The Unofficial IKEA Web Journal

TheIKEAWorld.com has just launched, and they’re looking for IKEA co-workers to guest blog!  Do you have stories at the end of your day that you’d love to share with someone else who would just ‘get it’?  Tired of having your friends and family stare at you blankly when you talk about working at IKEA?  Then you NEED to blog at TheIKEAWorld! Find out more about guest blogging about the IKEA World!

The private forum for TheIKEAWorld.com is being hosted at IKEAFANS.com, which has an established group of IKEA Co-Workers who are active on the forums. If you’re an IKEA Co-Worker and you’d like to join the IKEA Co-Worker’s Private Forum at IKEAFANS.com, send a request for an invite to: Susan@IKEAFANS.com.

Hej!

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IKEA Southampton, UK is due to open on Thursday, February 12th – the first UK IKEA built in a city centre and the Swedish furniture giant’s 254th store worldwide.  IKEA anticipates the Southampton IKEA being an important testing ground logistically due to the location in the center of an urban area. 

City officials, police and IKEA top level managers have been working together to ensure no repeat of the riot that took place when the IKEA in North London was opened in 2005. A man was stabbed and others injured in the crush that took place at the door on Grand Opening Day. IKEA was forced to shut its doors only 30 minutes after opening.  

Says IKEA Southampton Store Manager, Allesandra Taffe, 

Of course we want people to come on the opening day, it is quite exciting and there will be some offers which will be quite good for customers, but not crazy. 

It’s not in anybody’s interest to have mass chaos, certainly not ours,we want the shopping experience to be a good one.

Taffe previously managed the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania US IKEA store for 4 1/2 years, and will manage 500 co-workers at the new IKEA Southampton.  These local co-workers will be joined by over 100 IKEA co-workers from around the world who will help prepare and launch the store.  

Staff will be on hand at the entrance to help “IKEA virgins” find what they are after and there will be a crèche where parents can dump their children to shop in relative peace.

Don’t forget to buy the kiddies a frozen yogurt after ‘dumping’ them off!  

[Image via The Daily Echo]

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Four mothers in the UK were ejected from the IKEA cafeteria in Bletchley and later received an official apology from both from IKEA management in Sweden and the local store manager.  Why?  Perhaps because not everyone understands homeschooling.

The four homeschooling families have been in the habit of meeting every Monday in the IKEA cafeteria for coffee and a quiet play session, consisting of board and card games and other quiet activities. Recently 6 IKEA co-workers confronted the group and they were ejected from the store for reasons varying from taking up too much room (the cafeteria was 1/2 empty) to bringing outside food (two moms brought food for their babies) and even the highly dubious statement that the kids games were “gambling” and against store rules. One of the co-workers said:  ”I don’t see much education going on.” Read more…

In the News, People family-friendly, Homeschooling, ikea cafeteria, ikea co-workers, ikea manager, IKEA restaurant