Yes I know that is a bit of shameless Grinchy stealing but hey sometimes we all give into to shameless advertising.
In my case it’s IKEA, the sexy Swedish simple superstore set to take over the southeast corner of Winnipeg next week. I have been invited along with my editor to tour and give a preview of the mega mart next Monday.
So what do I know about it already? Well I have been in exactly one IKEA thus far and I found it pretty astounding. Being a in home cook and kitchen devotee I loved the kitchen and pantry section in Edmonton. So I can not wait to get into the new Winnipeg edition.
Clocking in at around 400,000 square feet of floor space it’s one of the largest single retail spaces in North America, let alone Canada. It’s a mega mart among mega marts.
Buzz has already been forming, network news clips highlighting the Swedish meatballs and dining area are saturating the Winnipeg airwaves. Come Monday I will be taking a more critical approach, the shopping experience. Will this new facility be user-friendly? All signs point to yes, but come crunch time will the staff and the building be up to the press of three provinces and many states worth of the shopping public?
Will they be ready for the panic? I hope so, Winnipeg could use the boost to the economy. We’re not exactly hurting but a little extra is always nice, and the bump that a positive message on IKEA would defiantly do great things for our economy.
In any event we will be checking it out two days before the public.
I hope that we see good things and that those crafty Swedes are as efficient as they usually are.
Bob
Exploring Winnipeg and Beyond. 
Oh yes we are, crafty that is. I do like the food section at Ikea, they make the meatballs the way I want it and with fresh potatoe and lingonberry, nothing can go wrong. You should be pleased to get them to Winnipeg. Used to work when I was 15 at our local IKEA. And people travelled with their camping caravan and had their holidays on the parking lot. We used to give out free coffee and doughnuts every morning to them. Really bizarre but we were the only IKEA up north of Sweden. As for user friendly shops, hell they know how to make you travel through all the store picking up stuff you didn’t know you needed. Don’t know why but I always came home with new clothes hangers even though I didn’t need anymore. Never failed 🙂
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