There are pseudo kid-friendly areas in the store that hold kids' attention, even if they aren't specifically designed for that purpose.  But apart from the kid areas, per se, think of this place from a kid's perspective - the building layout is peculiar enough to warrant a map.  There appear to be different "lands" as you progress from bedroom to kitchen, through seating (chair toughness tester?  Fascinating.) to light fixtures of every shape and color, to pillows and bedsheets.  You shuffle along in this strange Swedish satellite land, marveling at the stark contrasts, the serial kitchens, bedrooms, and offices next to one another, enormous bins of uber-cheap spatulas, and the ubiquitous Billy bookshelves throughout...until you're greeted by a clanking automatic personal-handcart distribution mechanism, at which point you're expelled into the cavernous warehouse that holds your desired boxed goods, gently cooled by ENORMOUS ceiling fans.  It's enough to make most people at least think to themselves "whoa!"  After you've collected your first-quality items, there's still opportunity to peruse the land of misfit furnishings...leftover pieces from broken boxes, mismatched drawer pulls, broken-pair curtain rods...you understand.  But wait!  At check-out, like most retail stores, you'll find small impulse buys available as you load your brown-boxed wares onto a conveyor.  But wait (Part II, the wrath of impulse buys)!  Packaged foods that you enjoyed in the cafe are available as gifts, groceries, or survival kits for your trek back to wherever you came from.  It's all enough to leave a young person sorta winded, which makes it a solid partial-day destination for families, even if you just went to pick up a few odds and ends.  

Well-played, IKEA.

3/6/2006

Fine, so you have to drive 35 minutes out of Boston to get there, and Ikea way isn't really plottable by Mapquest, or google maps, or even Onstar... but gosh if it isn't a relief when you get there! I've been lobbying for Ikea to open in MA for five years, and FINALLY I can breathe easy. If you've never been to Ikea, go there, now! No seriously, NOW. Even if you don't need furniture. Go now. And have lunch there, because it's yummy and relatively cheap. If you've got kids, they'll have more fun in the tank of a thousand balls than they would at Disney World. It's like a huge doll house, with life size furniture. And the colours of the walls and floors are plain enough to let you imagine the furniture in your own house. Heed my warning! You will have to fight for parking on a weekend. It's all worth it in the end.

12/15/2008

I love spending an entire day at Ikea.  Where else can you get $0.50 hotdogs and swedish meatballs.  Stylish items on the cheap.  No promises that they are going to last forever but they have a HUGE selection.

3/13/2008

My experiences at Ikea are quite varied.

The first time I explored this wonderous beauty, it was while on a trip to LA to visit my bff (oops, cut off that last f since we're no longer friends) about 9 years ago.  For some reason we thought it was a good idea to hit up Ikea after a night of partying with moronic steakheads at Hermosa Beach that left us with crippling hangovers.  We stumbled around the aisles filling our carts aimlessly with crap we didn't need.

Fast forward to 2006.  My husband and I just bought a loft downtown and we had slim pickin's for dates that worked to head down to NEW HAVEN for fuck's sake (Stoughton wasn't open yet) to see what we could find to furnish the place.  The day we went?  Of course it was monsooning and it was the day after a very good friend's surprise 30th birthday party.  Are you sensing a theme here?  

I told hubby he didn't have to come, he could nurse his atrocious hangover on the couch, but he refused.  Said he needed to come for damage control and to monitor the credit card usage.  Sucks to be him.

While he moaned in agony in the backseat like a dog, my friend and I drove through the monsoon and snacked on munchkins for the trek.  I gave myself a couple hours for the place.  I often highly underestimate my shopping obsession/addiction, and this day was no exception.  All I remember was standing in the rug department for over an hour fighting with hubby on which one to get.  In the end, we left with none.  But SEVEN hours after we entered, we left with one hell of a packed SUV, and I think my credit card burst into flames.  Hubby drove, I was in the passenger seat but I couldn't see him because there was some piece of furniture slid through the middle completely blocking our peripheral vision.  As for my friend, good thing she's skinny because there was only about eight total inches left for her ass, and her head was hanging out the window because a plant was leaning over into her space.  That was a long ride home.

