IKEA To Open Its First Store In Thailand

jackdawson · October 2, 2011

This may have been discussed already but I'll go if they serve their Swedish meatballs with noodles.

bkkjames · October 2, 2011

This may have been discussed already but I'll go if they serve their Swedish meatballs with noodles.

I hear its on the cover of their new catalogue, furniture is back on page 68 lol

up-country_sinclair · October 2, 2011

Some posters think IKEA has the worst furniture, while others like their products. It's hardly surprising that TV members have different opinions on something.

But I think what we can all agree on is that IKEA is bringing more competition to the marketplace and that should be good for consumers.

Priceless · October 2, 2011

I maybe an optimist, but I seriously doubt that a company could grow from humble beginnings in the south of Sweden to:

- 313 stores

- in 37 countries

- with 135,000 employees

- and annual turnover of ~1 trillion baht

by selling "crap".

Incidentally, their biggest markets are Germany (16%), USA (11%), France (10%), UK (7%) and Italy (7%).

/ Priceless

softgeorge · October 2, 2011

This may have been discussed already but I'll go if they serve their Swedish meatballs with noodles.

If you want furniture go to a furniture store, if you want food go to a food stall. Heading off on your 1st romantic date with a candle lit dinner at ikea sounds simply romantic us poor people will probably just settle for a french restuarant.

mdechgan · October 2, 2011

....

They will set new standards in terms of customer service and raise the bar tremendously.

....

LOL. You can't be serious?

The IKEA concept is you walk forever through a maze of rubbish, pick your flatpack crap, pay for it and tote it to your car and take it home and... see TommyDee's post.

The only interaction with anyone related to 'customer service' is when you pay for the sh!te.

Actually most of the Ikeas I've went to were 'self-checkout."

BarryM · October 2, 2011

Ikea in Kl offers a delivery and an assembly service. The store was incredibly busy when I bought a couple of pieces of furniture 18 mOnths ago. I thought alot of it looked like cheap rubbish, especially bedroom furniture and dining tables. Only managed to find a sideboard and a few chairs plus lamps when furnishing a 220 sq m apartment.

TallGuyJohninBKK · October 2, 2011

Anyone know what IKEA's product sourcing policy is in these kinds of far-flung foreign operations, like Thailand?

Will the stuff you see in their stores mostly be imported from other countries.... Or will it be stuff made in Thailand, presumably to their spec, and then sold here under the IKEA brand name?

edwardandtubs · October 2, 2011

IKEA have obviously completely misread the Thai market. As other posters have pointed out, Thais with money to spend are never going to buy into the DIY concept because of the extremely low cost of labour here. Many Thais are perplexed why I would even choose to iron my own shirts and do my own cooking. Can you imagine such people trying to assemble IKEA furniture? Why would they when they can pay some pleb to assemble furniture of equal price and quality?

BarryM · October 2, 2011

Ikeas usp is possibly the fact that you buy from stock. Most contemporary furniture in thailand as sb etc is to order "2 week delibelly". Given most Thais concept of urgency I doubt immediate delivery will make much difference.

The Malaysians seem to love it. But they have a substantial, aspirational middle class that doesn't exist to anywhere near the same degree in Thailand.

Arkady · October 5, 2011

I had some IKEA furniture in Hong Kong. It was cheap and looked quite nice when new but it is like Index Living Mall's stuff - made of cheap materials and chips up and falls to pieces quite quickly.

Bluebell · October 5, 2011

IKEA have obviously completely misread the Thai market. As other posters have pointed out, Thais with money to spend are never going to buy into the DIY concept because of the extremely low cost of labour here.

IKEA is not just about the furniture and DIY aspect. They also sell a huge range of accessories for every room in the house as well as great kids furniture.

janverbeem · October 5, 2011

I maybe an optimist, but I seriously doubt that a company could grow from humble beginnings in the south of Sweden to:

- 313 stores

- in 37 countries

- with 135,000 employees

- and annual turnover of ~1 trillion baht

by selling "crap".

Incidentally, their biggest markets are Germany (16%), USA (11%), France (10%), UK (7%) and Italy (7%).

/ Priceless

Now try to imagine how many articles currently sold worldwide are made in China,only because it is cheap.

I'm sure you can not imagine the actual amount of it,but keep in mind that the Chinese run the biggest export market in the world.

Now try to think about anything of decent quality you recently bought that was made in China.

I'm sure you will have a hard time to remember one..

CGW · October 5, 2011

Hang on.. IKEA had a store here years ago I think it was in the Central World Trade .... not quit sure.

I went there several times, it was small, had no catalogue to mention and not much selection.. but it was there. I also believe IKEA had an office/ buying facility here for many years.. any other old Bangkok hand remember this?

