"Just some oak and some pine and a handful of Norsemen"
January 28, 2018 11:11 AM Subscribe
BBC: Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad dies in Sweden at 91.
Ikea issued a press release on their founders passing.
Ikea issued a press release on their founders passing.
With an instruction booklet featuring sad little icon man.
posted by chavenet at 11:23 AM on January 28, 2018 [7 favorites]
posted by chavenet at 11:23 AM on January 28, 2018 [7 favorites]
His family asks that you respect their wishes for privacy as they try to assemble the coffin.
posted by Saxon Kane at 11:29 AM on January 28, 2018 [78 favorites]
posted by Saxon Kane at 11:29 AM on January 28, 2018 [78 favorites]
˥
posted by Two unicycles and some duct tape at 11:29 AM on January 28, 2018 [71 favorites]
posted by Two unicycles and some duct tape at 11:29 AM on January 28, 2018 [71 favorites]
It wasn't meant to be an open coffin but it was missing some screws.
In other news, Ikea and Kamprad were grade A tax avoiders.
posted by jaduncan at 11:30 AM on January 28, 2018 [10 favorites]
In other news, Ikea and Kamprad were grade A tax avoiders.
posted by jaduncan at 11:30 AM on January 28, 2018 [10 favorites]
Will his body be flat-packed for shipment to the hereafter?
A longboat to be constructed of the finest Kallax and then floated out to sea, fire arrows failing to light it on fire due to flame retardant properties of the material.
posted by Artw at 11:30 AM on January 28, 2018 [16 favorites]
A longboat to be constructed of the finest Kallax and then floated out to sea, fire arrows failing to light it on fire due to flame retardant properties of the material.
posted by Artw at 11:30 AM on January 28, 2018 [16 favorites]
This is going to be one of those obituaries filled with jokes the same way when the owner of Segway rolled off a cliff, huh?
posted by 80 Cats in a Dog Suit at 11:34 AM on January 28, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by 80 Cats in a Dog Suit at 11:34 AM on January 28, 2018 [2 favorites]
I'd light a votive candle, but we have none, and no idea where to get some.
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posted by parki at 11:35 AM on January 28, 2018 [8 favorites]
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posted by parki at 11:35 AM on January 28, 2018 [8 favorites]
.
When I look around my home, I’m struck with how very little would remain, if all my IKEA furniture were to disappear. IKEA stands for me as the true continuation of functionalism and the Bauhaus school: elegant (well some of it, anyway) design created with modern industrial methods aimed at providing people with quality at affordable prices. (And yes, if you shop cheaply enough, you can find low quality furniture at IKEA, spend a little more, and things improve considerably).
posted by bouvin at 11:37 AM on January 28, 2018 [29 favorites]
When I look around my home, I’m struck with how very little would remain, if all my IKEA furniture were to disappear. IKEA stands for me as the true continuation of functionalism and the Bauhaus school: elegant (well some of it, anyway) design created with modern industrial methods aimed at providing people with quality at affordable prices. (And yes, if you shop cheaply enough, you can find low quality furniture at IKEA, spend a little more, and things improve considerably).
posted by bouvin at 11:37 AM on January 28, 2018 [29 favorites]
🔩
posted by Fizz at 11:39 AM on January 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by Fizz at 11:39 AM on January 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
Noted Nazi and tax evader.
posted by miyabo at 11:42 AM on January 28, 2018 [12 favorites]
posted by miyabo at 11:42 AM on January 28, 2018 [12 favorites]
From the New York Times obit, take it as you will:
posted by Going To Maine at 11:49 AM on January 28, 2018 [8 favorites]
In 1994, the Stockholm newspaper Expressen uncovered Mr. Kamprad’s name in the archives of Per Engdahl, a Swedish fascist who had recently died. They showed Mr. Kamprad had joined Mr. Engdahl’s fascist movement in 1942, and had attended meetings, raised funds and recruited members. Even after the war’s end in 1945, he remained close to the leader. In a 1950 letter to Mr. Engdahl, Mr. Kamprad said he was proud of his involvement.
Mr. Kamprad responded humbly to the disclosures. In a message to his employees, he said his fascist activities were “a part of my life which I bitterly regret,” and “the most stupid mistake of my life.” He said that he had been influenced by his German grandmother, who fled the Sudetenland before World War II, and that he had been drawn to Mr. Engdahl’s vision of “a non-Communist, socialist Europe.”My dwelling would be almost empty of furniture if not for him. In some alternate time line it’d be filled with different, maybe better furniture - but in this one, he was its king.
posted by Going To Maine at 11:49 AM on January 28, 2018 [8 favorites]
I'm imagining the undertaker measuring his body with one of those flimsy free tape measures.
posted by roger ackroyd at 11:52 AM on January 28, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by roger ackroyd at 11:52 AM on January 28, 2018 [2 favorites]
Wikipeida on the nazi thing - sounds like it was a bit more than he generally liked to make out.
posted by Artw at 11:55 AM on January 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by Artw at 11:55 AM on January 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
Also the nazis fucking hated Bauhaus, and Ikea put it in every living room, so there's some irony there.
posted by Artw at 11:56 AM on January 28, 2018 [19 favorites]
posted by Artw at 11:56 AM on January 28, 2018 [19 favorites]
“Ikea founder was a Nazi recruiter”
Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad's Nazi ties 'went deeper'
Rot in Hell, Nazi scum.
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 12:01 PM on January 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad's Nazi ties 'went deeper'
Rot in Hell, Nazi scum.
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 12:01 PM on January 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
My dwelling would be almost empty of furniture if not for him.
