We’d been avoiding the fact but Edith is well and truly filling up the moses basket now. And the mattress is all lumpy and rubbish. So off we went to IKEA last monday. For the last IKEA hurrah. To buy her a cot as we’d sold Astrid’s fancy organic one. And some frames for prints that have been sitting rolled up for far too long. Two wall-lights also because we never could find any in Auckland that we either half decent or remotely affordable. We got these, in white – perfectly fine and as usual for us, the cheapest.
Oh how we’ll miss IKEA. They won’t let it into New Zealand because it would put all the crap overpriced furniture places out of business. The government’s excuse was, “IKEA cannot come to Auckland – it will cause too many traffic jams”. And guess what, I’m not joking.
Good grief! I had heard that IKEA was going to open a store at Albany in Auckland and I was really looking forward to that!! I’m so disappointed!!
We did have that problem here! When it opened a couple of years ago hear, it caused MASSIVE traffic issues on the interstate and miles and miles of back ups. Marc and I cracked up because we’ve always lived near an IKEA, and by that point we were over it. Lol. Now they are opening one a mile up the road from us (whee!), and they fully remediated a terrible brownfield site, put in a public greenway and riverfront, and will redo all the roads. Not a bad deal, I say. ;)
Such a rubbish excuse. I want an Expedit bookcase. Much nicer looking than the Warehouse stuff.
sucks bigtime is all I can say – I know someone who tried very hard to bring to Waitakere city – and found out later that the city planners were idealogically opposed to IKEA, then North Shore city refused to have it at Albany because of the traffic, then there was the Sylvia Park thing, the latest is that they got some land at manukau city…but there is a maori land claim…God forbid we ever have good design at a reasonable price in this country – rant over :-)
ha! we just went on our last trip to ikea too- for.. lamps. :)
i didn’t realise that n.z. was idealogically opposed to the stores. how could they be worse than the warehouse? it’s typical, really.
Yay for IKEA! Sorry it isn’t easier for you to get to… they’ve got such good stuff there… if I don’t get furniture/home stuff, there’s always the Swedish chocolate :o) Hope you had a great weekend.
xo,
Linnea
It’s so crap they wouldn’t let them. I got all excited for half a second when I heard they might be coming a few years back.
So we’re stuck with The Warehouse. Oh yay.
Oh for the love of IKEA. If only we could have one.
We do have this new, kinda medium priced place called NOOD… maybe it might provide temporary relief from IKEA withdrawal.
oh, i do LOVE ikea.
we live very close to one & i visit it a bit more than i should :-)
she is growing up! look at that cute thing. :)
Hi, just like to correct something, the NZ Government was not involved in anything to do with IKEA setting up (or not setting up here). This unfounded rumour came from a unsubstantiated claim made by a paper here, which was based on “sources” that the “Environment Court” turned down IKEA’s application to have a store in Albany, Auckland. So far there isn’t any evidence this actually happened – the paper was quoting “sources”. So far despite all the rumours the one common factor is that neither IKEA nor the Perth Franchise holder had uttered a word about setting up here, which is odd when you think about it. The reality probably is that the population in Auckland is prehaps not deamed big enough for an IKEA store, and/or the current franchise holders have better things to invest here. IKEA may be coming to Auckland, but probably not any time soon – groundless rumours spread by property developers hoping to boost the value of commercial property aside!