I remember it now, had forgotten about it, was a smallish place, like 3 or 4 shops knocked together, expensive and I don't remember the location, may well have been in Central World, seem to recall it being in Silom area though? Wherever, they did have a small outlet here.....

TAWP · October 15, 2011

Just read through the new catalog delivered to all homes in BKK atleast.

Not bad prices and a big selection if wares.

Good value for the price given for middle class families.

Edited October 15, 2011 by TAWP

rametindallas · October 15, 2011

Four years ago I bought my bed (frame, mattress) from IKEA and it still looks and feels like new. Their shelving is low quality but many accessories (kitchen, bath), chairs and lots of other stuff is good quality and a bargain. I need a new bed in Bangkok and will be there opening day so I can repilicate my US sleeping experience. Also, competion is good.

jackbox · December 12, 2011

Yes, they have the Swedish Meatballs (comes with potatoes and lingonberries) and taste fine. There are four price levels. The ones I remember were 10 balls for 95 baht and 20 balls for 175 baht. Comes with a nice tasting gravy on them also. I also tried the Smoked Salmon plate for 140 baht. Well worth the money. Very good quality smoked salmon with some lettuce and a sweet mustard sauce. The restaurant was incredibly busy, packed with Thais loving the Swedish food. If you join Ikea family before going to the restaurant and show your temporary card, you will get two free refill sodas (normally 25 baht each).

Edited December 12, 2011 by jackbox

TallGuyJohninBKK · February 8, 2012

The wife and I spent the day out at IKEA Bangna yesterday, and I must say, it was a pretty interesting experience.

One thing we discovered before going was that IKEA is now running an every 30 minutes free shuttle bus between the new BTS Udomsuk Station (exit 5 in front of the 7 Eleven store there) and the IKEA store. The outbound trip in the early afternoon on a weekday took about 25 minutes on one of the new style yellow-color air con buses like those used on some premium bus routes around BKK. (They appear to be also using the shuttle bus for store employee commuting as well).

Here's the info on that:

http://www.ikea.com/...angna/indexPage

http://www.ikea.com/.../shuttle-en.jpg

But what I found interesting/intriguing about the store, and it's a very large one by Thai standards, is the pretty amazing array of selection they have all in one place... not only a lot of different kinds of household things, but also the huge range of different choices for many individual products. In my experience, far more selection and range of choice than I've ever seen in any other store in Thailand.

The place does take some getting used to. Basically, upon entering, you're starting on the first floor, which is the showroom display area where a lot of the larger items like furniture and related stuff is on display both in room configurations and also with regular product displays.

And then they have a maze like walkway complete with arrows on the floor that winds you through all the different sections before, at the end, you finally end up at the IKEA Restaurant, which is their self-serve cafe complete with Swedish meatballs and some relatively inexpensive fare, like 65b cheesecake slices topped with blueberry sauce and 25 baht unlimited refill soft drinks. The cafe also has some very comfortable sofa and table seating areas along with the more traditional cafe style table and chair seating.

Then from there, it's downstairs to their so-called Ground Floor, where a furniture buyer would locate the row and shelve number for their boxed item (already chosen upstairs) from a huge warehouse type area, and gather it for taking to the checkout cash registers.

But also in that same ground floor area (before the boxed goods warehouse area and before you get to the checkout registers) is a huge display area for smaller grab and go products in all categories such as: kitchenware, fabrics and window coverings, bed linens, rugs, bathroom accessories, home decoration and organization, and lighting, among others.

And just outside the checkout registers at the end of your trek is IKEA's Swedish Food Market, which is a kind of mini grocery store with a small but interesting selection of food products such as chocolate bars, fruit jams, pastas, frozen foods including salmon and a variety of deserts, bagged cookies, and other stuff I'm probably forgetting.

One interesting thing in checkout out from the main store. While shopping, IKEA provides both shopping carts/trolley for the customer to use, or, for those getting just small stuff, carry bags that you turn in at the cash register. But when you go to pay for those items, the clerk told us they don't provide any of their own bags to go... So you either have to bring your own, carry things yourself, or buy one of the large, re-useable bags for sale at the registers (29 baht per) that are similar to the large ones given for borrow use inside the store.

I don't know that their large item furniture prices were particularly great. But for a lot of the other more routine household items, the range of their selection, their seemingly pretty reasonable prices for those kinds of things, and the easy and free bus transport to the store make it a compelling visit...

That and, I believe until the end of April, BTS isn't charging customers for any travel beyond the On Nut Station on the Sukhumvit Line. So any travel right now from On Nut out to Bearing -- including the stop en route at Udomsuk to catch the IKEA shuttle -- is at no charge.