The last time I went, it was on a whim.  Late Sunday afternoon, we went to return a bunch of the shit we purchased.  I decided Ikea is great for accessories but never ever for furniture.  Pleasantly surprised, there were plenty of parking spots available and we were in and out in an hour.

Now, I need to head back there this weekend.  We just bought a weekend house in VT and I need some covers for a chair and ottoman that have seen more wine stains, general layers of dirt and most recently, a big ass boot print that doesn't want to be cleaned.  

I need to head there alone, as hubby will be on a biz trip.  He told me to order it online, but I want to head back to the wonderous warehouse to see what other goodies I can find.  I'm scared.  Hold me.

12/27/2006

First, thank God I went here on a Monday night when there were probably only 50 others in the store. It was a crazy maze of confusion trying to leave, so I can't imagine what it would be like with 500 toddlers running around on a Saturday before they've had their coco puffs and watched Sponge bob.  I do have to say though that they did set up the pretend rooms really nicely and made me think I needed to redo my living space so it looked more like something they had created.  Nice work Ikea!  Good selection, good pricing, helpful staff and A-PLUS Cinnamon Rolls at the end of your adventure!

6/14/2012 Updated review

Okay, an actual review is necessary (though their Swedish meatballs are still the shit). I honestly love Ikea. Last summer, my family decided to do a home makeover haha. We bought new kitchen appliances, new beds for me and my sister, and a bunch of other random nonsense. Ikea was pretty much our to-go spot for our little endeavor. It's affordable and I've yet to experience any issues with anything we've bought. Highly recommend it if you're looking to change up the feng shui in your home!

6/29/2013

Worst Ikea ever, I tried to buy a sofabed, I kept on checking for about a period of six months if it was back in stock, finally gave up.
I paid $ 199 for an Ikea kitchen designer. She could not get her computer program to work and the design she finally produced was not practical. I went to Home Depot in Somerville instead , they were wonderful.
I tried to buy a small kitchen cabinet today and instead of getting the one I had asled for 30 inches high, 24 wide 8 got the opposite 24 inches high 30 wide, although I showed the order clerk the ikea list, so she could get it right. She clearly could not care less. In addition conditions were chaotic with people waiting one and a half our to get their stuff from the warehouse.
Unfortunately I have to go back to return the cabinet which will mean standing endlessly in line twice to return the old one and to pick up the new one and walking all the floor  to find somebody to write the order in the kitchen department.

5/9/2006

IKEA is one of my all time favorite stores, inexpensive and stylish furniture and housewares.

2/10/2011

The Stoughton, MA Ikea has the worst customer service in the history of the world. It is so sad that Ikea has turned into such a crap-hole!

10/4/2009

Although Ikea has gone more traditional and changed their font (how dare they!) they are still great. You can furnish your apartment for $500+ and get a great meal. The staff is friendly and helpful but you often don't need to ask them questions because the store is set up so well. There are plenty of 'you are here' maps and shortcuts that get you from kitchen to organization.
When we did our big shopping trip last year we got a dresser that had 2 boxes for all the pieces. Getting home and discovering that we had one box of cherry and one box of birch pieces was down right disappointing. But our trip back the next day was a breeze. They did not give us any crap about it and simply switched the wrong color for the correct color.
Their furniture is great but their food is so much better. Swedish meatballs all the way! On our last trip I saw they had a special of half of a roasted chicken plus a side for 5.99. Excuse me? how much? I'll get it. And let me tell you it was worth it. it was way too much food for 1 person but still a great deal.
On your way out grab some cinnamon rolls for breakfast and a nonfat frozen yogurt for your card back home.

1/16/2011

Until my most recent visit, I loathed coming to this store.  In my experience, parking has been a nightmare, the store has been unbelieveably crowded, and I was utterly confused by the layout of the store, like I wouldn't be able to find my way out in case of fire.      

