I have always stated that shopping at the weekend is a blood sport. Add a bank holiday to the equation and it gets worse Supermarkets are full of people fighting over that last loaf of bread as if their lives depended on it. There is however, one thing much worse than supermarket shopping on a weekend and that is the dreaded trip to Ikea
I hate the fact that if you just “pop in” to buy a picture frame the trip can take over an hour and you normally come out with more than you need. The Ikea conspiracy forces you to walk through every department before you find the picture frames. Other shops have the bizarre concept of being able to get to things you need by using aisles so that you can just walk along to the desired dept but Ikea decided to abandon that plan and it resulted in them having to introduce a map. Ikea is generally full of men wandering around like lost souls trying to find a loved one that wandered off while you were distracted by a kid with a toy shark or people stood looking at the map trying to work out some kind of short cut.
The fun does not end there though, Ikea have also abandoned the concept of having piles of the flat pack furniture near the display of the furniture you want. Instead you have to search for what you want twice. Once to see what you want and to actually choose the item (You then need to make a note of its name and the secret code that leads you to a storage location) and a second time (After you have been past all of the departments you don't need) to search the endless rows of boxes that all look the same until you reach the unique section and debate whether this box is actually big enough to house the furniture you are buying or if the wrong stuff has been put there...!
This is all before you get the item home and realise that it is either damaged or there are bits missing...
I used to get lured to Ikea with the promise of the meatballs in the restaurant but after recent revelations even this seems unappealing.
I'm a big fan on th'Ikea in Warrington. Furniture for the modern family that allows quick building and further developments (such as shelves) fit naturally into the already purchased
ReplyDeleteAdmittedly, the aimless wondering through sections of office furniture and children's bedrooms seem pointless, but it does give you ideas of things that you shouldn't do.
I would rather walk around th'Ikea aimlessly than spend hours walking round a shopping centre like the Trafford Centre. All those aisles that you talk of filled with designer gear and over priced tat.
How many times have you been out shopping with a loved one spending hours to eventually purchase the item that you saw hours ago, but still need the accessories to go with it? This is the same as your elusive "Picture Frame" concept but instead of Swedish Horse Meatballs you get a luke warm Greg's Pasty!