I agree - an IKEA just opened in Atlanta and it is a total zoo all the time. They even charge for parking and sometimes will flat out turn you away if it's too crowded. I'm willing to pay more to avoid the hassle.

they make you pay for parking?? that's a little insane. how much?

to get to the nj one from nyc, you have to pay some tolls, but there's no parking charge.

wow, I was at Ikea on Sunday, twice. We decided that we would give the Long Island one a shot, since we've only been to the Elizabeth one, and between 20-30 dollars worth of tolls (sure 3% tax) we were willing to try something different. (23 miles to Elizabeth - 30 to Long Island)

It was very similar inside (cept for the lack of an escalator to the second floor which the mrs didn't enjoy) but the parking outside was a nightmare, it was cramped and over crowded. We feasted for lunch, 50 cent hotdogs (they got nothing on nathans) $1 cinnabuns, and dollar drinks.

That said we'll be heading back to Elizabeth next time, for the parking alone. (although the long island one is connected to a mall). I had to go back to Ikea, because the kitchen island we bought was too big (realizing this after I had assembled, so I had to break it down and repackage) so I had to return it and pick up a better fitting piece.

Oh joyous day.

The 'Mrs' mentioned in the previous comment feels the need to explain why the lack of an escalator was a problem. I am not, in fact, obese and/or lazy to the point of immobility. Ok....I am sort of, but with good excuse. I am largely pregnant with a baby who has at this point 'dropped' into my pelvis. The Mr. could have mentioned that.

And I was also disappointed in Ikea. I had been hoping to give birth there, prompted by the miles of walking and the stress of furniture-seeking-crowd-bedlam, and thus secure for my son some sort of dual American-Swedish citizenship. Maybe even score some free swag in the process. No such luck.

m&n - you guys are a riot.

and you assembled a kitchen island and had to disassemble it and bring it back? ouch.

i have a huge soft spot for ikea. you can get so much cheap goodness there. ppl constantly pooh pooh the quality, but esp in ny, where people constantly move around and throw stuff out, i'm fine with buying furniture that's not going to last forever.

i love going to ikea in the early morning as well. after work on the weekdays is also a pretty quiet time to go.

okay, when was the last time you moved, jeannette?

okay, all y'all can stop complaining because i go to ikea on the freakin bus and i have to limit myself to what i can carry.

I am at WAR with Ikea Long Island. The customer service SUCKS, they employees just don't care and when you call and complain they don't give a crap. STAY away from the evil store and the jerks that work there. Because I get into a yelling match with the customer service mananger, my package got "lost" with no UPS tracking number anyplace. I said many times they should look under her desk. But my charge did not get lost, what a sock. THE STORE SUCKS and THEY COULD CARE LESS ABOUT CUSTOMERS.

If you worked for them you'd really know what "IKEA SUCKS" means,but then what would you expect from a company founded by a guy who was a member of the Nazi party until 1956?

As an IKEA worker I can tell you they {management} couldn't care less about the customer or the worker on the frontline,infact the little worker is the meat in the sandwich between the customer and management,so "powerless" is an understatement.These are the workers that hate IKEA.The workers that write all the "IKEA is great" stories are either management,who can more or less hide from the customer or break the rules to get rid of the customer who is making it difficult for them.
That's how it is in Australia,anyway and seems to be no differrent anywhere else by the looks.Just Google "IKEA SUCKS"or "I HATE IKEA" or "Ingvar Kamprad+Nazi"and you'll have hours of interesting reading.
Infact I could go on for hours,too.
The bottom line at IKEA is the $$$$$$
but they want to squeeze that from the Co-worker by paying them as little as they can and the customer by making them do as much of the work as possible.
I'm amazed customers keep coming back to be treated like this,workers need to pay the bills but what's the customers excuse,it's not as though it's great furniture.
(why do you think Ingvar is the richest man in the world ?...yes...yes...we know you're not the richest man in the world Ingvar...yes...and together we save...and IKEA cares for the planet...but really the only true words you have ever spoken is and I quote..."Most things remain to be done"...well at IKEA they sure do.

I hope you get reincarnated as a customer service co-worker who has to take shit from the worst customers you could imagine and you have to abide by your own companies'stupid rules...in other words rot in hell.

There are plenty of IKEA jokes here -

http://www.jibjab.com/search/jokes/photo/ikea/rating/1