SALE! (?)

You might have seen the ads on tv. Currently the Summer Sale is going on at IKEA, but I can’t determine if West Chester is doing the sale or not (lazy me hasn’t driven by in a couple days), so call first if you are traveling. I’m hoping one of my IKEA West Chester coworker readers will chime in to tell me for sure. You all know the secret handshake.

The Summer Sale is one of the few yearly sales they have. I don’t think it’s quite the blowout that the Winter Sale is but you still can get some major deals with “select products” up to 60% off. That is nothing to sneeze at!

Since the new catalogs come out soon, often they use these two sales to clear out that will be discontinued in the next catalog. If you see something you want that is marked down, get it. No really. Not kidding.

How to tell a price sign from a sale sign (know if it is marked down to disappear forever):
They usually are two kinds of signs, a white sign with yellow squares and black prices, and all yellow signs with red prices. These yellow ones are tell you that this is a markdown to move out, most likely forever. Yellow + red = green.

If you think in the future you will want three of that unbelievably marked down bookcase, get them now if you can. Seriously, they will likely not be there again and you will live in a constant state of remorse.

They do this again in starting the day after Xmas for about two weeks, and that was when I made my yearly pilgrimage to Detroit or Shaumberg. Deals, deals, deals! The winter one is not a sale to miss over your holiday break. Stuff moves fast, and if you snooze, even a week, you lose. So start charting your invasion now.

New 2009 catalogs should be arriving in the Cincinnati/Dayton area mailboxes or newspapers by August. Usually. Maybe.

For the record…

IKEA’s new Appleflarn crisp cookies are.. INCREDIBLE

I didn’t think anything could beat the regular plain havreflarn cookies (the chocolate ones are just decadent) but, damn. The apple ones we bought yesterday are liable to be converted into breakfast cereal to speed thier demise. Hope they stick around a while

I got one of the new little mini hand truck carts at IKEA. They are new since the opening, and I think this brings the style of shopping vehicles in the store to four. (But never the one you want when you want it)

Just as the bags, there are yellow versions in the store and blue ones you can buy and take home. Just the right size for household junk too. They are $19.99 to buy, but I think they’ll get cheaper with time like most other things at IKEA.

Currently at West Chester there is a extremely nice selection succulents and cacti in the Greenroom area next to the entrance to the warehouse. My mom took 20 minutes to pick one out, there were so many varieties and just amazingly healthy (I mean NICE) and cheaply priced she had a hard time choosing. If I had a place for plants I would have had a cart full. They are a deal and a half!

Cleveland IKEA mention on 30 Rock

Beccabee tipped me off in the last post’s comments (I hadn’t caught it on my TiVo yet as I was out watching Iron Man) that last night the eternally fictional IKEA in Cleveland was mentioned several times. Very funny with

You can watch the ep on hulu.com or below:

It starts about 8:00 minutes in and Liz is talking to an old flame, Floyd, who says he regrets moving to Cleveland sometimes.
She answers, “Well, what does NY have that Cleveland doesn’t? I read you guys are getting an IKEA!”
Floyd responds “Yeah, I’ll believe that when see it. We’ve been burned before.”

Then later, about 14:45, they are fighting and “I’ll move to Cleveland when you get that IKEA! Never!”
He rages “Don’t you deprive the good people of Cleveland an IKEA! You are vindictive Liz Lemon!”

Too funny! At least they got their facts right…

Welcome to the New Digs!

The design might change before too long, but I’ve move OHIKEA finally over to FlatPackOhio.com! OHIKEA.com now points here as well, so you don’t have to remember anything!

I will be opening forums and some other fun stuff, like many requested, soon for your socializing, trading, decorating, buying and tip giving fun. Be sure to join the flickr group and add your pics!

If you have subbed to the blog via email, come take a look. And don’t worry, your subscription has been switched to the new address, so you don’t have to do anything at all, and won’t miss a thing!

Wow that’s a lot of meatballs…

Middletown Paper lists IKEA as a bargain dining spot. Also says that hey serve 1.5 tons of meatballs a week.

WOW.

Theft at IKEA WC

Teens arrested on suspicion of theft at IKEA

I have to say this isn't the first shoplifting I've seen at the new store. I wasn't going to blog this, but what the hell.

Within mere minutes after grand opening, the very first day, we saw shoplifting in the cafe during breakfast.

Two obviously very well off ladies in their 40's (I mean VERY well off) were stuffing the plastic kids cutlery from the cafeteria into their pants. Slyly they thought. First one was going over to grab them out of the holder, then her friend would, and they'd return to transfer them to their purses. But we saw them. Watched them do it more than once.

After we finished breakfast, one of the ladies was on her fourth trip to steal more and we couldn't take any more. We confronted the one at the table, asking how many more pieces of kids wear they were going to steal. She feigned ignorance of course. We told her they could buy an entire bag of them for $2 downstairs (actually less), she looked completely stunned to have been fingered. But not so much that she didn't look guilty as hell. We weren't very quiet about it, I'm sure the tables around us heard.

On the way out, just three tables away were were greeted by a manager keeping and eye on the crowd and we swiftly we pointed her out and reported what they'd done and pointed to them mere feet away. He said that people were often taking them thinking they were disposable, but never by the handful. He was amazed at the brazenness as we were.

I have no idea if they pursued it being opening day and all, though maybe they didn't need to that we'd cornered them and they were standing out, dunno. But I was personally ticked that we finally get a store and women who could easily afford anything in it would steal something so cheap in the first 10 minutes it was open. That's gall I tell ya.

IKEA Insider says:

Got a little letter about what's going on at the West Chester Store from a co-worker there – some funny stuff! 

They say:

• Two women have shopped until their water has broken so far.
• Still have a gazillion people taking floor samples down to the registers to buy not figuring out the whole self-serve warehouse thing.
• Many customers are giving up by the time they reach children's frantically asking "How to I get out of here" like they have been lost in a maze upstairs or held captive.
• A raccoon snuck before opening move in. Finally one day on a human resource tour she was caught sleeping soundly on a malm bed… and of course even she thought the beds were comfortable. Just as pleasant as can be but off to the woods she went.
• Lonnie the manager comes in early and offers monthly breakfast time with coworkers for them to chat it up as well a lunch time with him. "He is fantastic." (I concur, he's super nice! – Jen)
• They need lots of people still, so keep the applications coming. They especially need closers, so apply online. They suggest after doing that make a call to the department. Textiles and children's really could use help (textiles is the biggest in North America) and let them know you have applied online and hope to get a call.
• Sales are through the roof!!!

IKEA reciept happy fun time

I bought about a dozen of these for myself and my vet’s office. It’s a BÄSTIS wall hook for leashes – or whatever really. I love them, they are cute as hell.

Finally looked at the receipt today when I was folding up the bag – and broke up laughing.
It’s listed on the receipt as “B-STIS HOOK ASS“.

(I imagine Ä is a character the US registers don’t/won’t/can’t do thus it being edited to a – mark.)

Damn I love them swedes.

Jealousy thy name is Jen

Racked.com got inside the upcoming Red Hook/Brooklyn NY IKEA store which is still well under construction for a fall opening – how did they rate that when OHIKEA couldn’t?

Hrmph!

Virgins

I’m wanting to hear from folks who went to IKEA the first time, ever, in the last two weeks since the West Chester Store opening.

What did you think you’d find and what did you actually get? Did you try the food? What had you heard about the store before you went? And most importantly: what did you buy?

Tell us everything in the comments!