The room I am sitting in right now, if all the IKEA products were suddenly raptured away would have a recliner, three or four century-old chairs, and several thousand books in piles along the walls. Also this laptop would have fallen to the carpet, the LINNMON and its associated FINNVARDs having vanished.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 12:32 PM on January 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
The room I am sitting in right now, if all the IKEA products were suddenly raptured away would have a recliner, three or four century-old chairs, and several thousand books in piles along the walls. Also this laptop would have fallen to the carpet, the LINNMON and its associated FINNVARDs having vanished.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 12:32 PM on January 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
from the wiki: The BBC report also noted that, "a spokesman for Mr Kamprad said he had long admitted flirting with fascism, but that now, 'there are no Nazi-sympathising thoughts in Ingvar's head whatsoever'".
haha
Ikea says sorry to East German political prisoners forced to make its furniture
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posted by runt at 12:44 PM on January 28, 2018 [19 favorites]
haha
Ikea says sorry to East German political prisoners forced to make its furniture
A roomful of angry former GDR prisoners first watched – and then started to vent decades worth of anger – as a squirming Peter Betzel formally apologised for using prison labour in the 1970s and 1980s.IKEA's Double Standard on Workers' Rights
"We regret wholeheartedly that this happened," said Betzel, head of Ikea Germany, after an independent report by auditors Ernst and Young confirmed that Ikea managers knew of the practice.
In reality, it is management that has the power to fire workers, refuse them promotions, deny them full-time work (an issue of enormous importance within the stores) or alter their schedules, making it possible for them to balance work, family and school commitments. The union has no similar power over the employees, and IKEA's "at will" employees risk a lot by openly supporting the union.oops, rot in peace ya old white colonial mindset in flesh form. ya built your empire on the suffering of the disempowered and keep it running that same way
Moreover, IKEA management has used its non-solicitation and social media policies to prevent employees from discussing unionization or hearing from pro-union workers both inside the stores and in public areas outside the stores. The company recently settled a charge with the National Labor Relations Board accusing it of violating federal law for using social media policies to clamp down on discussion.
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posted by runt at 12:44 PM on January 28, 2018 [19 favorites]
fire arrows failing to light it on fire due to flame retardant properties of the material.
IKEA hasn't used flame retardants in a while. Which is why I have so damn much of their stuff.
posted by fshgrl at 1:12 PM on January 28, 2018 [2 favorites]
IKEA hasn't used flame retardants in a while. Which is why I have so damn much of their stuff.
posted by fshgrl at 1:12 PM on January 28, 2018 [2 favorites]
Also, he left his 3 sons $1.5 billion combined, and his daughter $300,000. What a jerk.
posted by miyabo at 1:16 PM on January 28, 2018 [32 favorites]
posted by miyabo at 1:16 PM on January 28, 2018 [32 favorites]
A roomful of angry former GDR prisoners first watched – and then started to vent decades worth of anger – as a squirming Peter Betzel formally apologised for using prison labour in the 1970s and 1980s.
So he stopped being a Nazi because the Communists offered him a cheaper deal?
posted by clawsoon at 1:17 PM on January 28, 2018 [4 favorites]
So he stopped being a Nazi because the Communists offered him a cheaper deal?
posted by clawsoon at 1:17 PM on January 28, 2018 [4 favorites]
This is going to be one of those obituaries filled with jokes the same way when the owner of Segway rolled off a cliff, huh?
I regret nothing.
posted by leotrotsky at 1:23 PM on January 28, 2018 [9 favorites]
I regret nothing.
posted by leotrotsky at 1:23 PM on January 28, 2018 [9 favorites]
"if we can follow all of the instructions he will give / then all the world will have the little bits to build a better way to live"
posted by Catseye at 1:51 PM on January 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Catseye at 1:51 PM on January 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
I hope in the afterlife he has to walk round and round one of his horribly uncomfortable stores, unable to find the exit and forced to look at endless piles of Turduuckenn and Billdonngsrommann.
posted by JanetLand at 3:12 PM on January 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by JanetLand at 3:12 PM on January 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
I hope in the afterlife he has to walk round and round one of his horribly uncomfortable stores, unable to find the exit and forced to look at endless piles of Turduuckenn and Billdonngsrommann.
Obligatory.
posted by acb at 4:07 PM on January 28, 2018 [7 favorites]
Obligatory.
posted by acb at 4:07 PM on January 28, 2018 [7 favorites]
IKEA hasn't used flame retardants in a while.
Halogenated and brominated hydrocarbons in particular have no business anywhere near an ecosystem.
posted by bonehead at 4:15 PM on January 28, 2018
Halogenated and brominated hydrocarbons in particular have no business anywhere near an ecosystem.
posted by bonehead at 4:15 PM on January 28, 2018
FIne, my joke is going to be made from old salvaged BILLY units now, they were bette than KALLAX anyway.
posted by Artw at 4:25 PM on January 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by Artw at 4:25 PM on January 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
Via fastcodesign, Ikea Is A Nonprofit, And Yes, That’s Every Bit As Fishy As It Sounds, including a whiteboard explainer video.
posted by ZeusHumms at 4:37 PM on January 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by ZeusHumms at 4:37 PM on January 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
There's no such thing as ethical capitalism or an innocent billionaire.
posted by AFABulous at 4:46 PM on January 28, 2018 [12 favorites]
posted by AFABulous at 4:46 PM on January 28, 2018 [12 favorites]
I went to an ikea store once. It was like a theme park without the rides.
posted by 4ster at 5:16 PM on January 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by 4ster at 5:16 PM on January 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
Well, this thread has been a rollercoaster of emotion. First I was ready to raise a . in his honor, then I was chuckling at flat pack jokes, then I found out he was a Nazi, and now I’m seething with anger over his company’s awful business practices.
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 5:28 PM on January 28, 2018 [13 favorites]
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 5:28 PM on January 28, 2018 [13 favorites]
.
