IKEA to Open Its First U.S Manufacturing Facility

Swedwood, the industrial group within IKEA, announced on April 30 that its Danville, Va. manufacturing facility will open officially on May 21, 2008. - More here

While this may be the first official IKEA run factory, they have many US Manufacturers who make items for them already, I believe Sauder or Bush Furntiture does some work for them as well… for IEKA to build a factory in a recession, when their profits are down just shows thier dedication to the US market and their intent on it growing it. YAY!

IKEA inspired exhibit in Columbus

Artist Jason Salavon takes inspiration for show from furniture company Ikea

COLUMBUS, Ohio — As a consumer, Jason Salavon has had the experience of putting together the sleek, affordable furniture of popular retailer Ikea. As an artist, he decided he’d rather break the Scandinavian company down.

Salavon created a collection of works inspired by the global home furnishings chain, whose typically mammoth blue and gold stores offer everything from build-it-yourself sofas to plates of Swedish meatballs.

The influence isn’t always obvious. One of the centrepieces of Salavon’s exhibition at the Columbus Museum of Art is a soft-bound booklet with nothing more than blocks of colours arranged in different patterns on each of its 374 pages.

It’s the artist’s version of the Ikea store catalogue, after a computer reduced each page of “Ektorp” model couches, “Svind” entertainment centres and other products to arrays of average colours. Large prints of some of the individual pages hang on the walls of the gallery.

“I’m interested in taking the known and abstracting it into some sort of new space,” said Salavon, 37.

“Currents: Jason Salavon” runs through May 4 in Columbus. The exhibit is scheduled at the Inman Gallery in Houston from May 30 through July 5. Duplicates of some of the pieces were displayed this weekend at the Art Chicago 2008 contemporary art expo.

More info: Columbus Museum of Art Exhibits Webpage

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!!!

Bye bye bags…

Charging for plastic bags has been a success in cutting waste! The Results are in…Over 92% of IKEA Customers Bagged the Plastic Bag!

IKEA will stop offering plastic “one use” bags in the coming year. Only the reusable “Big Blue Bags” will be offered as of October 2008.

Now, I think IKEA needs to come up with a portable design solution to help you store all your Big Blue Bags in style!

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!