Affordable dreams in tough economic times call for IKEA!
-by Kelly

Why do people love IKEA? Not everyone, of course, but certainly a great number of people all over the world do truly LOVE IKEA.

I can tell you what IKEA does for me…

It’s about accessibility of dreams. I’m a person who has lots of little plans and dreams about my surroundings from clothes to gardens, and like lots of people I’m influenced by television and magazines on what those things can look like. I want to be individual within a cultural context and to express myself through the physical attributes of my surroundings.

Like nearly everyone, my money and my mind are not in synch. I want more than I can afford or have. My eyes are bigger than my wallet. At times, I live firmly in an unbalanced state of desire. I have Plans without Wherewithal.

And then, there is IKEA. There are interesting, even beautiful things at IKEA- lots of them- that are within the realm of my financial possibility. These things are geared toward people who live in small spaces, who need places to put things away, who need a new bed or couch or kitchen or desk, but who cannot or don’t choose to spend a lot of money, but have a desire to purposefully choose the things they live with rather than take things others are done with.

I lived for too long with other people’s hand me downs, and I suspect that these were hand me downs prior to that. Who actually chose these things? Who desired them? In what home did they make sense, and where were they part of an integrated whole? I am not talking about heirlooms, I am talking about a round dining table when you need square, a light wood when everything else is dark, where nothing really matches or is the right size for the space you inhabit. It is always making do.

So, for me, IKEA is about the freedom to pick things I want to live with.

Why do you like IKEA?
Image by Zeuss via IKEAFANS.com Galleries

From my MALM bed to yours – happy Valentine’s Day everyone!

“  I can’t explain the excitement I am feeling waiting for the opening
day of Ikea in Michigan.  I will be there and am seeing by the
CantonProject sight that about 20,000 +  others will be there too!
That means the secret is out.   Michigan will be redecorated with
Ikea.  Thank You for your choice of coming to Michigan, you won’t be
disappointed.”

- Judy S.

“I learned to love IKEA when I visited the East Coast in the Summer of 1994.  I had just graduated from college and bought as much for my new apartment as my parents’ van would hold.  We stopped at several in Virginia and Pennsylvania as we made our way home, buying more each time we found another IKEA store anywhere near our route.  I now live a couple of hours outside of Detroit am thrilled I won’t have to drive all the way to Chicago to get my fix.  THANKS IKEA, for being such a fun place to shop and for coming to Michigan!!”

- Julie L.

Share the love. Sign our log book!

Things get even worse when looking at the two companies’ local
brand names. IKEA’s Chinese name is YiJia (宜家), meaning something along
the lines of “a proper home”. AIKA’s Chinese name is AiJia (爱家),
meaning a “loving home” or “love home”. It sounds almost the same as
IKEA’s YiJia, but adds the “love” element.

A few weeks ago, IKEA opened a new store in Beijing. The campaign to
promote the new store features a new catchphrase – AiDeXinTiYan
(爱的新体验). The official English version is “more to love” but the literal
translation is closer to “a new experience of love”. Some may see this
as IKEA’s jab at AIKA, trying to appropriate the local competitor’s
signature emotion…”

Bilingual brands: Love in the time of IKEA
By Dror Poleg
DANWEI

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