Assignment 5: Audra

Here we have IKEA. The exterior of this “big box” store is quite literally a big blue box! It’s no frills, like they’re saying, “We sell home furnishings and you’re gonna have to put it together yourself!” The subdued exterior suggests the level of service you will receive in the store. Not that they have bad service, but the whole point is you wander through an endless array of home furnishings, pull the boxes from the warehouse yourself (particleboard is heavy yall), load it up, and put it together at home. Simple. Just to save some money. And of course, have a bit of Swedish modern style in your Oakhurst bungalow.

So when you go in, I’m reminded of the first “Piggly Wiggly”. If Clarence Saunders was alive to see this he would squeal. IKEA takes his turnstile pre-planned experience to grocery stores to a whole other level. While there are some ways to divert from the “suggested” pathway, you’re pretty much stuck going through the entire store, both levels, before ever seeing daylight again. The little arrows on the floor keep you on the right path, the path to Swedish retail righteousness. The interior is spacious, yet comfortable…It’s like walking through cool people’s living rooms…living rooms you can have, it is all pre-planned for you. Oh, what’s that? You don’t have an enormous loft in a trendy neighborhood to fill with Blorgenfjorken chairs? No worries, here is EXACTLY what you can do in your 377 sq ft apartment. IKEA makes it easy. Puts it all out for you. Look how happy that couple is…

Liebs compared the supermarket to the strip. I would compare the self-service home furnishings store to a carnival ride…..or Disney World. The shopper is on a set path, being taken through different worlds, “Living Room Land”, “Impossibly Perfect Kitchen World”, and “Most Relaxing Bedroom Ever Land”. Each little room display is meticulously decorated. For example, you walk into the 377 sq ft apartment and if there was running water and a gas connection you could live in it. You open up the closets to find clothes, drawers to find utensils (which you can purchase of course), even the fridge is plugged in! Going to IKEA is like my Disney World, bringing about memories of a life I’ve never lived but have seen through magazines and tv shows about 20-somethings. It’s brilliant, this form of retail merchandising. Again, everything is done & imagined for you but at the same time, you're gonna end up cursing as you struggle to put together the $44 Skarsgaard bed.