Very sorry, but not the least bit surprised to read the above re the man's character. As AFAB* said, "There's no such thing as ethical capitalism or an innocent billionaire."
Read and responded to from the comfort of my second-hand (nearest Ikea is 100+ miles) Poang.
posted by she's not there at 5:30 PM on January 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
Very sorry, but not the least bit surprised to read the above re the man's character. As AFAB* said, "There's no such thing as ethical capitalism or an innocent billionaire."
Read and responded to from the comfort of my second-hand (nearest Ikea is 100+ miles) Poang.
posted by she's not there at 5:30 PM on January 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
You can't earn a billion dollars. But you can steal one.
posted by sotonohito at 5:31 PM on January 28, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by sotonohito at 5:31 PM on January 28, 2018 [4 favorites]
I worked at Ikea for 5.5 years as a cashier in Canada. Contrary to the article posted, I got my schedule 4 weeks in advance, and got paid a fairly hilarious amount for being a cashier - $18.80 when I quit in 2006. I once got a $3/hr raise! I paid my way through university by working there, and they were very flexible with scheduling. It was a great place to work, and though I never met Ingvar, I know people who had, and he was known as a humble guy.
posted by just_ducky at 6:05 PM on January 28, 2018 [11 favorites]
posted by just_ducky at 6:05 PM on January 28, 2018 [11 favorites]
Nazi, or not, I wish there was one in town so I could try the famous meatballs. Fuck the furniture and fuck politics.
posted by Samizdata at 8:10 PM on January 28, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Samizdata at 8:10 PM on January 28, 2018 [2 favorites]
Guy Discovers What IKEA Furniture Is Really Made Of While Working On Design Hack
posted by oneswellfoop at 8:36 PM on January 28, 2018
posted by oneswellfoop at 8:36 PM on January 28, 2018
Guy Discovers What IKEA Furniture Is Really Made Of While Working On Design Hack
Is that what that LACK line is made out of? Because one of those little LACK end tables has been sitting on my back porch through something like ten Chicago winters and all it has is a slight sign of some bubbling on the finish. I put it out there to die ... and it won't.
posted by lagomorphius at 9:13 PM on January 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
Is that what that LACK line is made out of? Because one of those little LACK end tables has been sitting on my back porch through something like ten Chicago winters and all it has is a slight sign of some bubbling on the finish. I put it out there to die ... and it won't.
posted by lagomorphius at 9:13 PM on January 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
Guy Discovers What IKEA Furniture Is Really Made Of While Working On Design Hack
You can get a Lack table for literally 8 bucks! Like, what did he expect it to be made of?
posted by btfreek at 9:21 PM on January 28, 2018 [4 favorites]
You can get a Lack table for literally 8 bucks! Like, what did he expect it to be made of?
posted by btfreek at 9:21 PM on January 28, 2018 [4 favorites]
Very excited to find out that I can upgrade from using a cardboard box as a side table to using a side table made out of a cardboard box.
It seems unlikely that Ingvar Kamprad was still a Nazi; his disdain for paying his fair share of taxes still raises a red flag for me, though. Mostly all I want from Nazis is for them to stop being Nazis, so either way I'm satisfied.
posted by Merus at 9:50 PM on January 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
It seems unlikely that Ingvar Kamprad was still a Nazi; his disdain for paying his fair share of taxes still raises a red flag for me, though. Mostly all I want from Nazis is for them to stop being Nazis, so either way I'm satisfied.
posted by Merus at 9:50 PM on January 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
Table top: Particleboard, Fiberboard, Acrylic paint, ABS plastic, Paper
Leg: Particleboard, Fiberboard, Foil
Does a good job of keeping my printer off the ground.
posted by Artw at 9:58 PM on January 28, 2018 [2 favorites]
Leg: Particleboard, Fiberboard, Foil
Does a good job of keeping my printer off the ground.
posted by Artw at 9:58 PM on January 28, 2018 [2 favorites]
You can get a Lack table for literally 8 bucks! Like, what did he expect it to be made of?
Also, it's a coffee table that weighs eight pounds. Obviously it's not made of wood or especially heavier particle board. (The similarly-dimensioned Rekarne weighs 25 pounds).
There are lots of problems with Ikea, but they have done more than anybody I can think of to emphasize that it's okay -- chic even -- to live in smaller spaces, at a time when the ever-expanding North American house is increasingly unsustainable. And as a non-car owning person, it's nice to have a furniture store where I can get all the home products I need in a single trip, and where everything is not only measured, it's available in SketchUp, so I can plan the space then go to the store without endless back-and-forth.
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 10:08 PM on January 28, 2018 [8 favorites]
Also, it's a coffee table that weighs eight pounds. Obviously it's not made of wood or especially heavier particle board. (The similarly-dimensioned Rekarne weighs 25 pounds).
There are lots of problems with Ikea, but they have done more than anybody I can think of to emphasize that it's okay -- chic even -- to live in smaller spaces, at a time when the ever-expanding North American house is increasingly unsustainable. And as a non-car owning person, it's nice to have a furniture store where I can get all the home products I need in a single trip, and where everything is not only measured, it's available in SketchUp, so I can plan the space then go to the store without endless back-and-forth.
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 10:08 PM on January 28, 2018 [8 favorites]
Have been to Ikea stores in uh {counts} nine countries so far. I prefer the ones in the origin country of Sweden, especially the biggest of the lot which pretty much had whole houses inside when I visited. That was a fun day out.
Most of my shopping there, when I'm not nesting, is food. Eat in the café, wander, eat, wander, buy some stuff in the food shop, leave, is my usual routine. Their cheese is good, and who can resist the feeling of ramming some skumtopp in their mouth, anyway?
