IKEA

So many people are obsessed with IKEA, and a friend of mine is a big proponent, so she convinced me to meet her there today. I have been in the past with my kids and they have been seriously disappointed when the "Smaland" (kiddie play area) was "full". Last time we got there when someone was picking up a kid and we still couldn't get in for 2 1/2 hours which made my son upset and me pissed off. But I said I would try again today. We were lucky enough to get 2 kids into the "Smaland" for the whole 90 minutes and go shopping. I admit it is very kid friendly, with play areas all around the store, and a cafeteria with another play area. However, even though I had a better experience today I am still not a member of the IKEA cult. I looked at their couches and some of them looked nice, but were expensive. The more reasonably priced ones were too small and/or really cheap looking. I also looked at their kitchen tables and every one of them looked really cheap. Their appliances and furniture otherwise look nice, but I couldn't afford them, so I may end up getting some in the future but not anytime soon. I also had an issue getting out without going through the maze of a store, and once I did get out, getting back to my car without walking around the humongous parking lot or going through the cash registers was impossible. Before today's trip I would have given it 1 star. After today's trip to "Smaland" for the kids, I'm moving it up to 2 stars. more

We have an Ikea near us, and everybody here (in California, I guess) knows that all their merchandise is crap. It looks really nice, but it's very poor quality, which is why their prices are so low. I hope yours turns out to be better than ours, but I think it's the company overall. more

I think all Ikeas are designed so that you have to wander past every display to get out of the store. The East Palo Alto Ikea is huge, and it can seriously take an hour or two to make it through the store. I cannot imagine "just running in" to grab something. The furniture and home decor is mostly moder-ish, and prices are low (quality can be low too, you'll want to check the stuff out in person before you buy it). The store is very kid friendly, they have a free kids club for potty trained children. They also have several areas in the store for kids to play in. The restaurant is good and cheap (and also kid friendly). more

Ikea is a great place for home decorations. This store is huge and carries many designs for all ages. They have a huge eatery area where it is cheap to have lunch. I go there because we are always trying to furnish something new in our house. Their prices are like wholesale prices and you really get your monies worth. Look here before going elsewhere. more