Let's make Len give us an Ikea

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richms

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#926700 3-Nov-2013 20:15

Someone I know who stages houses they develop send a whole lot over from aussie to use, ikea stuff tends to be on the small side which real estate agents love

Richard rich.ms

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#926715 3-Nov-2013 20:44

I don't particularly like a lot of their furniture. They are expensive and uncomfortable.

But they have stuff that would change my life that you can't get anywhere else for the price they sell. Yes they have stuff that makes your lifea lot easier :)

And oh the meatballs!

nickb800

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#926722 3-Nov-2013 20:49

Is the OP aware that the Environment Court is not the same as Auckland Council?

Regs

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Snowflake

#926746 3-Nov-2013 21:42

if you really need an IKEA fix, you can always try http://myflatpack.co.nz/

also, if you think that national govt were against ikea, imagine what labour + the greens would think of it...

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TinyTim

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#926810 4-Nov-2013 06:55

Regs: if you really need an IKEA fix, you can always try http://myflatpack.co.nz/

Yep, my wife outfitted our daughter's room using them.

Inphinity

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#926822 4-Nov-2013 08:08

Regs: if you really need an IKEA fix, you can always try http://myflatpack.co.nz/

Great idea to make it available here, but be wary of their prices, though. Most of them look massively inflated to me, and affordability is a big part of the draw in the ikea brand. I understand they have to cover shipping etc, but I believe the pricing they're giving makes it more viable to simply buy a higher-quality non-flatpack alternative.

evilengineer

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#928190 6-Nov-2013 15:13

Inphinity:
1080p: I thought that IKEA required a minimum of two million within 50 miles or so of the store. Nowhere in NZ has that AFAIK.

In the US (and soome other countries) it's 2 million. In Aus their criteria are, unless it has changed, 1 million within 100km, and the Aus company hold the location rights for the brand in NZ, so would assume the same would apply here.

Stick it in Hamilton, then :-)

Easily 50% of NZ population within a 90 minute drive of the store!

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jpoc

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#928303 6-Nov-2013 17:16

oxnsox:
nakedmolerat: IKEA produces excellent furniture

That is not my experience.
They produce a lot of knocked down (flat pack carton) furniture thats functional and looks good. But don't move house with it as its not really designed for breakdown and reassembly. (And Kiwis tend to move often)

I cannot agree with that in the slightest.

In mid 1995, I moved into an unfurnished flat in Brussels. I furnished it entirely from Ikea. High bed, sofa, two tables, wall unit, a couple of chairs and a whole load of book cases. After Brussels, it went down to Konstanz in Germany. In the middle of the winter on the top of my car in several journeys. There, it spent two months on my mate's outside balcony as I had nowhere to put it until I got another flat in Ulm, two hour's drive North so off it went again on top of the car. Two winters later, it all went 500km north to Paderborn, again on the top of assorted cars.

In Paderborn, it moved twice again as we moved from one rental to another. Always in the middle of winter. After Paderborn, it went back to Ulm though this time in a van. Its last move was off to Munich. Once again in the wintertime.

How many moves was that? I lost count. I did not dismantle the book cases because they had the backs nailed on but everything else was taken to bits and reassembled.

At the end of all that, I got a contract in Dublin and that was just too much to contemplate. We gave the furniture away.

What kind of shape was it all in after all that moving plus 14 year's wear and tear? Everything was still fully functional. Some of the items had rounded off corners because that is what happens when you put a book case on the top of your car and drive 700km at 200kph in a snow storm. One table had the leg attachments redone because the old ones took too long to take apart so I made up some quick release attachments with wing nuts. That was about it. Oh, yes. The sofa frame got a crack so I had an excuse to buy an arc welder - I see that as a bonus.

jpoc

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#928306 6-Nov-2013 17:29

nickb800: Is the OP aware that the Environment Court is not the same as Auckland Council?

Of course I am though I fail to see that the question has any merit other than an attempt at point scoring or throwing a veiled insult.

The decision was made by the EC but the Auckland council stood by and made no effort to address any of the issues raised by the court.

As I pointed out, when Ikea opened a store where I was living in Germany, the council built them an off ramp from the Autobahn. They also remodeled the road and junctions that were on the other side of the site from the Autobahn. No such action or offer from Auckland council.

nickb800

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#928372 6-Nov-2013 19:49

jpoc:
nickb800: Is the OP aware that the Environment Court is not the same as Auckland Council?

Of course I am though I fail to see that the question has any merit other than an attempt at point scoring or throwing a veiled insult.

The decision was made by the EC but the Auckland council stood by and made no effort to address any of the issues raised by the court.

As I pointed out, when Ikea opened a store where I was living in Germany, the council built them an off ramp from the Autobahn. They also remodeled the road and junctions that were on the other side of the site from the Autobahn. No such action or offer from Auckland council.

It's a valid question given that your post suggests the EC are to blame when they were simply working within the framework of the act and plans prepared by the council.

I'm still not sure that you understand how the RMA or economic development works in NZ. The rules are in place for good reason - with respect to big box development no-one wants to see their property values fall by a large format store built next door, and no-one wants the ratepayers at large to fund infrastructure that only benefits a single private enterprise. Plenty of large format retailers have managed to expand their presence in Auckland, I fail to see why we should bend over backwards for Ikea

openmedia

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#928383 6-Nov-2013 20:22

They used to specify 2 million but that now varies based on market.

Locally they wanted to open near Sylvia Park but the council blocked that due to the potential impact to traffic.

Rumour mill for a while was the new development at Westgate as it is big enough to house them, but I haven't heard anything for over a year.

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jpoc

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#928402 6-Nov-2013 21:43

Geektastic: Didn't all the local retailers moan last time Ikea tried to get to Auckland because they knew they would never compete? Get them in. Besides, the Swedish meatballs Ikea sells are excellent and so are the hotdogs.

Let's have Walmart etc as well whilst we are at it - that should cut many bills!

I would have thought that the most obvious move for Walmart would have been to buy the Warehouse. The product mix is so similar, the main difference is that Walmart buys for less than half the price that the Warehouse does. Walmart even solved the puzzle of how to leverage a position of general product discounter into one where you can add the role of food retailer. It may be that they left it too late as the entrenched supermarket operators here have long since bought a defensive share holding in the Warehouse - the most likely reason for that being to be able to block Walmart from coming in.

ScuL

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#928429 6-Nov-2013 23:15

I think having IKEA would make a great difference to NZ.

First of all in terms of affordable furniture, second of all a kick in the right direction for the local economy to align with international standards (both on price level as well as materials). And additionally it would bring some more European cuisine which is always an enrichment :)

It's actually quite shocking that NZ still doesn't have an IKEA.
Look at this list of countries; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_with_IKEA_stores

places like Saudi Arabia, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic have them..
Australia has had IKEA stores since 1975 (!)

I reckon however that, due to costs of logistics & transportation, IKEA in NZ will not be profitable unless there are a minimum of 2 to 3 stores, and they would probably start in Auckland & Christchurch, followed by Wellington.

Haere taka mua, taka muri; kaua e wha.

Geektastic

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#928491 7-Nov-2013 07:57

Regs: if you really need an IKEA fix, you can always try http://myflatpack.co.nz/

also, if you think that national govt were against ikea, imagine what labour + the greens would think of it...

To be honest I try very hard not to imagine what those two idiot collectives would think of anything - it disturbs both my sleep and my digestion!!

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