Yes, mainly for the food, which is reassuringly familiar whichever country am in (familiar is oft preferred when getting through jetlag). So the meatballs I ate in an Ohio (USA) Ikea were pretty much the same as those in a Birmingham (UK) one, or some way north in a different branch. It's also, when it's Fika time, damned cheap, the wifi works, and it seems to be used more by liberal, leftie and student types so I'm in.
posted by Wordshore at 11:24 PM on January 28, 2018 [4 favorites]
Most of my shopping there, when I'm not nesting, is food. Eat in the café, wander, eat, wander, buy some stuff in the food shop, leave, is my usual routine. Their cheese is good, and who can resist the feeling of ramming some skumtopp in their mouth, anyway?
Yes, mainly for the food, which is reassuringly familiar whichever country am in (familiar is oft preferred when getting through jetlag). So the meatballs I ate in an Ohio (USA) Ikea were pretty much the same as those in a Birmingham (UK) one, or some way north in a different branch. It's also, when it's Fika time, damned cheap, the wifi works, and it seems to be used more by liberal, leftie and student types so I'm in.
posted by Wordshore at 11:24 PM on January 28, 2018 [4 favorites]
Learning that he was a fascist or Nazi is almost comforting because I really, really hate their stores, their products and even a lot of the disposable design aesthetic. So many people I know and love love their stores and products and it drives me a little bonkers being expected to love it too.
I have tried to enjoy myself in their stores but it's like marching through a forced labor prison to wait for cardboard gruel. On a scale of visiting the dentist for a root canal or going to spend the day at Ikea I might just take the root canal, and it's not just because I need one. I think I've had at least three life changing breakdowns or realizations I wasn't happy due to the psychological stress of being in an Ikea and slogging through that maze of mostly disposable consumerism and Pantone color forecast friendly trends and patterns.
The maze and showroom crawl is deeply, unsettlingly manipulative and aspirational in a lot of ways that I don't think even consciously registers for most people, and it's intentionally supposed to be as disorienting as a casino. No one goes in there and buys the one thing they went there for. By the time you get even halfway through the maze you're invested and committed to making the trip worth the effort.
The only things I've ever had from there that I really liked is a totally random larger that life size plush rat toy.
On paper I should be their target market. I like Bauhaus in limited and not regressive amounts and I like functional design.
No, I pretty much hate them, and it's not because I think their furniture is difficult to assemble. No, I hate them because they're disposable and essentially a temple to the fucked up rentier transient nature of modern capitalism.
posted by loquacious at 1:24 AM on January 29, 2018 [3 favorites]
I have tried to enjoy myself in their stores but it's like marching through a forced labor prison to wait for cardboard gruel. On a scale of visiting the dentist for a root canal or going to spend the day at Ikea I might just take the root canal, and it's not just because I need one. I think I've had at least three life changing breakdowns or realizations I wasn't happy due to the psychological stress of being in an Ikea and slogging through that maze of mostly disposable consumerism and Pantone color forecast friendly trends and patterns.
The maze and showroom crawl is deeply, unsettlingly manipulative and aspirational in a lot of ways that I don't think even consciously registers for most people, and it's intentionally supposed to be as disorienting as a casino. No one goes in there and buys the one thing they went there for. By the time you get even halfway through the maze you're invested and committed to making the trip worth the effort.
The only things I've ever had from there that I really liked is a totally random larger that life size plush rat toy.
On paper I should be their target market. I like Bauhaus in limited and not regressive amounts and I like functional design.
No, I pretty much hate them, and it's not because I think their furniture is difficult to assemble. No, I hate them because they're disposable and essentially a temple to the fucked up rentier transient nature of modern capitalism.
posted by loquacious at 1:24 AM on January 29, 2018 [3 favorites]
I am not remotely a fan of IKEA (if all of their products were to disappear right now from our house precisely nothing would happen) but the construction of the Lack with two membranes and a very lightweight structure between is pretty damn standard - it's a torsion box, they work well. I'd be a little concerned if someone associated with industrial design was not familiar with the idea.
posted by deadwax at 2:25 AM on January 29, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by deadwax at 2:25 AM on January 29, 2018 [2 favorites]
Yeah, seriously, a cardboard-core desktop is fine for many purposes. You'd find it a lot more challenging to haul half an apartment's worth of furniture in your Prius if the stuff was particleboard. The cardboard-core shelf is less likely to bow under load than the MDF slabs of their older bookcases. If it's not going to be strong enough for your use case, that's the time where it's worth spending for durability; a repurposed LINMON desk might be a satisfactory substitute for a purpose-built workbench if you build small electronics or clay figurines, and it might not be if you use power tools or rebuild auto engines.
Where the low-end Ikea desks and bookcases often fail is in the finishing surface. The paint and the cheaper foils are very, very thin and while they're at low risk of cracking or peeling on their own, accidental scratches and pinprick holes are trivially easy accidents. Once water gets through them (for example, sweat from a glass of ice water, or ambient moisture on a really humid day), the material underneath is going to blister up, and it'll stay that way forever. It can be kind of dismaying.
posted by ardgedee at 3:01 AM on January 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
Where the low-end Ikea desks and bookcases often fail is in the finishing surface. The paint and the cheaper foils are very, very thin and while they're at low risk of cracking or peeling on their own, accidental scratches and pinprick holes are trivially easy accidents. Once water gets through them (for example, sweat from a glass of ice water, or ambient moisture on a really humid day), the material underneath is going to blister up, and it'll stay that way forever. It can be kind of dismaying.
posted by ardgedee at 3:01 AM on January 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
yeah, I've debated posting here because what's the point in arguing with Internet strangers. I'm also biased because I've met Ingvar and his family. Most people who have spent enough years in IKEA have done so, so it isn't a big distinction.
And you can choose to believe you can never outrun the bad political choices of your youth as a general thing or maybe you have specific knowledge I don't to believe he was still a hidden Nazi sympathiser. Dunno.