BUT, on a well-planned excursion, I discovered Ikea can be a fun venture.  I live about 45 min to an hour away from here, so first thing was to leave early.  And by early I mean around 9 am.  Arriving in Stoughton at 10 am the parking was plentiful and we did not have to walk a mile to the front door.  The store was only moderately crowded so I didn't feel the stress to hurry along I previously did when browsing in the setup rooms.  And to ease my fears of being lost in this Swedish abyss, I also was able to stroll slowly enough that notice that buried deep within each department are shortcuts to other areas, so if you are really familiar with the layout of the store, you can bypass what doesn't interest you, rather than follow the arrows on the floor like some kind of bargain hunting Dorothy on her way to the Emerald checkout area.  The shortcuts really are kind of hidden, though, so keep your eyes peeled.  Like any other retailer, this place is designed so you are forced to walk by EVERYTHING in hopes of the coveted impulse buy.

What a great place for impulse buys, though.  You'll walk through here and find stuff you didn't know you needed.   I was actually just going along on this trip for the ride, but ended up with several good finds.   CD wallets?  I picked up two for I think 4 bucks each.  And I love my new wok!  All of my Asian home cooking somehow tastes more authentic now.    

Last piece of advice is to bring a big car if possible.  This trip was for the express puprose of picking up a TV stand and we did so in a Jetta with three passengers.  Even in pieces, we barely fit in in the trunk with the rear seat folded down and our poor rear seat passenger got to sit with a very heavy box across her lap for the hour ride home.

12/19/2010

Ikea is a wonderful playland for adults who want to have tasty (cheap!) Swedish snacks, buy funky fun cheap and DIY furniture, while also getting lost in a maze of rooms set up to look like homes.
It's so fun to come here and look around- even if you're not looking for anything in particular! Does that sound crazy to you? Then you have not been to Ikea. It just has a happy feeling. You can furnish your entire apartment for a few hundred dollars- and actually get some nice stuff. The furniture is not top quality but for the price it is definitely right. On your way out you can get decorations such as framed works of art or real living plants.
When I knew I was going to be moving to New Orleans where the closest IKEA is in Texas, I went and stocked up on things like a hanging pot rack, a chandelier, art, and little necessities like kitchenwares and bathroom stuff.
Don't forget to pick up an ice cream cone, hotdog, or pretzel for $1 on your way out!

6/20/2013

I'm a huge fan of Ikea. I love everything about it. I love the displays I love how each one feels like your actually in that room of a real home. They have amazing products for a reasonable price. I could just walk around there for hours getting new ideas for decorating my home.
My last trip to Ikea I bought my daughter a brand new bed. Of course in the showroom it had a cute little canopy and a light with it that I just had to buy. I went in there with the intentions of buying a $200 bed and walked out spending $300. I cant complain though it is a adorable set up.
The one thing I do have to complain about though is the lack of staff in the I'm not sure what to call it.. the "find your product on the shelf and load it onto a cart yourself" area? The bed of course came in a huge long heavy box that was impossible to move on my own. Lucky for me I had a friend with me but he cant lift extremely heavy items. I could not find anyone to help us so instead of a maybe 5 min job with some help it turned into 15 min hassle.
After we got the bed loaded though the lines were quick and we were out in the lot to load this beast of a box into the car. My complaint here would be customers parking in the loading area who do not need to be there. They are hanging out chit chatting doing whatever. I even watched as two ladies parked in the loading zone and went into the store and I never saw them come out. So I had to wait.. and wait.. and wait to finally be able to get my car moved there so I could finally go home.
If it wasn't for the whole loading it on your own process with the lack of Ikea staff around to help it would of been a great experience the last time I was there.

12/10/2009

I love Ikea. They have everything and it's all at the right price. Tons of parking, tons of stuff. I have no issues putting stuff together myself. I love Ikea.

