Jump to content
Login with your Gmail HERE and start posting in seconds! ×
Don't just read! Be part of the Community! Join the conversation ×








Ikea Thailand Opening This Year...

doppa

By doppa
in Chiang Mai

 Share

Recommended Posts


zippydedodah Gold Member

zippydedodah

Posted
Posted

when IKEA first opened in Oakland, CA... i was among the throngs of folks to storm thru the aisles, take home the goods and trumpet the benefits of the products.

However, as time passed, the products deteriorated under normal wear and tear by the kids and i spend more and more hours assembling items (one closet took the wife and i EIGHT hours to put together, and i worked in the construction trades for years and knew how to follow plans), i became more and more dissatisfied with quality of product and effort required on my part.

I know many a college student, with a tight budget and time on their hands who really appreciated the store, as long as they did not stress out the product.

Just not for me, i decided.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
SadieMBeagle Advanced Member

SadieMBeagle

Posted
Posted (edited)

I am very curious how the IKEA business model will work in Thailand...I predict that it will not work out.

Back home (USA), it was great - sorta cool-looking, inexpensive housewares. Delivery was not free, in fact it was expensive, but no matter - we could pile our finds into our SUVs or station wagons or whatever, take them home, spend a few agonizing hours assembling the things. Repeat again in a few months.

Fast forward to now, when many of us live in Thailand and ride motorbikes. At many stores, delivery is free, and sometimes even same-day. When I ordered a large piece of furniture from Index a few months ago, they brought it to me free of charge (a couple of weeks after purchase), and assembled it themselves!! I was astounded at such customer service. My Thai coworkers looked at me like I was nuts when I mentioned how cool that was. AND, I think the price of the Index furniture is, while fairly expensive for Thailand, still cheaper than IKEA in the US.

So...unless IKEA retools their model to suit this country, I don't see it working out. Thoughts?

Edited by SadieMBeagle
Link to comment
Share on other sites
doppa Silver Member

doppa

Posted
  • Author
Posted

theres always one isnt there,you didnt have to reply as the answer was already in the heading, anyway i was wondering the construction on the ikea building, do you reckon it came flat packed?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
hhper Explorer Member

hhper

Posted
Posted

theres always one isnt there,you didnt have to reply as the answer was already in the heading, anyway i was wondering the construction on the ikea building, do you reckon it came flat packed?

Flatpacked? I'd look a bit closer to home..................................:wacko:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Greenside Platinum Member

Greenside

Posted
Posted

Anyone know if Index and Ikea are the same company? Seems like they have a very very similar style and setup.

They're not the same company.

When IKEA opened in London a significant business emerged with people buying to order, delivering and sometimes assembling the goods. Maybe that'll happen here despite the extra distance. We could be number two if it works out.

I remember that when the first US store opened they really got up the nose of the established furniture trade (such as it was) by trumpeting from huge billboards:

AMERICA.



IT'S A BIG COUNTRY. SOMEONE'S GOT TO FURNISH IT.





My friends laughed and said "It'll never work here". Brilliant.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
doppa Silver Member

doppa

Posted
  • Author
Posted

theres always one isnt there,you didnt have to reply as the answer was already in the heading, anyway i was wondering the construction on the ikea building, do you reckon it came flat packed?

Flatpacked? I'd look a bit closer to home..................................:wacko:

errrrrrrrrrrr, eh!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Thaifan2 Gold Member

Thaifan2

Posted
Posted

Went to the London one years ago .Not really cheap and i did not see the attraction ,other than they had a reasonable priced restaurant and a place for kids to play .

Still there were hoards of people going there like it was a new religion or something . :jap:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Greenside Platinum Member

Greenside

Posted
Posted

Went to the London one years ago .Not really cheap and i did not see the attraction ,other than they had a reasonable priced restaurant and a place for kids to play .

Still there were hoards of people going there like it was a new religion or something . :jap:

Well it's hardly news these days because everyone else in the game has had 20 years to play catch up or go out of business (remember MFI, anyone?).

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Semper Ruby Member

Semper

Posted
Posted

when IKEA first opened in Oakland, CA... i was among the throngs of folks to storm thru the aisles, take home the goods and trumpet the benefits of the products.

However, as time passed, the products deteriorated under normal wear and tear by the kids and i spend more and more hours assembling items (one closet took the wife and i EIGHT hours to put together, and i worked in the construction trades for years and knew how to follow plans), i became more and more dissatisfied with quality of product and effort required on my part.

I know many a college student, with a tight budget and time on their hands who really appreciated the store, as long as they did not stress out the product.

Just not for me, i decided.

Well, what can I say. :lol: In What sort of contructions did you work? :rolleyes: How much do you charge per hour?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Thaifan2 Gold Member

Thaifan2

Posted
Posted

I really like IKEA. Great concept. Great store. Thank you Sweden.