Edited February 8, 2012 by TallGuyJohninBKK

TallGuyJohninBKK · February 8, 2012

Here's a copy of their store brochure showing the general layouts:

First Floor Showroom Area:

Ground Floor Warehouse Area, Market Hall and Food Market:

silsburyhill · February 8, 2012

OhDearGod. So they're having to bus people in to buy their crap 'furniture' etc, and all you farang are over the moon at having the option of furnishing your little palaces witth their shit, same Index with the woefully ignorant Thais (Index cheap crappy imports) before them.

Take the time to find locally produced furniture which will last more than six months AND throw on some soft furnishings/have upholstered.

Memories of 'back home' in short supply here. Together with 'taste'.

TallGuyJohninBKK · February 8, 2012

I wasn't there either shopping for or looking to buy furniture...

But we did have a nice lunch and brought home a bag full of various small household stuff... most of which we would have had a hard time finding comparable items at the usual Thai stores...

I think if you actually bothered to read and comprehend my post, you'd see I was pointing out that the IKEA in Bangna is a whole lot more than just a "furniture" store.

PS - You don't have to quote and repost my entire long report just to say...you don't care for IKEA's furniture. And frankly, in my entire post, I made no comment about their furniture, other than to briefly mention the prices didn't seem much different from the usual Thai mass market places.

Edited February 8, 2012 by TallGuyJohninBKK

nikster · February 8, 2012

I wasn't there either shopping for or looking to buy furniture...

But we did have a nice lunch and brought home a bag full of various small household stuff... most of which we would have had a hard time finding comparable items at the usual Thai stores...

I think if you actually bothered to read and comprehend my post, you'd see I was pointing out that the IKEA in Bangna is a whole lot more than just a "furniture" store.

Just ignore the trolls. The best thing about IKEA has always been the little items. And the bus.

As for "farangs go there" yeah right - IKEA is super hip with the hip Thais and that means that soon enough it will be fantastically popular with everybody. Most customers will be Thai.

I'll give you an example: We bought some lamps at IKEA in Germany about 10 years ago. 5 or so, as these lamps cost EUR 2.50 a piece at the time. They're little plastic lamps - very simple, but also really nice looking. And for the price, who can complain?

We still have those lamps, we moved them to Thailand when we moved back here. They're still great, though the plastic base has some chips. It's hard to find a lamp, at any price, that makes a nicer light.

A few years ago those same lamps appeared in the "hip" shops around Chiang Mai and Bangkok - somebody clearly did grey imports of them. Price: 1500 - 1800 Baht! They sold well even at that price.

Now that IKEA is here, they still have those lamps, and they're now 160 baht. This is legendary IKEA stuff. Things that far outlast what you expect from them, and what you would reasonably expect for this price. When I was a kid we had these blue and yellow dirt-cheap sleeping bags. They survived years and years of kids abuse...

Anyway - yeah some of their furniture is crap. I wouldn't necessarily buy furniture from them. Most of it tends to fall apart - I'd say it's on par with Index for quality (or lack thereof), a bit cheaper, but much nicer designed.

And wait until you get to the kids section - again IKEA has things in the kids section that cost very little, but are nicer than stuff you can buy elsewhere at any price. The kids section - toys, plush animals, little blankets - is simply fantastic. Great designs, and very cheap.

I think it's awesome they have a bus. My wife keeps trying to talk me into flying down there (from Chiang Mai) just to hit IKEA...

silsburyhill · February 8, 2012

I wasn't there either shopping for or looking to buy furniture...

But we did have a nice lunch and brought home a bag full of various small household stuff... most of which we would have had a hard time finding comparable items at the usual Thai stores...

I think if you actually bothered to read and comprehend my post, you'd see I was pointing out that the IKEA in Bangna is a whole lot more than just a "furniture" store.

PS - You don't have to quote and repost my entire long report just to say...you don't care for IKEA's furniture. And frankly, in my entire post, I made no comment about their furniture, other than to briefly mention the prices didn't seem much different from the usual Thai mass market places.

For some reason my 'quoted' posts are now consistently reproducing the poster's, er, post.

Not withstanding. Not having a pop at your taste, bearing in mind you had lunch and bought some soft furnishings only.

But you have to admit IKEA on a par with INDEX.

Also., wasn't referring to mass market Thai produced ersatz West, if you take the time, you can find some very nice piesces from individual stores here, or have it made to spec. And NO MDF.

bigbamboo · February 8, 2012

Odd complaints, from IKEA I bought the best computer table I have ever had, it stuck with me when I moved 4 times - finally left behind when I left Europe. And the new owner loved it too...

Now if only it was still in stock...

I fitted my entire house out in the UK with IKEA. No problems at all.

