Why Canadians Shop at Ikea

Richie Mogwai September 28, 2009

Sometimes, you have to eat breakfast at a furniture store in order to discover it. This is the usual experience for self-confessed, original non-believers of the Ikea philosophy on Canadian soil. Ikea, of course, is that dependable Swedish furniture monolith, the CEO of which once competed with Microsoft's Bill Gates for the richest man in the world title.

Ikea was not welcome in Japan (until its comeback in 2006), but here in Canada, it’s embraced with open arms, healthy breakfast included. There’s nothing like having a full meal before tackling the furniture giant’s dizzying collection of innovative pieces, which can prove much too overwhelming for an empty stomach.

However, many items which were in the Ikea catalog last year, are also in the catalog this year. So much for the dependability of certain pieces, like the plastic glass dining table and chair. What a a lethal combination for today’s spanking new condo, where space must be conserved at all cost. Having glass furniture in this scenario does make the room seem bigger, especially if the entire façade of a condo building is wrapped in glass.

Space-saving futons are also over the Ikea showcase, having so many incarnations. There’s a lamb or wool-soft piece in jean’s clothing, so hip and too easy to move around the house, after all, it’s on wheels. A futon for two, a futon for one. Of course, you can always combine two single futons to make two. Just be careful with the wheels or you two can end up in two different corners of the living room simultaneously.

And there’s this cozy wooden dining table with four chairs that fit under the former’s four corners, Rubik’s Cube style. Obviously, Ikea’s stable of furniture designers are having fun, after all, they are paid well, or so we hear.

Yet, there are those Ikea designs that just take getting used to, like the palo china dining table on the side, which can pass for a clothes-folding station in the local coin laundry. Oh well, even the Eiffel Tower was considered an abomination in Paris when it was inaugurated!

Of course, those lampshades in half-sphere or full-sphere designs are here to stay in Ikea mainstream, even if they can be a fire hazard in your condo, being made from ornamental Japanese paper. Still, for other designs, you can just give it to Ikea for just coming up with them! Like the shoe racks that fold down and out of sight in your closet.

Be warned though, not all pieces sold here are easy to assemble at home. While it looks so easy from the manual, it’s another store when it’s time to do it yourself. One Ikea futon manual brags that it can be assembled comfortably by two people. As it turns out, three people is more like it, in fact, a degree in mechanical engineering just might come in handy.

A PhD may not be needed, but you might still end up placing an ad or two at Craigslist to look for a handyman who can help you with assembling your latest Ikea acquisition.

The verdict is clear: The Ikea dollar shopping bag (blue and yellow) make a better alternative to the garbage bag you like to bring to your next coin laundry trip. For one, it will never rip. Nowhere is there a display booth in the Ikea store to showcase the tensile strength test for this indispensable bag, but it will do.

And you know what keeps changing here at Ikea, which is delightful, at that? You might have guessed it right, it’s the one dollar items you’ll find on your way down to the warehouse level. Think flexible, plastic ice cubes, fly swatters, laundry line clips; what will Ikea think of next? Nobody knows for sure, that’s why you need to keep shopping here. Nice try, Ikea! And you thought a dollar store was the only source for these items, huh?