IKEA - Why They're So Successful

Day 43: I’m still trapped in ikea. I found another restaurant. I think it’s the same one from day 26! Which means I’m closer to the front, I might get out. I asked a guy in the restaurant if he could point me to the exit. He got up, put his hands on my shoulder and said “I’ve been here for a year, there’s know what out” I got spooked. I fell asleep on a blue bed with a bird blanket. I’ll keep it marked down. I’m running out of pages, I don’t know how long I’ll be in here.

True key to IKEA success: 1)Lock you in a Maze for 3 hrs 2)Sell your starving family Hot Dogs & soda afterwards

I actually work at an IKEA. It's hands down the most positive and constructive work environment I've ever been a part of.

Mom: Hey son you want to go to Disney Land? Me: Nah let"s go to Ikea.

Failed to talk about how it's completely vertically integrated! They grow the trees, cut them down, design and make the furniture, and sell it to you. There's no middle men taking profit away, that's why they can charge cheap prices and still make so much money

I think one of the reasons IKEA is so successful is that when you go there, you get ideas. The mini apartments and kitchen set-ups show how it will look in real world applications. Even if you don't need a couch, the idea gets planted: You go home and you think, "that couch would really work here." So you go back and get that couch. As you're wandering about after writing down the couch's bin number, you see a table... They have so much, I know I'm going find something, even if it's just tea lights or napkins. Also, IKEA is pretty cheap. You can furnish a living room (with accent pieces) for about $1500, which is perfect for students and people just starting out. There is also the "divorced dad walk": generally guys that are getting a divorce so they have to set up a whole place on their own... cheap. They wander about with glassy eyes picking out whole rooms, even down to the vase on display. I've had more than one conversation with guys like that. They're usually coming from a home that's been decorated and designed, going to an unfurnished apartment with nothing. I was almost hugged by a guy when I told him that they have whole sets of dishes and flatware downstairs cheap! If there is an issue with IKEA is that the furniture doesn't move well. It works and looks great in your apartment, but when you move to another apartment or home...? Suddenly, it's a little wobbly after the move. I have a really great bookshelf that required a lot of structural support after the move to my house. It will not be making another move (it's currently anchored to the wall in several key areas). Same with the couch. I consider a lot of their pieces as place holders until I can get something more lasting.

Fun Facts: IKEA actually introduced restaurants because Ingvar Kamprad noticed that sales dropped during lunch hours. Also, most items names have Scandinavian places names as opposed to just Swedish names. I'm surprised you didn't mention that IKEA isn't publicly traded and is committed to its founder's values or that IKEA has a rather interesting structure when looking at its parent companies.

Fun Fact: IKEA's meatballs are made out of people who couldn't find the exit!

One added thing. Customer service. I have easily spent over 10-20kEUR at IKEA during the past 20 years or so. Some times things have broken, sometimes because I did something wrong, sometimes because there might have been something wrong with the product. You go to the store with the defective item, I often don't even have a receipt, and they replace it. I once broke a glass lamp on the way home. I went back the next day, and they just replaced it. Broken top of a small cupboard, two years later, no receipt. They just replaced it, no cost to me. Sometimes I needed something I had lost, they pointed me to a wall of spare screws, and asked me to donate to a charity as ways of payment (optional). This is the thing with IKEA, they seem to value you as a long term customer, and they don't mind short term loss. I went there with 5 broken LED lamps that broke in a power outage. They took them and gave me a gift card with equivalent money on it. I have more stories like this. It's just a no-nonsense customer care place, and when you buy things there you know they'll be decent to you (at least that's my experience).

Bruh, going to IKEA is the Disney Land of furniture. I swear, the first time I went, I’ve never felt so amazed by every floor in the store. Not to mention the restaurant with exquisite foods.

Reminds me of some of the banned commercials I've seen. One was for Ikea and it was obviously European as it featured a standing wardrobe. not a dresser or closet. Anyway. Guy comes home from work, apparently early. Finds his wife in bed dressed in nothing but lingerie. He's surprised but she pushes him onto the bed and starts to get frisky with him. That was until someone sneezed in the wardrobe and the wardrobe doors fell off revealing she was having an affair and the guy she was sleeping with was hiding in the wardrobe as her husband got home early. Then the commercial mentions that wouldn't have happened with Ikea who has better quality. :D

One main reason I enjoy ikea is also their “As Is” section, where they sell all of the pieces that were used as displays throughout the store for clearance prices. It’s a great way to get markdowns on some of their pricier items! Great video 👍

Ikea: JUST DO IT...yourself.

A video about the decline of GameStop would be cool to see. They have been having trouble as of recent.

ikea appeals to so many people because of the Scandinavian interior design, which is practical, sinple, not expensive and have an excellent sense of styling.

My son was in love (no quotes) with a Swedish girl in our town for 2 years (they were 11-12ish), He was too shy/anxious to declare how he felt, She seemed to 'like' him too., The only thing I could give him was the 45 minute drive to IKEA, at least 3 plates of meatballs (Swedish Flag toothpick included), Just being there made him happy. Of course, he found out that she actually did like him, but by then, she had returned to Sweden with her Family. IKEA played a big part in helping him deal, I am grateful,

I have worked at IKEA, Älmhult where it all started. In the early days, Ingvar Kamprad would come once a year and shake hand with every employee and thank them for their effort. IKEAs success is primarily because they could offer cheaper furniture than others since you had to assemble it yourself they could keep prices very low. Also, Ingvar was a big employeer in Sweden and people liked him cause of his modesty (modesty is a big thing in Småland), and that he offered them good jobs (they used to be great, now... Not as good). Nice video! Thanks for bringing up the company of my small hometown :)

IKEA as I kid I remembered being excited to go to ikea mainly do to the fun ballpit slides they had which I think is a pretty genius marketing strategy where you have kids actively wanting to go to a furniture shopping store.

Ikea is just nostalgic. Whenever I go there, I just get these surges of memories coming at me all at once. I'd argue it's a better experience than Disney Land.

"They NEVER HAVE TO LEAVE". Love IKEA forever. Live in IKEA forever. Die in IKEA forever.