What I can say is that I am satisfied that he was a bright stubborn man who eventually did understand and sincerely regret those political choices from his past. You can have your view for sure.
RIP, Ingvar.
posted by frumiousb at 3:48 AM on January 29, 2018 [19 favorites]
And you can choose to believe you can never outrun the bad political choices of your youth as a general thing or maybe you have specific knowledge I don't to believe he was still a hidden Nazi sympathiser. Dunno.
What I can say is that I am satisfied that he was a bright stubborn man who eventually did understand and sincerely regret those political choices from his past. You can have your view for sure.
RIP, Ingvar.
posted by frumiousb at 3:48 AM on January 29, 2018 [19 favorites]
We have a fair bit of Ikea furniture and will buy more next time we move. Without excusing the founder's imperfections, I think the company has done a lot to make good design accessible, and is one of my main sources for furniture that fits well in small houses and apartments, unlike the super-sized pieces I see at a lot of other stores.
posted by Dip Flash at 5:59 AM on January 29, 2018
posted by Dip Flash at 5:59 AM on January 29, 2018
We've always been an Ikea family, and for so long this 44 yr old spent time in the ballroom in their first Canadian store. We've always liked the aesthetic, we've always liked the affordability, and it has served us very well over the years (especially moving around through university). Better meals than McDonalds for the same money, Christmas trees that are essentially free, tealights everywhere and always. I really don't know how we would have done without it -- and judging by the number of cars in the parking lot, we're not the only ones.
Ingvar changed a lot of lives like ours for the better, and I thank him for it. Godspeed.
posted by Capt. Renault at 6:39 AM on January 29, 2018 [4 favorites]
Ingvar changed a lot of lives like ours for the better, and I thank him for it. Godspeed.
posted by Capt. Renault at 6:39 AM on January 29, 2018 [4 favorites]
I'm typing this while sitting at an Ikea desk but I purchased it with mixed feelings. Now they're possibly opening a store in my area and I'm likely to shop there. With mixed feelings.
posted by tommasz at 6:49 AM on January 29, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by tommasz at 6:49 AM on January 29, 2018 [2 favorites]
(I of course meant EXPEDIT, BILLY is still made)
posted by Artw at 7:03 AM on January 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Artw at 7:03 AM on January 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
maybe you have specific knowledge I don't to believe he was still a hidden Nazi sympathiser
doesn't really matter, does it? being a Nazi sympathizer is just a signal of how you use power. given IKEA's union-busting tendencies and use of political prisoners for manufacturing labor for a good part of two decades, that signal appears to be pointing to some kind of truth
in the same way that our current President can be very kind and giving towards the people with whom he has personally interacted with, I'm sure Ingvar treated many of his longtime employees with real grace. it still doesn't mean that he didn't wield his power abusively towards those he's never met, who never met his arbitrary line for compassion
posted by runt at 7:41 AM on January 29, 2018
doesn't really matter, does it? being a Nazi sympathizer is just a signal of how you use power. given IKEA's union-busting tendencies and use of political prisoners for manufacturing labor for a good part of two decades, that signal appears to be pointing to some kind of truth
in the same way that our current President can be very kind and giving towards the people with whom he has personally interacted with, I'm sure Ingvar treated many of his longtime employees with real grace. it still doesn't mean that he didn't wield his power abusively towards those he's never met, who never met his arbitrary line for compassion
posted by runt at 7:41 AM on January 29, 2018
I wonder if his pallbearers will charge $35 for delivery.
posted by Optamystic at 8:08 AM on January 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Optamystic at 8:08 AM on January 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
I don't really get why so many of the same people hate Walmart and love IKEA. Maybe classism? Walmart is for poor people, IKEA is for the middle class*, even though both sell cheap disposable shit. IKEA seems less evil but if there is union-busting and prison labor, then they're still on the same spectrum.
*Broke college kids are middle class.
posted by AFABulous at 8:23 AM on January 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
*Broke college kids are middle class.
posted by AFABulous at 8:23 AM on January 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
I don't really get why so many of the same people hate Walmart and love IKEA.
Both target a different consumer value set, and, I agree, those values are on a class fault line. IKEA does industrial design and cares about the manufacturing process deeply; Walmart sells goods with driven almost exclusively by price and sales figures.
Folks who have the both the interest and the luxury to care a little about design over just price drive IKEA's target market. They're still price conscious, so at least middle-class, but they're also driven by a combination of aesthetic choice and aspirational purchasing. Walmart targets neither, focusing almost entirely on cost. They don't advertise durability or design (as IKEA does), they just guarantee lowest prices. IMO, those values for consumers are often class differentiators.
posted by bonehead at 8:45 AM on January 29, 2018 [2 favorites]
Both target a different consumer value set, and, I agree, those values are on a class fault line. IKEA does industrial design and cares about the manufacturing process deeply; Walmart sells goods with driven almost exclusively by price and sales figures.
Folks who have the both the interest and the luxury to care a little about design over just price drive IKEA's target market. They're still price conscious, so at least middle-class, but they're also driven by a combination of aesthetic choice and aspirational purchasing. Walmart targets neither, focusing almost entirely on cost. They don't advertise durability or design (as IKEA does), they just guarantee lowest prices. IMO, those values for consumers are often class differentiators.
posted by bonehead at 8:45 AM on January 29, 2018 [2 favorites]
I said all I ever care to say about IKEA in this comment from four years ago.
posted by Strange Interlude at 9:01 AM on January 29, 2018
posted by Strange Interlude at 9:01 AM on January 29, 2018
IKEA is scaled and proportioned for smaller dwellings. It has clean, modern lines and many products come in real, actual colors. You can load it - a lot of it - into a normal sized car. You can carry it into your house/apartment with one or two average (able bodied) people. You can put it together with tools every adult has on hand. I cannot find any new furniture that hits the value-for-price ratio that IKEA provides.
