Ikea: The grand tour

Swedish home-furnishings maker Ikea opened its 330th store – and first in Thailand – last Thursday, covering 43,000 flood-free square metres at the Mega Bangna mall. It’s the biggest Ikea in Southeast Asia.

There are more than 7,500 items on offer for the living room, kitchen, dining room and bedroom and a stack of toys too – making it a great place for family shopping. Everything is Ikea style, of course, which means functional, affordable, flat-packed and easily assembled.

“Thais are interested in home furniture design, but most of all they love children – the core of home life,” says marketing manager Lacia Sherlock Olofsson. “This totally matches our philosophy of making everyday life better for people.”

Shopping at Ikea is one-way traffic. You proceed first through the furniture section to get inspired. You can try everything out and make sure it’s comfortable and durable. Tape measures, pencils and shopping lists are handy when you need them.

Jot down the information from the price tag: product name, number, price and pick-up locations. Red-tagged items are picked up later in the market hall or the self-serve area downstairs. Yellow tags are in the full-service section for the big, heavy items that require staff assistance.

The open-shelf market hall downstairs stocks more than 3,000 smaller items like kitchen utensils, lamps, picture frames and clocks. The 7,000-square-metre self-serve warehouse is where you collect the flat-packed stuff you’ve ordered earlier from the price tags.

And then you’re off to see the cashier and collect all the gear on your wish list. It’s exactly where they said it would be. Some of the items come in two or more packages, so make sure you have the complete set.

“The majority of furniture items are flat-packed in easy-to-transport packages to facilitate easy self-delivery and self-assembly at home,” says sales manager Arnon Siriphap, “and assembling the items at home can really be a family affair.

“The low cost is the first key factor in our design. The design team will get a brief to design a chair with a retail price of Bt400 and they have to fit their design to that.”

It’s wise to prepare before shopping by browsing through the Ikea catalogue. You get an idea of what you’ll find in the store. Make a list of everything you need for your home and measure the space to make sure the new furnishings fit.

At the store, parents can drop off children in a play area called Smaland. There’s a 700-seat restaurant serving traditional Swedish food, including gravad lax and meatballs in cream sauce and lingonberry jam with French fries or a potato.

Ikea Thailand is donating Bt20 million and useful items to flood victims through its local partners the Mae Fah Luang Foundation under royal patronage and WWF Thailand.

Get Packing
<< Ikea is at the Mega Bangna shopping complex at Bangna-Trat Road Kilometre 8.
<< The store is open daily from 10 to 10. The restaurant is open from 9.30 to 9.30.
<< Call (02) 708 7999.
<< The catalogue can be downloaded at www.Ikea.co.th.