ok i'm digging this up because i had no reference to talk about it until now. well i visited the ikea at the mall of america this weekend and i was very impressed. the place was packed, granted it was christmas season, but the parking was accessable, the place VERY clean, and the prices from what i could deduct were pretty cheap. i kept looking for stuff we sell at walmart and we sell some very similar stuff, our plants are cheaper, haha. but anyway, i enjoyed a $6 lunch of sweedish meatballs and potoatos and some lingenberries? and soup. the restaurant was packed. they had some pretty good customer service from what it appeared, and a sweedish band was playing on the lower level. the upper level was setup like rooms in a house, and prices dangled from every piece of furnature so you could write the number down and then go downstairs, which looks much like a home depot of furnature, and find your number and put it in these strange carts they had. i think ikea is a very novel idea, and something that will be very successful. i wish i couuld invest in the company, it appears they only have a dozen stores in this country, so they have a lot of room to grow. they seem to integrate entertainment and shopping in a very clever way. now, i didn't really see anything i wanted, but i don't have a house to decorate and my folks are avid about antiques for furnature, decorations, etc. so thats kinda what i lean to as well, but oh well, still very neat.