Have you been to Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel, Room & Board? Their products are much more expensive, and they are over-scaled to match over-scaled new-build suburbia. Their stuff is big, chunky, bulky, heavy, "transitional style" which could just as well be called "middle class aspirational" or "upper middle class representational". And all of it is "cream", "sand", or fucking "pewter".
Or furniture store? Like a big one in a strip mall? They have a predatory sales-commission business model that is maybe - maybe - one step above pay-day loans. Also everything is sand pewter whatever.
You can thrift higher quality, lower style stuff (word is out on midcentury, I can't find it used anywhere that isn't a heavily marked-up reseller). You can find shit at estate sales, but those often run Friday - Sunday, and a lot of us work on Fridays, which means the really good finds have been found by someone else. And it's time consuming.
And say you find something - go ahead and move that classic all-oak Craftsman dresser you found. The van rental isn't free, and you have to carry that big fucking 300lb thing to your third floor walkup. And it doesn't fit. Or you could get a decent Hemnes that comes in 3 manageable boxes.
Wayfair and Target are trying to go after IKEA market, but price-point to price-point, their stuff isn't as good a quality and the colors are just a little off somehow in my opinion.
From a product perspective, I don't really get the hate. Like, where else do you go?
posted by everythings_interrelated at 9:07 AM on January 29, 2018 [3 favorites]
Have you been to Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel, Room & Board? Their products are much more expensive, and they are over-scaled to match over-scaled new-build suburbia. Their stuff is big, chunky, bulky, heavy, "transitional style" which could just as well be called "middle class aspirational" or "upper middle class representational". And all of it is "cream", "sand", or fucking "pewter".
Or furniture store? Like a big one in a strip mall? They have a predatory sales-commission business model that is maybe - maybe - one step above pay-day loans. Also everything is sand pewter whatever.
You can thrift higher quality, lower style stuff (word is out on midcentury, I can't find it used anywhere that isn't a heavily marked-up reseller). You can find shit at estate sales, but those often run Friday - Sunday, and a lot of us work on Fridays, which means the really good finds have been found by someone else. And it's time consuming.
And say you find something - go ahead and move that classic all-oak Craftsman dresser you found. The van rental isn't free, and you have to carry that big fucking 300lb thing to your third floor walkup. And it doesn't fit. Or you could get a decent Hemnes that comes in 3 manageable boxes.
Wayfair and Target are trying to go after IKEA market, but price-point to price-point, their stuff isn't as good a quality and the colors are just a little off somehow in my opinion.
From a product perspective, I don't really get the hate. Like, where else do you go?
posted by everythings_interrelated at 9:07 AM on January 29, 2018 [3 favorites]
Ikea in the UK..
posted by Mister Bijou at 9:13 AM on January 29, 2018
When the first customers were welcomed into a sprawling blue warehouse in Warrington in 1987, handed a stubby pencil and left to roam its assembled worlds, it was a retail experience like no other. Ikea’s winning formula was to lead you through curated rooms – thereby suggesting other things you might not have realised you wanted (and probably didn’t) – before allowing you into a “behind the scenes” warehouse of cardboard boxes piled high. This cleverly fused domestic stagecraft with the feel of a discount, no-frills cash-and-carry, leaving shoppers in no doubt that they were getting a bargain.Meatball mania: the top 10 Ikea products of all time – rated
posted by Mister Bijou at 9:13 AM on January 29, 2018
I'm saddened to hear about the history Kamprad had with fascism, as well as stories of employee mistreatment. People make mistakes, but some mistakes are more unforgiveable than others.
I worked at IKEA in the late 90s at the Canadian shop-by-phone office. i had just gotten over a manipulative relationship, and landed my first full-time job here, and my first exposure to corporate culture and branding - I remember being amused and somewhat intimidated by all the IKEA-branded stuff in the office - pencils, coffee mugs, stationery, binders.
Similar to just_ducky, I was treated very well with a salary well above minimum wage, and 1$/hr raises every 6 months for the first 2 years i was there. The Canadian stores also celebrated a milestone anniversary while I was there, and to commemorate it, all of the sales (not profits) made on a specific Saturday were distributed among all the employees. I ended up getting a bonus check of $3500 because of that day, and managed to pay off all my debts with one phone call (only to fall back into the red abyss a few months later, but that's another story).
I'm also disappointed about the stories of forced labour and tax evasion. I really made efforts over the past few years to only shop at places that had fair labour and business practices, and I had hoped that IKEA was an example of how one could be successful and woke. Foolish, naive bitteroldman!
I sadly add you to the black list now, IKEA, but i must acknowledge that you will always represent that chapter in my life where I finally got my lucky break at life, and i will never forget that.
.
posted by bitteroldman at 9:39 AM on January 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
I worked at IKEA in the late 90s at the Canadian shop-by-phone office. i had just gotten over a manipulative relationship, and landed my first full-time job here, and my first exposure to corporate culture and branding - I remember being amused and somewhat intimidated by all the IKEA-branded stuff in the office - pencils, coffee mugs, stationery, binders.
Similar to just_ducky, I was treated very well with a salary well above minimum wage, and 1$/hr raises every 6 months for the first 2 years i was there. The Canadian stores also celebrated a milestone anniversary while I was there, and to commemorate it, all of the sales (not profits) made on a specific Saturday were distributed among all the employees. I ended up getting a bonus check of $3500 because of that day, and managed to pay off all my debts with one phone call (only to fall back into the red abyss a few months later, but that's another story).
I'm also disappointed about the stories of forced labour and tax evasion. I really made efforts over the past few years to only shop at places that had fair labour and business practices, and I had hoped that IKEA was an example of how one could be successful and woke. Foolish, naive bitteroldman!
