"Can we afford to keep shopping at places where an item’s price reflects only a fraction of its societal costs?"
July 27, 2009 1:17 PM Subscribe
This post was deleted for the following reason: That's pretty dang thin for a post. -- cortex
Go ahead and read it, it won't take very long at all.
SPOILER ALERT: The answers to the two questions posed near the top of this (MeFi) page are, per the article, "no" and "maybe."
posted by Mister_A at 1:21 PM on July 27, 2009
SPOILER ALERT: The answers to the two questions posed near the top of this (MeFi) page are, per the article, "no" and "maybe."
posted by Mister_A at 1:21 PM on July 27, 2009
Just when you think someone finally can beat Walmart, you find out that they sell Whale Meat. So despite a surprisingly strong showing from IKEA, I'm going to have to stick with the champ.
posted by allen.spaulding at 1:23 PM on July 27, 2009
posted by allen.spaulding at 1:23 PM on July 27, 2009
Am I missing something or is this a link to a two paragraph and one sentence article that doesn't say much?
posted by You Should See the Other Guy at 1:23 PM on July 27, 2009
posted by You Should See the Other Guy at 1:23 PM on July 27, 2009
Designed but not crafted, IKEA bookcases and chairs, like most cheap objects, resist involvement: when they break or malfunction, we tend not to fix them. Rather, we buy new ones.
"She lost me right there. Who is this *we* that she refers to?
posted by Danf at 1:24 PM on July 27, 2009
"She lost me right there. Who is this *we* that she refers to?
posted by Danf at 1:24 PM on July 27, 2009
How do they get from "not as environmentally-whatever as it could be" to "least sustainable retailer on the planet"?
Fairly shrill, innuendo laden and non-fact-encumbered.
posted by signal at 1:24 PM on July 27, 2009 [1 favorite]
Fairly shrill, innuendo laden and non-fact-encumbered.
posted by signal at 1:24 PM on July 27, 2009 [1 favorite]
What really hit home for me is that there is actually a person named Wig Zamore.
posted by Skot at 1:26 PM on July 27, 2009
posted by Skot at 1:26 PM on July 27, 2009
Less of an article, more of an op-ed piece? I see Ikea stuff on Craigslist all the time, and a lot of the Ikea things I've bought have been handed down to other people like less well to do relatives who would love to have a dresser that isn't broken. It's undoubtedly not as sustainable as buying from a craft carpenter that puts 20% of profits into forest re-seeding and solar energy, but it has to be better than furniture from Wal-Mart. That stuff falls apart even faster.
posted by jeffkramer at 1:26 PM on July 27, 2009
posted by jeffkramer at 1:26 PM on July 27, 2009
"but positions outlets far from city centers, where taxes are low and commuting costs high—the average IKEA customer drives 50 miles round-trip. "
"Far from city centers"? Really? The ones in the Northeast are pretty well located. Much better than outlet malls, for instance. I believe the average trip, but only because they don't have a lot of IKEAs, and people are willing to drive far to get there.
posted by smackfu at 1:27 PM on July 27, 2009
"Far from city centers"? Really? The ones in the Northeast are pretty well located. Much better than outlet malls, for instance. I believe the average trip, but only because they don't have a lot of IKEAs, and people are willing to drive far to get there.
posted by smackfu at 1:27 PM on July 27, 2009
This isn't an article - it's an opinion piece of shit.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 1:27 PM on July 27, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by Foci for Analysis at 1:27 PM on July 27, 2009 [1 favorite]
my ikea coffee table and several wall shelves have now made it through their third move in less than a year...
seriously though, where the hell else can you get decent furniture that is plain and not ridiculous looking? we had to seriously search 2 big box stores before we found a plain ol' stand up lamp in a neglected corner of walmart. of course they had these stupid 'ornate' lamps everywhere...
posted by Mach5 at 1:28 PM on July 27, 2009
seriously though, where the hell else can you get decent furniture that is plain and not ridiculous looking? we had to seriously search 2 big box stores before we found a plain ol' stand up lamp in a neglected corner of walmart. of course they had these stupid 'ornate' lamps everywhere...
posted by Mach5 at 1:28 PM on July 27, 2009
I never thought I'd accuse the Atlantic of trolling, but yep, that's pretty much what that was.
posted by Kadin2048 at 1:28 PM on July 27, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by Kadin2048 at 1:28 PM on July 27, 2009 [1 favorite]
Is it just me, or does "Wig Zamore" sound like a Hardy Boys character?
posted by adjockey at 1:29 PM on July 27, 2009
posted by adjockey at 1:29 PM on July 27, 2009
I couldn't even read the article, it shut down my browser for some reason.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:29 PM on July 27, 2009
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:29 PM on July 27, 2009
Is that the shortest Atlantic article ever?
They've been trying to modern up the joint and appeal to those of us so slap happy from the sparkly internet we can't read more than five hundred words at a time, and even that's a stretch.
On one hand, it saddens me, because I've subscribed to the Atlantic since like 1993. On the other hand, I haven't had time to finish an article since 2007.
I guess it's more graphs, cartoons, and sparkles for me.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 1:29 PM on July 27, 2009
They've been trying to modern up the joint and appeal to those of us so slap happy from the sparkly internet we can't read more than five hundred words at a time, and even that's a stretch.
On one hand, it saddens me, because I've subscribed to the Atlantic since like 1993. On the other hand, I haven't had time to finish an article since 2007.
I guess it's more graphs, cartoons, and sparkles for me.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 1:29 PM on July 27, 2009
It's hardly long enough to be considered an opinion piece. I think the author few together an outline for her piece and the editor just printed it.
posted by graventy at 1:32 PM on July 27, 2009
posted by graventy at 1:32 PM on July 27, 2009
One 400-word "article", no additional links? Sweet.
posted by Perplexity at 1:33 PM on July 27, 2009
posted by Perplexity at 1:33 PM on July 27, 2009
Very little of the furniture I've bought at Ikea over the years has been thrown away. My college apartment was almost completely Ikea-furnished, and when I left, every single piece of that furniture found a new home in friends' places, except for the stuff we took with us. Some of that stuff (having served well for over 20 years!) we recently gave away to another family. So, yeah, this is B.S.
posted by yoink at 1:33 PM on July 27, 2009
posted by yoink at 1:33 PM on July 27, 2009
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posted by TwelveTwo at 1:19 PM on July 27, 2009 [1 favorite]