The Joy of Storage

Dublin Bus number 140 does not go to Finglas, the 140 goes to IKEA. IKEAis more than a store. IKEAis a destination.

If you haven’t been to IKEA-town it is a unique retail experience. Shoppers move at their leisure through departments choosing items writing down their choices with pencils. Later they pick all the things up before taking them home and assembling them themselves. You do the work so the stuff is cheap.

The place is huge. Showroom after showroom is decorated with all the things that people put in their houses including fold-up chairs, tables, plates, cuddly toys, cots, wardrobes, mirrors, more cuddly toys and before you know it – and just as you’re getting a little peckish – you’re in the cafe eating swedish meatballs. After your meal its down to the basement where you hunt down your chosen items throw them onto a trolley and wheel them over to the checkout. By that stage you have built up a second-wind of an appetite just in time for the famous 80 cent hotdog. IKEAare all about value for money.

Previous advertising slogans for the Swedish retail giant included “The wonderful everyday” and “Homeis the Most Important Place in the world”. IKEA’s most recent ad campaign proclaims the tagline ‘The Joy of Storage’. Now as wonderful as this industry is it is rarely joyous. The idea that tidiness might be blissful is a drawer too far. However IKEAdesigners are masters in the utilisation of space, this is widely appreciated, so perhaps storagetheir way can be enjoyed. Having filled a few units in my time I can you tell you that it is not always a pleasure but there is a certain warm satisfaction in perfect packing. The joy of tetris: the joy of storage.

IKEA– putting the Joy back into Storage.

More musings soon,

Space Cadet.