I sadly add you to the black list now, IKEA, but i must acknowledge that you will always represent that chapter in my life where I finally got my lucky break at life, and i will never forget that.
.
posted by bitteroldman at 9:39 AM on January 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
I've spent some time mulling the IKEA-hate, and as I like to hate on things, trying to hate on IKEA too. I can only really come up with two reasons to hate IKEA. The first is that, because it's accessible and affordable, everyone near an IKEA leans on them heavily when furnishing a first apartment. So it kind-of goes with being a 20-something and can be seen as something to be left behind as you get older, get married, have career success, etc. Ok, fine, but the push back from me would be that you're not really in the IKEA market anymore if choosing something better is NBD financially, because to go up a discrete quality level you have to pay quite a bit more.
The second is that, because it's ubiquitous, it can never really be personally expressive. Or that personal expression becomes which thing you chose from IKEA. I'm THIS kind of pod person, whereas you're THAT kind of pod person. Instead you opt out, but by opting out I think you are sacrificing either value or quality or convenience, and that this is a choice you make and not something to hate about IKEA.
There's something about IKEA that I really, really like, and it's embarrassing, but I genuinely like it. I think it's the degree of design thinking that is in every step of the product - especially in the packaging and assembly. It's a delight to appreciate, and for me, an aesthetic experience akin to reading a very good book. A connection between me and all these other people - designers and manufacturers and distributers and packers and and and... even the instructions are wordless - and the last bit of assembly, the final bit of puzzle is me working with all of them to put together this tidy little delightful bit of geometric perfection.
posted by everythings_interrelated at 9:42 AM on January 29, 2018 [2 favorites]
The second is that, because it's ubiquitous, it can never really be personally expressive. Or that personal expression becomes which thing you chose from IKEA. I'm THIS kind of pod person, whereas you're THAT kind of pod person. Instead you opt out, but by opting out I think you are sacrificing either value or quality or convenience, and that this is a choice you make and not something to hate about IKEA.
There's something about IKEA that I really, really like, and it's embarrassing, but I genuinely like it. I think it's the degree of design thinking that is in every step of the product - especially in the packaging and assembly. It's a delight to appreciate, and for me, an aesthetic experience akin to reading a very good book. A connection between me and all these other people - designers and manufacturers and distributers and packers and and and... even the instructions are wordless - and the last bit of assembly, the final bit of puzzle is me working with all of them to put together this tidy little delightful bit of geometric perfection.
posted by everythings_interrelated at 9:42 AM on January 29, 2018 [2 favorites]
Guy Discovers What IKEA Furniture Is Really Made Of While Working On Design Hack
I have a Muji shelving unit that is of a similar construction (particleboard and cardboard). It seems to have less pretense of solidity and heft, though.
posted by acb at 11:53 AM on January 29, 2018
IKEA seems less evil but if there is union-busting and prison labor, then they're still on the same spectrum.
Wal-Mart are flag-bearers for red-state, God-and-guns #MAGA America, while IKEA are flag-bearers for lagom, cinnamon-roll-powered social democracy. Branding counts. It's like the difference between vitamins sold by Gwyneth Paltrow and those sold by Alex Jones.
posted by acb at 11:57 AM on January 29, 2018 [5 favorites]
Wal-Mart are flag-bearers for red-state, God-and-guns #MAGA America, while IKEA are flag-bearers for lagom, cinnamon-roll-powered social democracy. Branding counts. It's like the difference between vitamins sold by Gwyneth Paltrow and those sold by Alex Jones.
posted by acb at 11:57 AM on January 29, 2018 [5 favorites]
We live in a tiny house, so have a lot of IKEA furniture and antique furniture out of necessity as those are pretty well your only choices for well made, reasonably-sized furniture unless you can afford super-expensive design house stuff. Without them I would have some pretty empty rooms, not to mention no kitchen.
posted by fimbulvetr at 12:54 PM on January 29, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by fimbulvetr at 12:54 PM on January 29, 2018 [2 favorites]
The Guardian view on Ikea: furnishing the modern world
posted by Wordshore at 1:04 PM on January 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Wordshore at 1:04 PM on January 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
The first time I went to Ikea my parents dragged me to the one in Philadelphia, and it seemed like the furniture store equivalent of Poe's "The Man of the Crowd" - I absolutely hated it. But eventually I changed my mind and have assembled some of their seriously unpleasant contraptions, like the triple wardrobe. Now people think I go there all the time but I haven't been there in years.
For a while the Ikeas here in Chicago were selling books about Ikea for next to nothing. It seemed like the most meta thing you could buy at Ikea. I have them all.
Ikea used to sell pianos!
What others have said is true. If you need something really big, consider hiring somebody to build it in place. It can be surprisingly reasonable.
posted by lagomorphius at 4:11 PM on January 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
For a while the Ikeas here in Chicago were selling books about Ikea for next to nothing. It seemed like the most meta thing you could buy at Ikea. I have them all.
Ikea used to sell pianos!
What others have said is true. If you need something really big, consider hiring somebody to build it in place. It can be surprisingly reasonable.
posted by lagomorphius at 4:11 PM on January 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
The first time I went to Ikea my parents dragged me to the one in Philadelphia, and it seemed like the furniture store equivalent of Poe's "The Man of the Crowd" - I absolutely hated it. But eventually I changed my mind and have assembled some of their seriously unpleasant contraptions, like the triple wardrobe. Now people think I go there all the time but I haven't been there in years.
I also used to hate Ollie's.
posted by lagomorphius at 4:15 PM on January 29, 2018
I also used to hate Ollie's.
posted by lagomorphius at 4:15 PM on January 29, 2018
I don't really get why so many of the same people hate Walmart and love IKEA.