7/11/2011

Pretty much the only reason I'm ever in Stoughton. Slowly but surely over the last year or so, pretty much every piece of furniture in my apartment has been replaced by something Ikean, and largely, it all works out. (Also, Ikean is an adjective now. Accept it and move on.) Everything's held together, it's fairly easy to coordinate pieces in a room given the consistency of colors and lines, and a lot of items are priced to move, whether they're on sale or just plain inexpensive. (This is not to say they're bad -- I've packed my $40 Billy bookcase to the particle-board brim with hefty tomes and a small radio station's worth of LPs and it shows no sign of quitting.) Also, I know this goes without saying, but as a person who loves building things, Ikea furniture is a friggin' blast, even it it is basically the carpentry equivalent of a Lego set. Hell, you can even make it a social event: buy a couch, drag the boxes inside, call up some friends, get a couple of pizzas and a case of beer and go to town.

That said, there are a few negative points about this location worth mentioning -- mostly related to how much of a zoo this place can be on weekends. Speaking again as someone who only ever makes it to Stoughton when I'm really jonesing for a bar pizza, weekends are pretty much the only time of the week I can actually get to this Ikea, which, unfortunately, seems to be the case with a lot of people. The result: A parking nightmare in the garage, a mob scene in the showroom, and when it comes time to load up a flatbed in the warehouse area, navigating the aisles without either T-boning someone who isn't watching where they're pointing their Hemnes wardrobe or avoiding getting run off the road into a bedding display become pretty difficult. The clear alternative would be to use the shortcuts in between showroom displays or pickup bins, but it's pretty easy to get turned around by those.

The best way to get around this? Do your measurements and research online (their in-store availability check is usually spot-on), leave work a little early and go on a weekend night. There's nothing better than walking into an empty Ikea at seven in the evening, free to poke couches and slide drawers to your heart's content until nine o'clock. And hey, by the time you get out, traffic back to Boston will have pretty much disappeared! Totally the way to go.

3/22/2013

No one picks up, no one returns your call, and everyone gives different answers to questions. I'm trying to spend 6k on a kitchen - you think a store would try to make it easy!

10/4/2006

i am apparently the only one in state who hadn't been to ikea until last week.  so it's ikea. well the couches are cheap and i like cheap, though they are weirdly low to the ground. everything there is. do scandanavians crawl instead of walk? is their national average height 4'8"? things that impressed me: cheap couches, cheap dining room tables, cheap stemware in a handy six-pack (!!), and a cheap lamp.  everything else i could take or leave, and i never really understood to have prints of places i've never been, and especially in my case, photographs i haven't taken myself.  the kitchen setups  there look really awesome, sleek modern and minimalistic but who is tearing out their whole kitchen for that kind of redo?

they automatically lost a point for creepy food. i think the restaurant in costco/bjs is gross and this is the same feel. i just don't feel right buying food from a FURNITURE store. apparently that's a popular combination in MA, but that doesn't make it right.  is that a swedish meatball or slimy sawdust rolled into a ball?

6/29/2007

I want to give it 4 stars but the lamp incident is still a sore subject.

Cool stuff cheap.  You pay for what you get, so you need to decide when quality is more important than price.  

Kitchen:  Not the place I would get pots and pans, but definitely a place I would get food storage containers, utensils that you need but barely use like a lemon zester, and possibly casual dinnerware.  I did get their steak knives on the recommendation of my sister, but they suck.  They get rust spots every time I put them in the dishwasher.  Lesson:  Buy good quality stainless steel flatware (look for signs that say 18/8 or 18/10, avoid 18/0 which usually means hand washing only recommended and RUST!)

My IKEA Kitchen Items:  small rice bowls that were 25 cents each (what a deal!), salad spinner (have yet to use it but it seemed like such a great buy), mason jars, food storage containers, glass spice jars, lemon zester, melon baller, ice cream scooper, yucky steak knives...hmmm, what else?

Ok, let's move on...

Furniture:  Great place for what I call apartment furniture, but not the place I would furnish my entire home with.  But you can definitely sneak in some end/side tables and a bookcase here and there.  I got a decent wall unit/book case that is sitting in my living room and I am proud to say I put it together on my own.  (Do I hear Beyonce?...Yeah, I'm an Independent Woman.  heehee)  If you do buy any of their tables (or anything you might put a cup on) that isn't solid wood, use coasters!!  The veneer top will start to crack and peel off.

