IKEA Survival Guide

IKEA At Last!
Shoppers, start your charge cards. The retail event of the season has landed in Frisco: North Texas first Ikea. For newbie’s and savvy pros alike, here’s a guide to all things stylish and Swedish. (No, not Abba.)

All IKEA stores feature a supervised playground for kids and a full-service restaurant. The Frisco menu will feature Texas fare as well as Swedish specialities, like meatballs (above left).

OPENS: August 3, 2005
LOCATION: Frisco, corner of Highway 121 and Dallas North Tollway
STORE SIZE: 310,000 square feet topography: The store consists of two levels. The top floor is the showroom (67,500 square feet, 52 room settings, and 4 homes). The marketplace (64,500 square feet) and the self-serve warehouse (45,047 square feet) are located on the ground floor.
PARKING: 1,400 spaces
INVENTORY: 10,000 home furnishings products
FUN FACTS: IKEA Frisco will sell more than 10,000 sofas and at least 2.5 million meatballs in its first year.
STAFF: IKEA Frisco will have approximately 500 workers by grand opening day.
GO WEST, YOUNG IKEA: Insiders say the Swedish furniture company is considering Arlington for a second area store.
WHAT THE #@@! IS A LINGONBERRY: Native to northern parts of North America and Eurasia, Vaccinium vitis-idaea features edible red berries which are used to make sauces, jams, and preserves. Lingonberries are featured prominently on IKEA’s Swedish-inspired menu in its full-service restaurant.
SAY WHAT: IKEA is pronounced ee-kay-uh by continental Europeans. In the English-speaking world, it is pronounced eye-KEE-uh.
NAME GAME: IKEA is an acronym for the owner. I for Ingvar, K for Kamprad, E for Elmtaryd (the name of the farm where Ingvar comes from), and A for Agunnaryd (the name of a town near the farm).
PAGE TURNER: The IKEA catalog is the most published, annual, free publication in the world (145 million printed in 25 languages).
HOLY MATRIMONY: A marriage was held at a store in Canada. In addition to joining in matrimony, the couple was awarded a $3,500 gift certificate. (According to news reports, the lucky couple seemed more interested in the IKEA gift certificate than the wedding ceremony.)

Lost in Translation
No offense to those friendly and fun-loving Swedes but we find IKEA’s easy to follow step-by-step instructions a wee bit challenging and unrealistic. Don’t get us wrong. We’re all for DIY, as long as it’s coupled with a little BYOB. Simply put: Building your own furniture is a bore. So we thought we’d customize our own set of instructions. Herewith, a Dallasite’s guide to building an IKEA shoe rack. Big hair and Chanel suit optional. (But they certainly won’t hurt.)


STEP ONE Open box. Break nail. Get manicure.	STEP TWO Attempt to insert tab A into slot B without spilling freshly poured cosmo on new Jimmy Choos. Realize multi-tasking is not your thing.


STEP THREE Admit defeat. Hire someone to build shoe rack. Pour yourself another cosmo. Supervise.	STEP FOUR Admire finished project. Celebrate by buying more shoes. Realize rack is now too small. Repeat process, but this time start at step three. (Clever girl.)

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Affordable Luxury
IKEA is more than cheap furnishings for recent college grads with little cash. High style is for everyone, as shown by these chic finds.