Bl**dy hell! Ikea is not my favourite place at the best of times, too many people, too much choice, huge queues and hotdogs for £1:50!
Well I had to pop down there yesterday as the ex had purchased a whole heap of stuff for her bedroom and had missed a few things off her list.
I'm not sure exactly what I expected but I'm (sort of) happy to report that the place was absolutely teeming with people! The car park was as full as ever and the place was ram packed with shoppers! There didn't seem to be a huge sale on and so I assume people were happy to be paying full price for stuff.
Stores like Ikea will do well in tougher economic conditions - it's cheap and people will invest in their current homes as opposed to moving. People are also more likely to spend money on home entertainment as opposed to going out, so well priced items that improve peoples enjoyment of their homes will sell well.
I wonder if Ikea could be used to spot the bottom of the market? I doubt it, the place is always teeming with people - no doubt that Ingvar Kamprad (Ikea's founder) deserves his place in the world's top 10 richest people (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_billionaires)