My IKEA Furniture:  bookcase, nightstand and cabinet from my apartment days, storage bench, and let's not forget the Poang chair (I think everyone owns one).

Ok, let me take a deep breathe cause the bitch session is about to start.  

Lighting:
Unless you plan to buy a lamp AND lamp shade at IKEA, avoid the madness of the lighting section.  I found a floor lamp that I liked, but didn't like any of the lamp shades, so I only purchased the floor lamp.  Wait, let's back up...I did find a lamp shade that I liked but it only came with a specific floor lamp (which I didn't like).  I soon found out that the IKEA floor lamp I purchased was not compatible with standard U.S. lamp shades.  There are 3 basic types of lampshades:  clip, uno, and harp.  I needed a uno lampshade which I found several that I liked at different stores.  To my dismay, the hole for the non-IKEA lampshade I purchased didn't fit my lamp.  IKEA's lamp shades do come with an adjustable clip for the hole so that it has a small hole for the smaller lamp bases and a large hole for the floor lamps.  Neither hole is the same size as the U.S. "standard."  In IKEA's defense, I know that they are not a US company, but still... OK, I'm getting upset re-living this, so I'm going to stop now even though there is more to this story.  (If you are wondering why I didn't just return the lamp...I had already thrown away the original packaging.)  Needless to say, I had to go back to IKEA to get one of their lampshades (that I didn't really like), for my damn IKEA floor lamp.  I already invested money in the lamp (along with the matching table lamp), so I was not about to go out and buy another lamp.  I just secretly hate my lampshade every time I walk into my living room.

Along with the negativity, what is up with their carts????  I always get a workout maneuvering them because the wheels are always acting crazy.  And it's not like I got a bad cart (like you might get at the supermarket).  It's every freakin cart!  I guess its good for toning up my arms.

Let's end on a more positive note.  

Food Court:
I have to admit...the meatballs are great along with some French fries and some Mountain Dew.  And you know I'm dipping the French fries in the gravy, too.  The mac n cheese isn't bad either.  Not sure about the pre-made stuff like the salads though.

If I didn't cover a department that means I haven't purchased anything from there, am tired of writing, or just don't have an opinion.  Oh wait, I always have an opinion, so that means I haven't purchased any items from there or think this review is way too long already.  But the question remains, why haven't I purchased an item from there???

8/30/2008

Holy S**t-balls everybody! I went to Ikea tonight and i somehow loved it!  
I remember when the first week it opened, the news was all over the place! Now I realize why, it so f***ing aaaaaaaaaaammmmazing!

The place looks like a super-center in Japan! The atmosphere is terrific...and the products are cool.....There are funky chairs, large armoise, and even little fixtures like light bulbs. Everything for the home, you can find it here...And the prices are cheap too...I over everything....I saw an awesome alarm clock that would've costed at least 30 bucks anywhere else...and i got it!!

And another good thing, you'll be there so long, that they have a cafe too! The cafe has some of the best food out of a restaurant around! My brother got a Swedish almond chocolate cake for only a 1.29!!and it was so sweet! And you can get a breakfast for only a dollar, and a whole great meal, for only 4 bucks!

The one drawback is that it is so hard to get out of there! I was sitting there like 'holy hell, move out of my f***ing way!!' it took like 10 minutes to just find the exit!!

I am now obsessed with this place!

7/2/2009 Updated review

Fun to shop here most of the time, but all it takes is a few rude employees to knock down a rating.

11/22/2011

Best store ever! Its like a candy store for adults! Love it there!

1/17/2010

Best cheap Swedish meatballs and gravy for less than a five-r

10/6/2008

If I ever get married, I'm registering here. If I ever move or need to redecorate, I'm going here. I love this store....I could live in each and every staged room that is set up. It's great for furniture, pillows, rugs, pictures, kitchen accessories, odds and ends and cheap hangers! It's so hard to find cheap hangers that are at least semi-decent!!!! So good. Heart, heart, heart IKEA.

