Ikea in Adelaide!

Finally, after months of waiting we finally have our very own IKEA here in Adelaide. The wife and I are big fans of IKEA so we trooped the kids down to the grand opening of the IKEA Adelaide. I took some time off that day so we were able to arrive bright and early for the opening. I figured that IKEA opening in Adelaide was a very big thing and we didn't want to miss out on the fun.

We were there almost an hour before the opening time but already the 900 space parking lot was filling up and a substantial crowd had already gathered outside the store. It was all very orderly as IKEA already anticipated the popularity of the store and they were well prepared with free juice, orderly lines, lots of parking attendants and even a live ABBA tribute band to keep the crowd entertained while waiting!

Finally the doors opened and the line we were on slowly moved it's way inside. The first thing we did was check out the kids playroom as we though we could leave the kids there while had some time to browse. Unfortunately, the boy was not allowed in because they had no nappy changing facilities. So we left the girl to have some fun while we attempted to browse around with the boy. But, it didn't work out that well because he didn't like being left out and he had a full blown tantrum.

It took a while to calm him down and we took our first walk around the store with him just constantly crying, not a good first experience it was. At any rate, he quieted down right away when my wife fetched our daughter from the kids play room. After a quick snack of the famous swedish meatballs at the IKEA café, we decided to go around the store again, this time with the calm and happy kids.

The store was laid out exactly like most IKEA stores with show rooms at the 1st level and the market space at the ground level where you can pick up brick a bracks, and the warehouse where one can go and pick out the furniture that was on display in the showrooms.

After waiting months for the store to open, the wife already had a list and a budget to spend so we ended up with quite a few items to bring home. We couldn't all get it to fit in the car but we were pleasantly suprised that the delivery fee wasn't too expensive. It was just one price for delivery to most of Adelaide, which was so different from the prices they had in Sydney.

We were about to go home when the little girl decided she wanted to buy some cheap pens she played with in the playroom. So instead of going out the exits, we headed back to the entrance again. An IKEA employee tried redirecting us to the exits but after telling her we were going back up, she said, "Oh great!, Buy some more!" Well, at least we still came on budget ( at least that's what the wife tells me... :) )

So we had a late lunch at the café again and after picking up our daughter's things we finally made our way home in the late afternoon. The wife and I laughed at the fact that we stayed the whole day at IKEA. Consumerism wins again!

I don't know what it is I like about IKEA. I guess it's partly how the products are good value plus the sense of accomplishment of putting the furniture together. But then again, it's probably just me indulging my suburban fantasies.