So I have had reason to go to IKEA recently. The IKEA here in Berlin is perhaps the second IKEA I have been to; the first one was in Pittsburgh, which I visited whenever a friend of mine and I would drive down there from Buffalo. This time, I needed to go to IKEA to get some supplies for the apartment. And while I used to find the IKEA experience rather novel, nowadays, I hate it.
See, IKEA does this one-way direction shopping. You enter the building, and you head upstairs to the upper level. This is true both in Pittsburgh and as well as here in Berlin. The escalator is one-way, the elevator doesn't have a Down button from the top, and you really cannot go down. Then you go through a maze of the furniture showroom. That, in my opinion, is the most annoying thing.
See, if you are shopping for a new bedroom, a new bathroom, a new kitchen, a new house, then strolling through the showroom is great. Everything you see there is pretty much for sale. You can try out various tables and see how it fits your dimensions. You can try out a bed and see how it feels. But seriously, this is annoying, especially when you have no time.
I hate the fact that I have to see the whole store before I can exit. I hate the fact that I have to lug all of the things I want to buy through the whole store before I can line up at the checkout and pay for it. I hate the fact that I have to be lured to try their Swedish meatballs at every corner of the store. Can't I just go directly to the stall I need, and then go directly to the checkout counter once I have selected my object of desire?
I hate it, but at the same time, I like their minimalist and stylish furniture. Oh well, I think I cannot go there more than once a month, so little by little, I can accomplish what I want to do.
