Blog - Ikea Kōhoku

hey patrick,

the store designer for Ikea moved into the (massive) house across from my old place - he and his family are lovely. they have lived in all sorts of places as ikea takes on the globe with stores all through asia and the arab world. their last post was shanghai (which they loved), where they were for 7 years. they have a lovely black labrador called millie. i can't wait to see what they'll be offering up to the hoardes here. i love roaming through ikea stores and imagining the different possibilities for interior design on a grand scale.

Posted by martine on April 13, 2005 at 09:05

i wonder if ikea has any items just for the Japanese chain?? like low tables and chairs ... anyway ... from ikea shop I reccommend Swedish cafeteria- cookies and hotdogs ...

Posted by porandojin on April 13, 2005 at 21:12

martine: That's great! I'll be paying attention to their work next year. :)

porandojin: That would be interesting if they'd have kotatsu and such!

Posted by Patrick on April 14, 2005 at 00:13

Ikea in Japan, is this good news or bad news? I've actually never been to an IKEA before but I always thought it was one of those costco, walmart, starbucks, home depot, borders megastores that kill off small business where ever they go. And if everyone goes shopping there then doesn't having furniture from IKEA seem a bit embarrassing? Having said that I took a look at the online catalog and would find it interesting to visit tihs store.

Posted by Roy on April 14, 2005 at 22:48

Ikea has really cool designs and a lot of colors and choice, plus prices are usually rather cheap. My apartment in Montreal was completely furnished with Ikea. Many people do buy stuff there, but there's so much choice that it doesn't feel like everyone has the same furniture.

Something fun about Ikea, at least in my case, is that you build your own stuff. All what you buy is in a small compact box.

Make sure you check it out when it opens. :)

Posted by Patrick on April 14, 2005 at 23:26

The IKEA batteries simply rules, and their hot dogs too.
Of course their furniture is very good too, I've got my home filled with stuff from ikea.

I heard they were searching for people who could speak english, swedish and japanese for IKEA in Japan before. Sounds interesting, maybe something to keep in mind.

Posted by Lapse on April 15, 2005 at 02:34

The hot dogs I can understand, and I hope they make it to Japan, but what's up with the batteries?

Posted by Patrick on April 15, 2005 at 11:51

Well, they're selling IKEA batteries and they last long and everything. :)
great ones.

Posted by Lapse on April 16, 2005 at 11:11

Ok I'll give them a try then. :)

Posted by Patrick on April 16, 2005 at 11:13

I might go to Ikea when I'm back to TO. I just like walking around the store. Yes, I'm going back to TO in May for a week. :)

Posted by Atsuko on April 19, 2005 at 00:57

I had my place in Vancouver furnished with IKEA things and now back in Japan I am looking forward to their opening. Great shop!

Posted by Takako on December 5, 2005 at 15:18

Indeed! I hope prices will still be affordable.

Posted by Patrick on December 5, 2005 at 15:20