[Jimrob1]

When Ikea opened a store in a suburb of Boston 9 or 10 years ago. The traffic jams got so out of control they extended for 20 miles in any direction. The gridlock and the accidents that occurred overwhelmed both the local and State Police. The Mass Nat'l Guard was called in to assist, in getting traffic moving for the first 2 weeks. It was found people were traveling from all over New England, and Eastern Canada to see just what Ikea was. It was hilarious to see just how out of control, things can get just over a store opening.


I don't think things will get like that in Las Vegas. A lot of people now days have already been to an Ikea elsewhere, so things should be better than they were in Mass.

[MediocreButArrogant]

Originally Posted by MSchu

for people with record collections also... like me.

Hmmm, I recall reading an article about people being in an uproar because Ikea was discontinuing a storage item that was perfect for people with large record collections.

Oh yeah, here it is: IKEA Discontinues "EXPEDIT" Shelf, Sparking Social Media Backlash | NBC Bay Area

[Clarkcty]

Originally Posted by johninvegas

I thought that, as of last year, they said we were too stupid to have a store here (actually, they said there weren't enough college graduates per capita here to merit a store).

That was their reasoning the first time around. Well, business is business, they see great potential in Clark County. Of course they chose a great location, Spring Valley!!

[Willy702]

Originally Posted by Jimrob1

When Ikea opened a store in a suburb of Boston 9 or 10 years ago. The traffic jams got so out of control they extended for 20 miles in any direction. The gridlock and the accidents that occurred overwhelmed both the local and State Police. The Mass Nat'l Guard was called in to assist, in getting traffic moving for the first 2 weeks. It was found people were traveling from all over New England, and Eastern Canada to see just what Ikea was. It was hilarious to see just how out of control, things can get just over a store opening.


I don't think things will get like that in Las Vegas. A lot of people now days have already been to an Ikea elsewhere, so things should be better than they were in Mass.

Maybe not that bad, but everyone will be calling the crowds and the traffic for the opening month insanity. People will swear they will never set foot in the store. The police will have some elaborate traffic pattern to get an impossible number of cars in and out without causing massive gridlock.

Then 3 months later something magically happens, the place is fairly tranquil except for Saturdays.

[lvoc]

Ikeas story today was that they build there stores in metros with 2 million people. We got 2 million people.

We have used their stuff for years out of the Covina facility. Stuff is inexpensive, reasonably rugged and easy to assemble if you pay attention.

[logline]

Originally Posted by Willy702

Maybe not that bad, but everyone will be calling the crowds and the traffic for the opening month insanity. People will swear they will never set foot in the store. The police will have some elaborate traffic pattern to get an impossible number of cars in and out without causing massive gridlock.

Then 3 months later something magically happens, the place is fairly tranquil except for Saturdays.

^^This.

I was in Salt Lake City when the Ikea opened there. It was absolutely insane the first month. All major arteries were clogged so bad, we didn't even bother to attempt it. I wouldn't be surprised if this one affected traffic on the 215 for a while.

[FML157]

I'm not sure if it Ikea will succeed here in Vegas. Sure, there's a quite a few people who are fans of Ikea. But a lot of people in Vegas already have furniture, or don't care about furniture , will rather go somewhere where they can get 'in-house' financing or don't think Ikea is any good. Look at pictures of houses for sale and you'll see lots of people who don't even have dressers in their bedrooms (they use those plastic containers from wal-mart/target). The affluent folks will skip Ikea and stick with higher end stuff.

[Kitchen Witch]

Originally Posted by Willy702

Maybe not that bad, but everyone will be calling the crowds and the traffic for the opening month insanity. People will swear they will never set foot in the store. The police will have some elaborate traffic pattern to get an impossible number of cars in and out without causing massive gridlock.

Then 3 months later something magically happens, the place is fairly tranquil except for Saturdays.

Good post, I agree completely!

Anyplace that has a playground-daycare-food place type of thing should keep the families going in and out for a long while. Nothing else to do, let's take the kids to the playground at Ikea, lol Sheesh, go to Tivoli Village during the week and it's a ghost town. Come the weekend the village is packed, especially the playground.

I am wondering if there will be some kind of shuttle from the Strip. Seems everything that is built far and away from the Strip and Fremont St. has a shuttle for tourists to use to get to local places. It would be a great idea and might keep the store up and running for the long term.

[binionrat]

We have two in BC and would of loved an Ikea in Vegas when we set up our Vegas condo a few year's ago. It's great to shop for kitchen accessories, mats, photo frames, duvet covers and bedding and so much more than furniture! I love their cafeterias where you can have a healthy meal for just a few dollars. We have our whole kitchen up here done in Ikea cabinets and counters and all at a fraction of a cost of estimates from cabinet companies. We ran into a few problems with European measurements with our studs and also the plumbing fixtures for the sink but mostly a quick fix. We also did our laminate floors for the whole top floor of our house a few years ago at 89 cents sq ft. and they have held up really well. I do like the comment in the article above that said:

"If you work 20 hours a week, you are still eligible for full time benefits,".

[MediocreButArrogant]

Originally Posted by binionrat

We have our whole kitchen up here done in Ikea cabinets and counters and all at a fraction of a cost of estimates from cabinet companies.

Despite the fact that their cabinets (but not doors) are made from particle board, Ikea kitchen cabinets have a huge and enthusiastic following. There are even companies that build custom doors to work with Ikea cabinet frames for a custom look. I've done a few Ikea hacks inspired by posts at the old Ikea Hackers forum (now part of ikeafans). I probably wouldn't want a particle board cabinet underneath my sink, but everywhere else, particle board boxes have proven more dimensionally stable than plywood cabinet boxes in my experience.

I was quoted over $10k to have custom cabinets built for my wife's craft room here. I spend $2500 at Ikea and got something that looks just as good, and functions better than the custom made cabinets. I'll redo her craft room in our Las Vegas house as soon as the Ikea there opens (currently face-framed, plywood cabinet boxes that are not as good as Ikea IMHO). Similarly, I was quoted around $3k for custom (deep) wall cabinets for our laundry room, and I did it myself with an Ikea hack for around $1000.