IKEA, Xuhui Store in Shanghai

Is IKEA still the IKEA of old days? No. Definitely not. It is already a super market, a crazy, crowded market. I didn’t realize IKEA has been such a great success in Shanghai. I went there, and took some picture.

Parking Lot

IKEA has one of the biggest garage in Shanghai. Look at these pictures. They have 10+ rows of parking lots like this. At the entrance, there is a person who dedicated to stop cars at the gate and allow equal number of cars enter the garage as the cars going out. The once empty garage is now completely full. Long lines appear before IKEA store and jammed the streat. It was free for several years, and now it charges 10 RMB per car. I believe the intention is not to increase revenue. It is to restrict cars from entering the garage.

Inside the Store

The huge store was full of people. Look at these pictures. Want to try the nice sofa? You need to wait for the person to stand up before you sit down. Want to get a storage box? Line up and wait for the person before you to get it.

Business Hour

This is IKEA’s business hour:

It is self-explainary.

Above is the elevator to garage.

Location

IKEA is located at the intersection of Inner Ring Road, and Humin Elevated Highway. It can be easily accessible by Metro Line #1 (Shanghai Stadium Station) and Metro Line #3 and #4 (Shanghai Stadium Station).

From the window of IKEA, you can see the Metro Line #3 and #4. The train is raining across the bridge.

Dining Room

IKEA’s dining room was once empty but now it is full of people. Many people are walking around with plate in hand, just to find a seat to have their meal.

People are paying for their meal.

Interesting Stuff

I like the color paper sheet.

Soft hand towel.

and paper box.

Besides the store inventory format (a term from eBay), they have cooks present how to create Sweden Meatball…

Things are Cheaper

Look at these Billy Bookcase!

We bought exactly the same one - same brand, same size, and same color, at 870 RMB with my first money salary in 1999. NOW, it is only 299 RMB. It is the result of local sourcing.

Kijiji Plate

Look at these Kijiji Plate:

Checking Out

We bought some small stuff, but we gave up when we see the long lines at check out counter. There are more than 20 people in each of the 20 counters. This is the first time we gave up our goods just because of the long line.

IKEA in China is a Huge Success

From an “Super Expensive” furniture store 10 years ago, to the current everyone’s furniture store, IKEA completed its 10 years of journey. It is a huge success. The first time I visited IKEA in 1996 was still as fresh a memroy as yesterday. At that time, there are definitely more sofa in the store than customers.

Ten years. IKEA is no longer my old IKEA.

P.S. It is not allowed to take picture inside the store. I am sorry that I didn’t go through all the processes to ask permission to prepare for this blog.