Ikea, for us is a 3-4 hour drive. We needed new bedroom furniture, but we aren't ready to get a king size bed yet. We know when we build a house that we want a king size bed in our bedroom so we decided to get our bedroom furniture from ikea for now. Eventually it will be used in a guest bedroom and we will get something a little more durable for our bedroom. I had looked at the Hemnes line in the store last year and knew that I liked the way it looked. One of my friends has the chest and she loves it. I got online and read the reviews for it, most of them were pretty good.
I was scheduled to work Friday night, but I got put on call. I knew I wasn't going to have another chance to go without having to risk missing one of Logan's races so I decided to go ahead and go. I never thought much about it being Easter weekend and a Saturday. Mom came down to go with me. We took Alan's truck. I had no idea if the whole bedroom suit would fit in the truck, but I was hopeful.
Once we got there, we looked through the whole store. I had only been one other time and we didn't buy much and didn't purchase any large items, so I wasn't exactly prepared for the warehouse experience. After shopping for quite a while and getting all the number/isles/bins wrote down we made our way to the warehouse. I had checked the website before we left to make sure they had the items in stock. They will ship, but it cost over $300.
As I got into the warehouse and started looking for the stuff we needed, we quickly found out most everything I wanted was sold out. I asked several different employees if I had any other options since I had driven so far. Basically all of them said "no." They explained that Saturday was their busiest day and that all of their inventory was on the floor. They told me to talk to customer service, see when the item would be back in stock, and then drive back to get it. I was so frustrated.
We ended up finding the mirror, nightstands and the chest. We just needed the dresser and the bed. I found box 2 & 3 to the dresser but box 1 was no where to be found. Mom suggested I got back and talk to customer service and ask if they would sell a display. When I got to the desk, I explained the situation to the man who was working. He quickly and polietly told me that they had put more beds out but there just weren't in the right spot. He took me straight to them. After that, I asked him about the dresser. He told me to stand of to the side of the desk and wait. I waited for a while. He had went to help other customers and I was beginning to think he had forgot about me, went on break, left work, etc. Then the other guy working got a phone call, looked at me, and told me to go to isle 25.
He had found the dresser!!! They had a whole pallet of them but no one had gotten them down. I was so relieved and excited! I thanked him a million times and then went on to tell his boss how wonderful he was. I'm not sure why everyone else told me the items were completely out of stock, but thankful I didn't get in and just kept asking.
So, here are my tips for shopping at Ikea....for 1st time shoppers!
1. Don't go on SATURDAY. They told me that was the worst day of the week. It was very crowded while we are there.
2. If you are making a long trip, call before you go to make sure they have the item in stock. At that time, you can ask them to hold the item for you (if it's during the week.)
3. If the store is crowded, don't spend too much time browsing or you may risk one of your items selling out. You could also go as soon as they open if you want to spend a lot of time shopping.
4. Take someone, preferably a man with you. They do not have designated employees to assist you with loading. Me and my mom managed okay, but it would have been nice to have some more muscles.
5. Eat before you go into the store. It is HUGE! You will spend more time in the store than you think and will be starving while you shop. They do have a cafeteria, but I haven't tried their food.
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