Ikea Experience!

For years friends have raved about the great, Swedish Ikea (home furnishings mega store), but I had never been inside an Ikea until last Saturday, when Sandy and I planned a date to Conshohoken, PA outside of Philadelphia. Sandy wanted to introduce me to Ikea, and we both wanted to stop by a Trader Joe's as well. What a fun day!

I have now experienced Ikea.

If I were still in business and management classes at SVSU, I could probably get some extra credit for writing some sort of analysis on Ikea's business style. There are many clever parts of the Ikea experience, but I think the most brilliant business strategy is their in-store cafeteria conveniently located in the center of each massive store, between hundreds of square feet of showrooms and an extensive marketplace and warehouse.

Ikea is not one of those "bop in and bop out" stores. Rather it's one of those "meander through this way and that" (for a few hours!) stores.

Meandering shoppers get hungry... And hungry shoppers get grumpy... And grumpy shoppers do not have a positive shopping experience. :(

Enter: Ikea's cafeteria-- where normal-sized portions of food are served on normal-sized plates for $5 to $7. (Of course the Swedish meatball meal is a popular choice.)

Ikea's in-store cafeterias are a fabulous business move!

99 cent mug I bought at Ikea

Sandy and I wandered the showrooms oohing and ahhing at so many fun and wonderful products and inventions. By the time we rolled our cart out of the bedroom furnishings area and started whiffing Swedish meatballs at the cafeteria, we were ready for lunch and a nice place to sit down and relax.

After we finished our meals, we browsed the Marketplace and made our final product selections.

I left the store quite pleased with my bag of household purchases.