A lot of the Walmart haters/Ikea lovers will be happy to chunder on about how much they love Target...
posted by lagomorphius at 4:17 PM on January 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
A lot of the Walmart haters/Ikea lovers will be happy to chunder on about how much they love Target...
posted by lagomorphius at 4:17 PM on January 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
A lot of the Walmart haters/Ikea lovers will be happy to chunder on about how much they love Target...
I always found Target's flat pack furniture problematic. Fit and finish were not consistent.
posted by ZeusHumms at 4:35 PM on January 29, 2018
I always found Target's flat pack furniture problematic. Fit and finish were not consistent.
posted by ZeusHumms at 4:35 PM on January 29, 2018
I do shop at Target, it's kind of the least of all evils of big box stores as far as I can tell. Their vocal support of trans people meant a lot to me. I've been unemployed for a year so my choices are pretty much Walmart, Target, or skipping meals. I'm definitely open to more ethical options. (I cannot receive deliveries except for USPS.)
posted by AFABulous at 6:18 PM on January 29, 2018
posted by AFABulous at 6:18 PM on January 29, 2018
Ikea used to sell pianos!
I have come to terms with putting together bookshelves, but there is just no way I could ever assemble a piano with an Allen wrench.
posted by Daily Alice at 8:09 PM on January 29, 2018
I have come to terms with putting together bookshelves, but there is just no way I could ever assemble a piano with an Allen wrench.
posted by Daily Alice at 8:09 PM on January 29, 2018
In Meta-Irony, am catching up on this thread while consuming a coffee and a cinnamon bun (one pound total on the family card) while in the bistro of a nearby Ikea...
posted by Wordshore at 2:40 AM on January 30, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Wordshore at 2:40 AM on January 30, 2018 [2 favorites]
*snort* Duke & Duchess of Cambridge buy IKEA furniture.
posted by JanetLand at 9:50 AM on January 30, 2018
posted by JanetLand at 9:50 AM on January 30, 2018
I have come to terms with putting together bookshelves, but there is just no way I could ever assemble a piano with an Allen wrench.
Presumably you'd keep the wrench to use for tuning it.
posted by acb at 1:00 PM on January 30, 2018
Presumably you'd keep the wrench to use for tuning it.
posted by acb at 1:00 PM on January 30, 2018
The only evidence I could find for IKEA selling pianos comes from a Metafilter post. At least in English anyway. Seems implausible to me that they would actually make such a kit.
posted by ZeusHumms at 7:49 AM on January 31, 2018
posted by ZeusHumms at 7:49 AM on January 31, 2018
The only evidence I could find for IKEA selling pianos comes from a Metafilter post. At least in English anyway. Seems implausible to me that they would actually make such a kit.
The pianos were not a kit - I'm not sure if they stenciled their own names on pianos somebody else built or simply sold someone else's pianos under their own name in their stores. It's mentioned in one of the IKEA books about IKEA I bought about IKEA, which set me trawling on the net to find something. I believe it's also been discussed on Piano World.
A piano built from random IKEA parts would be a tall order. A harpsichord, or a square grand, which don't have cost iron frames, might be possible.
posted by lagomorphius at 8:53 AM on January 31, 2018
The pianos were not a kit - I'm not sure if they stenciled their own names on pianos somebody else built or simply sold someone else's pianos under their own name in their stores. It's mentioned in one of the IKEA books about IKEA I bought about IKEA, which set me trawling on the net to find something. I believe it's also been discussed on Piano World.
A piano built from random IKEA parts would be a tall order. A harpsichord, or a square grand, which don't have cost iron frames, might be possible.
posted by lagomorphius at 8:53 AM on January 31, 2018
The pianos existed, FWIW. There have been a number of strange products over the years.
posted by frumiousb at 3:11 PM on January 31, 2018
posted by frumiousb at 3:11 PM on January 31, 2018
Imma own up to the fact that on the one hand I talk the talk about believing in redemption, and that we are not the sum of our worst moments. And yeah, I came out the gate in 3rd gear with my comment.
I’m not gonna second guess someone who knew the man and came away with a nuanced opinion of where he ended his days.
The author S.M. Stirring has written a bunch of sci-fi/time travel stuff. And a consistent theme that show up across the works is
When they raid the cannibal camp, they ask they guy in the cage currently missing a foot, “Are any of them innocent? The children; have they tasted human flesh?”
And the guy in the cage answers “Every last one of them is guilty”. And they all hang. Because some line you do not cross, and you can’t sit with is
So.
Rest In Peace.
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 9:44 PM on January 31, 2018 [1 favorite]
I’m not gonna second guess someone who knew the man and came away with a nuanced opinion of where he ended his days.
The author S.M. Stirring has written a bunch of sci-fi/time travel stuff. And a consistent theme that show up across the works is
“Predatory cannabalism is the uncrossable line, from which there is no coming back. Even f very existence is at stake, we do not hunt our fellow humans and kill them for food.”There is a fucking line and it is clear and unambiguous.
When they raid the cannibal camp, they ask they guy in the cage currently missing a foot, “Are any of them innocent? The children; have they tasted human flesh?”
And the guy in the cage answers “Every last one of them is guilty”. And they all hang. Because some line you do not cross, and you can’t sit with is
So.
Rest In Peace.
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 9:44 PM on January 31, 2018 [1 favorite]
What’s Going to Happen to Ikea Founder’s Billions?
Forget about the Gates Foundation. The world's biggest charity owns IKEA—and is devoted to interior design
posted by the man of twists and turns at 7:48 AM on February 2, 2018 [1 favorite]
Forget about the Gates Foundation. The world's biggest charity owns IKEA—and is devoted to interior design
posted by the man of twists and turns at 7:48 AM on February 2, 2018 [1 favorite]
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