For those living in UDON Thani have a look in one of the big furniture stores on the main ringroad. If you know IKEA stuff then you will see what looks like IKEA in one of the stores. Even has the same names for the Wardrobes etc as the UK IKEA. Don't know if it is IKEA or a Thai copy.

Fitted an entire house in the UK with IKEA? I bet you like Abba and drive a Volvo too!

Edited February 8, 2012 by bigbamboo

Priceless · February 8, 2012

OhDearGod. So they're having to bus people in to buy their crap 'furniture' etc, and all you farang are over the moon at having the option of furnishing your little palaces witth their shit, same Index with the woefully ignorant Thais (Index cheap crappy imports) before them.

Take the time to find locally produced furniture which will last more than six months AND throw on some soft furnishings/have upholstered.

Memories of 'back home' in short supply here. Together with 'taste'.

When I moved to Thailand in 2006 I brought with me all my things, including a lot of IKEA furniture. Dining table and chairs, bookcases, a leather sofa, an easychair etc, 15-20 pieces in all. These things are now 10-15 years old and in excellent condition. Had they been 'crap' or 'shit' they would have perished long ago.

What IKEA produce and sell is certainly not top-of-the-line handcrafted furniture fashion and future museum pieces, but good value for money for people with more sense than craving for status. In my opinion and experience they are doing quite a good job of it, too. They would probably not have been as successful as they have if they had tried to flog 'crap' to the unsuspecting masses.

/ Priceless

TallGuyJohninBKK · February 8, 2012

As for "farangs go there" yeah right - IKEA is super hip with the hip Thais and that means that soon enough it will be fantastically popular with everybody. Most customers will be Thai.

For me, I don't personally care whether anyone, farang or Thai, thinks someplace is hip or not... I just care does a store have the things I'm looking for/interested in, and are they being sold at a good price...

[in the case of the small household-type items I mentioned above, IKEA Bangna definitely fills the bill. And yes, among other things, they did have a huge selection of children's type stuff.]

That said, on our visit yesterday afternoon/evening, the customer base was certainly at least 90% Thai in the store... I saw just a few farangs other than myself... But there were a lot of young Thai couples and families who clearly were the vast majority...

Aside from that, when we finally emerged about 8 pm, there were a ton of Thai police milling around outside, regular officer types and a lot of higher ranking types... I couldn't quite figure out what was going on, and the uniforms didn't resemble the normal BIB uniforms you'd see the regular guys wearing about town...

So I was talking with my wife about that.... and she answered that there was some member of the King's extended family visiting the site that evening...because the special uniforms of those officers milling outside were the ones worn by the detail that protects the Royal Family...

I didn't see any VIPs while we were inside the store... But by the time we emerged, I noticed they had locked down a lot of the regular entrances and even forced the IKEA shuttle bus to drop off and pick up passengers at a different location away from the normal one. So something clearly was going on.

But overall, as I mentioned above, just for the sheer shopping experience, I can't think of any other existing single store in Thailand that would have anywhere close to that range and selection of household items under one roof.

metisdead · February 8, 2012

An inflammatory personal attack post has been removed as well as a reply to that post.

transam · February 8, 2012

It's crap. Easy money wood chip crap that will be eaten by the bugs in no time.

TallGuyJohninBKK · February 8, 2012

BTW, as an aside, I've never bought furniture in Thailand at either Index, IKEA or any similar place...

But I'll note this: while at IKEA yesterday, I was looking at a quite nice high backed office chair with metal (not plastic) legs... Not cheaply priced, but a good item for what I would want... And one thing I noted in particular.. the chair had a 10 YEAR IKEA warranty... And I saw similar or longer warranty tags on a lot of the furniture items around the store.

I have no idea what Index or SB or any of the other similar Thai stores do on the issue of warranties... But I do know one of the things I'm always conscious of when buying furniture is is the store willing to stand behind its products with a good and long-term warranty...

transam · February 8, 2012

BTW, as an aside, I've never bought furniture in Thailand at either Index, IKEA or any similar place...

But I'll note this: while at IKEA yesterday, I was looking at a quite nice high backed office chair with metal (not plastic) legs... Not cheaply priced, but a good item for what I would want... And one thing I noted in particular.. the chair had a 10 YEAR IKEA warranty... And I saw similar or longer warranty tags on a lot of the furniture items around the store.

I have no idea what Index or SB or any of the other similar Thai stores do on the issue of warranties... But I do know one of the things I'm always conscious of when buying furniture is is the store willing to stand behind its products with a good and long-term warranty...

Hmmmm, warranty, this is LOS and you are dealing with LOS folk, NOT a Scandinavian. Think we have heard this stuff before. .

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