There Is No Cat - "They were right. It is a cult. But a nice cult."

Hollering into the void since 2002

Wednesday, June 16, 2004

"They were right. It is a cult. But a nice cult."

Last weekend, Laura and I stopped at IKEA for the first time in a long time. We had just been looking at couches in another furniture store. Laura was impressed by how inexpensive the couches at IKEA were; I was looking at them and thinking about how cheaply constructed they were and how they would be lucky to last five years. (That said, I bought the desk I'm using right now at IKEA eight years ago, and it's as good as the day I bought it. But then, I paid about three times as much as one of those couches cost.) The Guardian has a lengthy, interesting article examining the company, how they make their goods so cheaply, how they find all those goofy names for everything, and their founder's early flirtation with fascism and Nazism.

I was tempted by some of the lamps, and may return to get some, but I would have a hard time living with most of what they sell. All the reading I've done on modern design and looking at how furniture is made have really raised my appreciation for items that are well made (and added to a desire to make some of it myself so I know that it's well made, or not, as the case may be). That and a desire to not ever live like a college student again. Lamps and Daim chocolate candy and maybe a long wall shelf were about it.

Posted at 11:40 PM

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The religion of IKEA, posted on mike's web log

""A nice cult," it says. The Guardian (UK) publishes an article on the history and philosophy of IKEA. A tiny sample:
Like at least one other major world religion, Ikea began in a shed.

[...]

Over noodles at Ikea's staff restaurant, I ..."

Tracked: July 22, 2004 03:15 AM

astounding factoid, posted on snapping links

"the madness that is Ikea"

Tracked: June 17, 2004 02:35 AM

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