The Unofficial IKEA Web Journal

There’s a tax-free sale going on at IKEA College Park March 7-8!  That’s the same as saving 6%!  Use your debit card when purchasing to receive a coupon back for 3% and you’ve saved nearly 10% off your purchase! (Hint on same day savings below!)

Unfortunately, at the time of this writing, the link to see more info was broken (can’t link to local files, guys) , and uh….looks like someone forgot to close a (deprecated) <font color= #######> tag.  Oops!  That’s ok, though – we still love you IKEA College Park!

Here’s a tip: Use your debit card to pay for your largest items, and get your 3% coupon on the bottom of your receipt.  Check out again and use the coupon for same day savings!

W00t! Gotta love a good sale!  Thanks goes out to Chris for submitting this link through our submissions link above. Great find, Chris!

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It’s on all our minds, right? Saving money? Times are tight, and we’re all looking for ways to pinch a penny. Here are some great articles on saving money with IKEA:

From IKEAFANS.com:
Why Choosing IKEA is Smart - “Walking into an IKEA is like walking into a whole new world – it’s a wildly different experience, and it pays to know ahead of time why you should choose IKEA. Forget everything you think you know and read on to find out the top reasons choosing IKEA is the smartest move you’ll make….”

10 Keys to IKEA’s Low Prices “Just how does IKEA manage to offer such consistently low prices? Many people think that it’s because the furniture is made cheaply, which isn’t exactly true. Read on to find out about some of IKEA’s less obvious cost-saving strategies…”

By Kelly Whitaker @IKEAFANS.com:
DIY IKEA – How to MAKE Money in a Soft Housing Market “I spend a lot of time thinking about my finances- it’s true. Regardless if you do or not, I’d like to share my thoughts about why the current housing market makes an IKEA kitchen a better move than ever before. Everyone contemplating a remodel is or should be familiar with the resale value of typical home renovations…”

From Becky at Eco-Modernism:
Advantage: IKEA Kitchen over Custom It gets pummeled into our brains daily now: HOUSING MARKET IN THE CRAPPER! Yes. Yes it is. I just updated the budget calculation page & thought it worth a post, especially highlighting Kelly’s excellent summary on the IKEAFANS site….

So, there you go. Some good reading for you, less writing for me! Thanks for those most excellent articles, ladies!

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Apparently, this was a planned flashmob where Will Crum and croneys set up in IKEA Costa Mesa’s 175 square foot ‘home’ and played 3 or 4 songs before security pulled the plug. Anyone there?

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The line of non-campers at 6 am

A Beautiful Site

More pics to come later!

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Ms. Eva reporting in from the safe and warm comforts of home.

The grand opening of Ikeas 36th store in the US went without a glitch (well sorta . . . if you count the horrific weather prompting Mr. Castanon to open the store 15 minutes early or the fact that they had to call a Mulligan on the log sawing).

The lines were long but it was a very positive atmosphere despite the cold rain.  I was roughly the 140th (give or take a few) person in line & from my viewpoint the Ikea staff worked really hard to keep everyone as comfortable and as welcome as they could – nothing but bright shining faces against the harsh elements.  They passed out doughnuts, apple juice (there was a rumor of coffee but I saw none), keychains, beach balls, little squishy chairs and frisbees.  Yes I scored them all.  They also gave out yellow rain ponchos . . . those were a godsend!

The Charlotte Children’s Choir sounded amazing, I actually got a little choked up hearing them sing our National Anthem and America the Beautiful.  Kudos to them and their director.  My favorite moment during the ceremony itself was when the Mayor of Charlotte told the folks that had been waiting in line since Monday that they were “crazy.”

Yes, we were all were crazy . . . it was freezing!  Snow would have been more comfortable to stand in, you can at least brush snow off.  The rain permeated through our already cold bodies.  But like I said, it was a dedicated group of shoppers.  A handful of folks bailed out when they realized that they were not going to get the free Poang chair (apparently they didn’t do their homework).  But for the most part I can safely say the staff of Ikea did their best given the circumstances.

Pictures to come later . . . as soon as I recharge my phone & defrost my feet!

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Ms. Eva reporting in!

I’ll make this brief since it’s very hard to type with gloves on and my laptop battery can only last for so long.

I made my arrival at 3:30 this morning & my current position is on the far corner of the building.

Basically folks  . . . it’s C-O-L-D outside!  Lugging my stuff to the coveted “end of the line” I developed a major asthma attack and the INCREDIBLY AWESOME COUPLE next to me in line found me an outlet for my nebulizer and looked after me until I was feeling better.

Just as I was feeling human again . . . it started to rain!

I’m in my pop-up tent waiting it out.

That’s about it for now.

The place looks like a Swedish refugee camp . . . folks huddled in sleeping bags . . . little tent cities.

It makes me realize what little survival skills I do have.

I may never do this again . . . unless it’s summer . . . and they’re opening in Myrtle Beach . . .

THEN I would consider it!

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CHARLOTTE, N.C.—There was a tiny note at the bottom of IKEA’s advertisement in the Sunday paper that said, “Line up begins no earlier than February 16, 2009.”  Who would have thought anyone would line up two days in advance of the store’s February 18 opening?