6/9/2009

The big blue box! I LOVE IKEA! I really wish Colorado would get their act in order and build one. I thought this Ikea seemed a little bit smaller on the show-room spaces than others I have been to but maybe I am crazy. Three hours and 6 meatballs later, I bought some of those cool hanging flower-inspired lights and my sister bought some shelves, my boyfriend bought some misc items, we were certainly happy ikea shoppers.

3/6/2006

I second what those say below and to that I will add a piece of advice.  GET THERE EARLY.  Otherwise, think Walmart on Black Friday in November.

1/15/2012

Probably not contributing much by reviewing this IKEA but here goes. If you've seen one IKEA, you've pretty much seen them all. Its a pleasant yet disconcerting experience to visit a friend's place and say "is that from IKEA?" - the attractively modern yet completely generic offerings and store design of this Scandivanian company are its great advantage and disadvantage. No, after having been to this popular home furnishing store a dozen or so times in the past three years, its innumerable winding pathways leading past countless pieces of contemporary home decor and thoughtfully laid out room models has somewhat lost its charm. Having said that, you can bet your Ascot I'm going to continue to go here because inexpensive, fairly well-constructed, tastefully designed home furnishing is just that and a lot of a good thing is usually not a bad idea, just ask Apple and Uniqlo.

9/1/2006

I heart Ikea. It is huge and full of fun furniture and housewares for your apartment. I could spend hours in this place, however I was pressed for time on this one occasion and had to choose fast which is very difficult when there were so many options and at fantastic prices. Keep in mind, if your weak like me, you need to bring someone strong. This is a do-it-yourself kind of place, you need to find the things you want in the warehouse but it is Great!!

9/6/2012

Love this store! However, it is always under-stalked around the beginning of the school year, make sure to call ahead and ask if they have the items you want!

12/21/2009

When I first moved here, I brought very little with me and I needed a lot of basic things.   I decided to go to IKEA to get a few things to make my room look a little less plain.  I do like decorative stuff they sell, especially the posters.  The stuff IKEA sells is a good deal if you don't pay for shipping.   I only ended up using about half of the things I bought at IKEA, because some of it broke quickly or was impractically designed.

12/14/2006

Gotta Love Ikea!!

5/25/2007

I've got love for Ikea and it's cheapness..  I am saving for a house and Ikea has helped me out in helping my current place feel more like a home I want to be in rather than a ghetto fabulous college dorm filled with 2nd and 3rd hand furniture.  I really like the lighting, kitchen & bedding departments - they have really cute stuff at amazing (lower than Wal-Mart) prices!  I guess I am lucky because generally I do like Ikea's flow and style..  I recommend going on a weeknight to avoid crowds and bad parking..  and I like getting a soft-serve on my way out!

8/29/2012 Updated review

ZERO STARS!  I returned to Ikea today to swap out the mispacked panel boxed with my desk which took about an hour.  The woman actually suggested I go shop around while they pulled it in stock because it will take a while.  I informed here I was on my lunch break and was not here to shop but it still took over 25 minutes to find a box.  I hoped going during a less busy time would prove beneficial but it did not.

Now let's add some salt to the wound... I resume assembling later today and find 2 of the peg holes are not drilled deep enough.  The desk sides are stuck and I need to disassemble my coping saw to use the small blade to cut the stuck pegs in half.  Now I need to drill them out and extend the peg holes.  Hopefully the parts bag came with a few extras.  

Bottom line:  If I could afford to throw away $300 this would be out with the garbage on Friday.  This company has a terrible quality assurance problem and purchasing their furniture is not worth the hassle.

10/22/2007

I was there this weekend because during a move I lost some hardware to put my furniture back together.  If you go to the Customer Service counter and you know the model of the furniture you have they can get the hardware piece for you.  In fact they gave me twice as many as I needed and didn't charge me.  Thanks

12/28/2006

I love Ikea! It's perfect for broke ass college students like me. I used to go to Jordan's Furniture and visit the furniture I couldn't ever afford to buy, but now I can just go to Ikea & buy stuff. I bought 2 dressers, a bookshelf, a wine rack, a lazy susan, a wok, and some very funky silicon ice trays (they look like puzzle pieces & stars). I've really enjoyed all the stuff I bought there. The dressers are really sturdy and nice looking (they're from the Malm collection). My bf put them together for me and he said it was pretty easy. The store was a little over crowded, but we survived. Plus I got an Ikea credit card & no one ever wants to give me a credit card. I just got an Ikea gift card for Xmas so I'll be going back there soon.