Whats so great about it ? ..i want to learn about the new religion of Ikea ;-) .... it mostly looked like cheap shit to me .In soft wood to ,that will not last in the Thai climate .

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Priceless Gold Member

Priceless

Posted
Posted

I really like IKEA. Great concept. Great store. Thank you Sweden.

Whats so great about it ? ..i want to learn about the new religion of Ikea ;-) .... it mostly looked like cheap shit to me .In soft wood to ,that will not last in the Thai climate .

Well, they must be doing something right. The company was started in 1943 and has since grown to 135,000 employees in 44 countries. That kind of growth and size are, in my opinion and experience, not achievable by selling "cheap shit".

Incidentally, the founder and his family still own the company.

/ Priceless

Link to comment
Share on other sites
elektrified Diamond Member

elektrified

Posted
Posted

I really like IKEA. Great concept. Great store. Thank you Sweden.

Whats so great about it ? ..i want to learn about the new religion of Ikea ;-) .... it mostly looked like cheap shit to me .In soft wood to ,that will not last in the Thai climate .

Well, they must be doing something right. The company was started in 1943 and has since grown to 135,000 employees in 44 countries. That kind of growth and size are, in my opinion and experience, not achievable by selling "cheap shit".

Incidentally, the founder and his family still own the company.

/ Priceless

IKEA is VERY popular in Europe. When I lived in Prague it was really chic to shop at IKEA. My entire house was furnished courtesy of IKEA. My bed was super-comfortable and all the pillows and down comforters were of the highest quality. 4 years later, not a single item was broken, all as good as new and I re-sold everything and recovered about 75% of my investment before coming to Thailand. Used IKEA items were in demand in Prague. Having said that I would imagine that some of the furniture, shelving and so forth would not hold up well in the climate in Thailand.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
doppa Silver Member

doppa

Posted
  • Author
Posted

The day IKEA arrives in Chiang Mai is the day I leave. I'm making it my marker of too much westernisation. Camel, straw, back, broken and all that.

would of thought that the arrival of mcdonalds and kfc would be the bench mark to leave, cant get any more westernised than that....ikea will never come to chiangmai, so i guess your going to be around for a while.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
el jefe Gold Member

el jefe

Posted
Posted

I really like IKEA. Great concept. Great store. Thank you Sweden.

Whats so great about it ? ..i want to learn about the new religion of Ikea ;-) .... it mostly looked like cheap shit to me .In soft wood to ,that will not last in the Thai climate .

Well, they must be doing something right. The company was started in 1943 and has since grown to 135,000 employees in 44 countries. That kind of growth and size are, in my opinion and experience, not achievable by selling "cheap shit".

Incidentally, the founder and his family still own the company.

/ Priceless

Priceless, you should know better. Ikea certainly is doing something right from a business standpoint, but the growth you cite above proves nothing. Compare it to McDonalds and Walmart. imho, Ikea provides a mid-range product at a mid-range price. I don't miss having one here.

ymmv

Link to comment
Share on other sites
PoorSucker Star Member

PoorSucker

Posted
Posted

The day IKEA arrives in Chiang Mai is the day I leave. I'm making it my marker of too much westernisation. Camel, straw, back, broken and all that.

They are planning two more stores in Thailand within 10 years.

One more in Bangkok and one in Chiang Mai.

Bye bye.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Priceless Gold Member

Priceless

Posted
Posted

I really like IKEA. Great concept. Great store. Thank you Sweden.

Whats so great about it ? ..i want to learn about the new religion of Ikea ;-) .... it mostly looked like cheap shit to me .In soft wood to ,that will not last in the Thai climate .

Well, they must be doing something right. The company was started in 1943 and has since grown to 135,000 employees in 44 countries. That kind of growth and size are, in my opinion and experience, not achievable by selling "cheap shit".

Incidentally, the founder and his family still own the company.

/ Priceless

Priceless, you should know better. Ikea certainly is doing something right from a business standpoint, but the growth you cite above proves nothing. Compare it to McDonalds and Walmart. imho, Ikea provides a mid-range product at a mid-range price. I don't miss having one here.

ymmv

Could you please explain what I "should know better"? I was merely pointing out that they seem to do things right "from a business point standpoint", which is exactly what their growth proves. Having spent most of my adult life in business, I have a lot of respect for people who do that right.

I have not said that I would like to have an IKEA in Chiang Mai. What i was doing was arguing with the "cheap shit" statement in the post that I replied to. I would however argue that IKEA is providing mid-range products at exceptional value for money, which has been the key to their success.

Incidentally, when I moved here in 2006 I brought a whole lot of IKEA furniture with me, including bookcases, a dining table, chairs, a leather sofa etc, etc. It was all used for, on average, five years before arriving here and it is all still looking as good as when it arrived. Thaifan2's idea that it would not stand up to the climate is obviously wrong.

/ Priceless

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...