“I’m just here for the fun of it. I’m just here to have some fun…say ‘I did it.’ I like IKEA, been to a few stores, and I just said, ‘You know what? Why not?” Mark Whitten said.

He took two days off work from his job at the post office and arrived at 6 a.m. Monday. “Kind of early…just a wee bit,” he joked.

With him, Whitten had a tent, an air mattress, several layers of blankets, an iPod with speakers, a laptop and an internet connection.

One tent down, Yatzzili Arrayo had similar reinforcements. Rafael Smith, third in line, said his friends were bringing a Wii and a television. Fourth in line, Ruben Ortega didn’t have a tent.

“I guess I got caught up in the fanfare a little bit. I told my wife I was going to drive there and see if there is anybody there,” he said. “I got here right when they were running and putting their tents up. I thought…. guess I’ve gotta sit, and once I sat down it was like ah, well, can’t leave now.”

“It’s humbling and flattering that no matter where we go we have customers who are excited to open the stores,” IKEA’s Joseph Roth said. “We could have several hundred or several thousand people in line.”

The store is the first IKEA in the Carolinas. It opens Wednesday at 9 a.m.

IKEA’s ad says the first 100 kids in line will get a free toy. The first 100 adults will get an armchair valued at $199. The first 2,500 adults will receive a mystery gift and 10 people will win $1,000 gift cards.

[By Beth Shayne, Via WCNC.com]

Thanks to IKEA_Devotee for tweeting about it! Follow IKEA_Devotee for up to the minute reports on IKEA Charlotte Opening!

If you’re there and you’d like to guest blog about it to pass the time, contact us!  We’d love some pictures, too!

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I could not believe my good fortune when I was able to snag an invite to the Press Preview of the new IKEA store in Charlotte North Carolina. On Wednesday, February 11th, exactly one week before the official opening, I joined dozens of others for lunch and a tour.

I was told that we’d have some treats to sample, but I was pleasantly surprised at the expansive selection of food they had for us: salmon, caviar, herring, cheeses, fruit, pastries, ham, potatoes, fruit, and a nice array of desserts. I even had my first lingonberry juice – it was great!

We were divided into groups: I was in BUMERANG (as in the wooden hangers that IKEA later told us went down in price from $8.95/pack to now selling for $3.95/pack!)

As we toured the model rooms, I recognized most of the items from visiting other stores, the website, or the catalog. Nothing really jumped out at me as particularly unique, however I noticed that for others who were less familiar with IKEA, they “oohed” and “ahhed” at every turn.

The kitchen department at IKEA is my favorite. When we moved into our house five years ago, I knew we were going to have to redo the kitchen. It is “vintage” 1960s — and not in a good way. I have been living with an ugly, dysfunctional kitchen in the hopes that eventually we will be able to gut the whole thing and remodel it with all IKEA stuff. I just can’t imagine having any other kitchen! So I’ll keep putting up with the one I have until I can get the one I want. Pictured here is one of the kitchens at the IKEA Charlotte store that I really liked.

As I went through the tour I was trying to make mental notes of what I want to be sure to get when I come back on Opening Day. I have been writing and rewriting my shopping list for weeks. Of course, I have to remind myself that unlike before when I had to travel 4-6 hours to IKEA and load up on everything I could fit into the van, now I will have an IKEA only 35 minutes away. My new problem will be wanting to go every day! This is really an unfortunate time for me to be living on a smaller budget. But that’s what makes IKEA so awesome — you can get a lot of gorgeous and fun items for your home, and not ruin your budget.

Here is one of their showrooms that really inspired me. I have always loved that green color, and recently am using a lot of browns in my decorating. I also like how the IKEA designers work within color schemes so we can mix and match our purchases to create a personal, but pulled-together look.

As we headed down to the marketplace, I was reminded how much more there was to see! I always love walking through the lighting department. I think we have an IKEA light fixture in every room of our home.

After the tour, we were given a pack of fresh cinnamon rolls, a set of VARMELJUSHALLARE candles, a media kit on a flash drive, and several fliers to share with friends. And it all came in an IKEA small blue bag.

Overall, I was impressed, but not surprised, with the great job that the Charlotte store did. They extended a warm welcome to the press and showed us exactly why the IKEA concept is so inspiring.

Becky Knight

Fan page on Facebook: Queen City IKEA

Follow me on Twitter: @IKEA_Devotee

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If you’re on Facebook, check out the Queen City IKEA Facebook page, and then join them for coffee at 10:30 on Opening Day! That would be February 18th, at the new IKEA Charlotte! If you’re in the door, that is. o.O. Jealous.

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Click to go to wsoctv.com to watch video

On Monday, IKEA Charlotte held yet another ceremony leading to the Grand Opening of IKEA Charlotte, the first IKEA in the Carolinas.  This ceremony was to open the temporary entrance to IKEA which would allow drivers to turn right from University City Boulevard to North Tyron Street. An actual intersection will be built in the future during phase two of the traffic reengineering.

Unfortunately, noone told the tractor trailer driver that the road wasn’t open quite yet before he smashed through the ribbon.  Noone was hurt.

I wonder…did they actually CUT the ribbon after that? Or did they pack up their scissors and go home?

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