1/16/2007

i have reoccuring dreams about ikea.
i think thats a good thing.

most of my apartment is furnished with ikea stuff. i love the modern look of the merch.
i wish they would get an Ikea in somerville but those cheap redneck locals are making it rather difficult.

definalty check out this store if you want to have an apartment with style. Although thier prices reflect thier quality some times, dont let that get in the way; and you definatly need to hit up the meatballs or cinibuns befor or after shopping too.

plan a good 3 hours for these stores!

5/16/2012

Cheap furniture but thats a double edged sword, why does it cost so cheap?  Because its made cheap.  However they do have unparalleled design features both in their products and their showroom.  Very convenient facility, massive, with affordable food thats not bad.  The ikea products themselves are very chic but lack durability to be honest and are made for minimalist spacing.  Gives a contemporary look but lacks that homey vibe at times.  My only complaints are a lack of wifi and the parking garage.

1/14/2008

Okay place.  Didn't try the meatballs, but the cinnamon buns are nice.  I love the feel.  Everything is very small, I doubt they have king size, but it is made with remarkable craftsmenship.  I bought a chair, a laptop stand, and some dudads.  The staff is amazingly friendly.

9/30/2009

I was very disappointed with the quality of a particular piece of furniture I purchased (Asplund bed frame) and had delivered. After taking all that time to assemble the bed and matching dresser, etc, the bed frame broke. It was poor quality and the customer service afterward was terrible. I got the run-around through 5 different people and was told because I didn't have my receipt that they couldn't do anything. I am out a bed and a couple hundred bucks. Shotty quality. Shotty return policy. Not happy.

9/7/2011

Do yourself a big favor: go to the Jordans next door and skip this Kafka-esque nightmare.  Ikea is big, crowded, confusing, time-wasting, and often ultimately pointless.  So ask yourself what your time is worth before you sacrifice it on the altar of a few dollars saved.  The fact is there are plenty of other stores with good furniture that won't bankrupt you and they will treat you a lot better while you buy it.  

For those who've never suffered the Ikea experience, a brief description.  You are led on an Oz-like path through a maze of show rooms dedicated to various areas of a house (maps are provided) and if you see something you like you have to write down where to find it in their warehouse located on the ground floor when you leave.  You need to know that because you, dear shopper, and nobody else will be going to the appropriate isle and pulling the impossibly heavy boxed version of that dresser, bed, or whatever, onto a cart.  Nobody will help. No, not even if it is really, really, REALLY heavy.  Worse, you will be told your item needs various components found all over the warehouse and after you pull one from here and another from over there, you may very well get to the last crucial component to find it sold out.  They won't order it for you, or ship it to you, or do anything else for you except confirm they don't have anymore and tell you to come back in a week to see if it is in.  But assuming what you want is there and you heave all of it onto one or two carts, you then have to somehow maneuver them over to a check out line as if you're buying groceries.  Nobody will help you do that either and other shoppers will be annoyed if you bump them or get in the way while trying.  The check-out person will charge you money and nothing else.  No help, no bags, nothing.  If you then want to have the stuff shipped to your home you have to drag it over to the shipping area and wait in a long line to request, and pay, for that service.  Not that they will assemble the crap for you when they bring it -- oh no.  They are happy, though, to refer you to some independent contractor (i.e. stranger they are in no way responsible for) to come into your home and do it for you -- for a price.

Yes the cinnamon buns they sell by the exit smell good and I hear good things about the meatballs, but you can buy those without actually buying furniture there.  And then you can go next door to Jordans, or someplace else entirely (like home to your internet connection) to order something hassle free that is just as good and not THAT much more expensive.  

Value yourself.  Value your time.  Do not shop at Ikea.