Wednesday, April 21

IKEA: BIG BOX BUT DIFFERENT



From the Wall Street Journal: IKEA does for the home what Julia Child did for the kitchen--and what Martha Stewart, later, did for home crafts. It's possible to walk into an IKEA store thinking that interior decoration is little more than cinder blocks and orange crates and leave with a bedroom, living room or kitchen worthy of the toniest shelter magazine. Goodbye college dorm, hello Museum of Modern Art--an instant upgrade.

In part, IKEA does this by marrying two seemingly irreconcilable worlds: economy and high design. The consumer no longer has to choose between the unattractive and cheap, on the one hand, and the good-looking and dear.


I'm not so sure about the "high design" part. I enjoy IKEA because it is just plain different -- funky with a twist. Oh yes, and I love the "manager's special" in the cafeteria -- Swedish meatballs, red potatoes, soup, and I get the lingonberry drink out of the fountain.

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