Big-Time Marketing of the Swedish Lifestyle
There’s more than a touch of Scandinavia in Burbank. There’s 240,000 square feet (the size of six football fields).
The marketing of a Swedish lifestyle works so well in Southern California that, according to IKEA, 1.8 million people have visited since the store opened in November, 1990. There are 96 IKEA stores, from Brussels to Burbank, making the firm the largest home furnishings retailer in the world. Obviously, it’s doing something right.
From a bargain hunter’s perspective, it provides good taste and quality at prices so affordable that even smart shoppers ask, “How can they do it?”
There are several answers. First, we are dealing directly with the source. The way IKEA does it is through design, bulk buying, and packing items flat and having the buyer assemble them.
Every item in the store has been designed by IKEA to incorporate cost-efficient ways of manufacturing. Then the decision is made as to where it can be manufactured for the best quality and price. With 96 giant stores around the world, IKEA’s buying power brings volume discounts. Today about 25% of their designs are made in the United States; the rest come from all over the globe: Australia to Europe to the Middle East to the Orient. The finished product is less expensive to transport and warehouse because it’s packed flat.
Room settings--110 of them--are filled with decorating creativity, and the Scandinavian genius at space utilization is visible everywhere.
During the last year, some voids in the inventory have been filled, including a more traditional look in home furnishings. Oriental rugs (handmade in China, India and Pakistan) are now available, ranging from $89 for a 27-by-27-inch to $988 for a 6-foot, 6-inch-by-10-foot. Custom sofas have been added--these you do not put together yourself--in traditional styles and fabrics.
The most dazzling addition is the catalogue. Now we don’t have to fight the crowds. Nursery furnishings are excellent buys: an “Utter” crib with a base that adjusts to three heights as the child grows is $75, the “Tuffing” (you’ll get used to the Swedish names) highchair is only $23.
Kitchen cabinets made in Sweden, Germany, France or Canada are simple, space-saving, handsome and affordable, with prices starting at $420.
Free advice aids the do-it-yourselfer--it’s all knocked down (unassembled), remember? Kitchen accessories are all planned so that they fit the cabinets. Sink and storage baskets, lazy Susans, cutlery trays, waste bins--are designed to work in any of the kitchen designs.
Each page of the catalogue reveals another astonishing bargain. A solid pine dining table with two extra leaves is $275. A folding bed with mattress is $46. Little (4 1/2-inch) ceramic table lamps with 6-inch matching cotton shades are $6.50. All prices are guaranteed through 1992.
Coupon pages announce monthly specials. The September special is a multicolored cotton dhurrie rug, 55-by-78 1/2 inches, for $19. Next month, a contemporary chrome table lamp, 17 1/2 inches high, also is $19.
Several hundred thousand catalogues were mailed to Southern California households. If you didn’t receive one, pick one up at the store. The catalogue is designed in Sweden and printed in Kentucky. One admonition: If you shop by catalogue, you’ll miss out on the Scandinavian savories served in the cafeteria.
IKEA is at 600 N. San Fernando Blvd., Burbank. Exit the Golden State Freeway at Burbank Boulevard. Head east on Burbank to the corner of San Fernando and Burbank boulevards. Open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday. MC/Visa and checks accepted. Automated teller machine at the entrance. Three-story parking structure. For information, call (818) 842-4532.
