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IKEA, Xuhui Store in Shanghai
Author: Jian Shuo Wang.
Published: January 6, 2007.
Tag:
ikea (7)
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Is IKEA still the IKEA of old days? No. Definitely not. It is already a super market, a crazy, crowded market. I didn't realize IKEA has been such a great success in Shanghai. I went there, and took some picture.
Parking Lot
IKEA has one of the biggest garage in Shanghai. Look at these pictures. They have 10+ rows of parking lots like this. At the entrance, there is a person who dedicated to stop cars at the gate and allow equal number of cars enter the garage as the cars going out. The once empty garage is now completely full. Long lines appear before IKEA store and jammed the streat. It was free for several years, and now it charges 10 RMB per car. I believe the intention is not to increase revenue. It is to restrict cars from entering the garage.
Inside the Store
The huge store was full of people. Look at these pictures. Want to try the nice sofa? You need to wait for the person to stand up before you sit down. Want to get a storage box? Line up and wait for the person before you to get it.
Business Hour
This is IKEA's business hour:
It is self-explainary.
Above is the elevator to garage.
Location
IKEA is located at the intersection of Inner Ring Road, and Humin Elevated Highway. It can be easily accessible by Metro Line #1 (Shanghai Stadium Station) and Metro Line #3 and #4 (Shanghai Stadium Station).
From the window of IKEA, you can see the Metro Line #3 and #4. The train is raining across the bridge.
Dining Room
IKEA's dining room was once empty but now it is full of people. Many people are walking around with plate in hand, just to find a seat to have their meal.
People are paying for their meal.
Interesting Stuff
I like the color paper sheet.
Soft hand towel.
and paper box.
Besides the store inventory format (a term from eBay), they have cooks present how to create Sweden Meatball...
Things are Cheaper
Look at these Billy Bookcase!
We bought exactly the same one - same brand, same size, and same color, at 870 RMB with my first money salary in 1999. NOW, it is only 299 RMB. It is the result of local sourcing.
Kijiji Plate
Look at these Kijiji Plate:
Checking Out
We bought some small stuff, but we gave up when we see the long lines at check out counter. There are more than 20 people in each of the 20 counters. This is the first time we gave up our goods just because of the long line.
IKEA in China is a Huge Success
From an "Super Expensive" furniture store 10 years ago, to the current everyone's furniture store, IKEA completed its 10 years of journey. It is a huge success. The first time I visited IKEA in 1996 was still as fresh a memroy as yesterday. At that time, there are definitely more sofa in the store than customers.
Ten years. IKEA is no longer my old IKEA.
P.S. It is not allowed to take picture inside the store. I am sorry that I didn't go through all the processes to ask permission to prepare for this blog.
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Your IKEA story reminded me of our recent October visit to Shanghai. After being very sick I swore off Chinese food for several days. We walked to the nearby IKEA store for their western cafeteria food. I particularly enjoyed the Swedish meatballs.
Once we were through the doors of the store, we could have been back in Canada. The store layout and products must be standardised around the world? The only possible difference may have been a slight tendency for customers to linger longer as they tested the chairs and the beds. One father and son were fast asleep on a sofa. I wonder if they bought it?
After a few days, I was back to enjoying Chinese food, and we went to IKEA no more.
Posted by: Ronglimeng
on January 6, 2007 11:05 PM
Why do you think they don't allow pictures? This was true all over China, even for little stores, as if they think we want to steal their trade secrets. Even the Physical in the Metro City bubble in XuJiaHui
didn't want us to take pictures of the sign inside. Weird. They could be getting free advertising all over the world from our pictures.
on January 7, 2007 02:54 AM
this is very familiar (except perhaps for waiting to try sofa!) IKEA in the UK is just the same, very crowded, and good value! We too bought 'billy bookcase' about 3 years ago, but here the price is £39 (600 RMB!) Some people may complain
about 'Globalisation', but the success of companies such as Ikea & Starbucks proves it is what people want. personally I love them both!
on January 7, 2007 07:55 AM
zjemi, they have an icon not to allow it on the glass of their entrance.
Posted by: Jian Shuo Wang on January 7, 2007 06:53 PM
Sorry but this is really not a Billy bookstore - it is a similar but cheaper version. It is nearly half the price of the normal Billy but also only available in one colour. Your Billy will be still the same price, because they are sourcing them from China for a long time now.
One thing I bought in Switzerland just now is from IKEA Shenzen. ;-)
The funny part is, that many products cost nearly the same in Germany/Switzerland and China. Something that may cost 1049 RMB in China will cost 99 Euro in Germany. The exchange rate is currently at around 10:1 so the price is really nearly identical.
Posted by: Chris on January 7, 2007 11:43 PM