Pre-Opening Luncheon at IKEA, Miami
By Alma Kadragic/ @almakad
Wherever I go, IKEA seems to follow, or maybe it’s the other way around. In 1990 when I resigned from my position as ABC News bureau chief in Warsaw and started my company in Poland’s capital, IKEA opened its first store in the country there. This was just after Poland had become independent of the Soviet Union, and the economy was in awful shape.
As I walked around what I now know was a small IKEA store, I saw prices that seemed reasonable. I soon heard from Polish friends that IKEA was expensive, and anything bought qualified as a luxury item. But that didn’t last long because IKEA always tries to adapt to the market and to source locally.
When I arrived in Abu Dhabi in August 2005 with a three-year contract from Zayed University, I came – as we had been advised – without household goods, only with clothes and the books I can’t live without. We received apartments and a furniture allowance, and colleagues pointed me to IKEA at Marina Mall.
The prices were reasonable, and like all expats, I bought linens, dishes, cutlery, towels, and other essentials including a sleep sofa. During the eight years I spent in the UAE, IKEA was my store for everything needed for comfortable living.
The super IKEA on Saadiyat Island opened around the time I decided to return to the US, but I managed to pick up coloured paper napkins and basic IKEA mugs in white and blue. I think I had eight mugs by the time I left the UAE; since I was trying to limit shipping, I gave them away.
Last month I received an invitation to a pre-opening luncheon for community leaders at the new IKEA in Miami Dade County. I was delighted to accept because as I was setting up my home in Miami, I missed IKEA. There has been an IKEA about 40 miles away for several years. However, I didn’t go because it seemed like too much trouble.
This is the 39th IKEA in the US and the 361st in the world. It is the second biggest in the US – second only to the one in Schaumburg, Illinois, near Chicago – but for those of us who have seen the Saadiyat Island store, it seemed familiar in size and layout.
But not entirely. Merchandise tags are in English and Spanish. The cafeteria restaurant on the top floor seats 600 people, and the menu – on an overhead screen – shows calorie counts. The Swedish meatball dinner is 690 calories. The Swedish pancakes with Lingonberry jam are 390.
Because the luncheon came several days before the opening, we weren’t allowed to shop although we could tour the store. It was wonderful to be almost alone in the huge space, to walk past familiar furniture including the sofa bed I gave to a friend in Abu Dhabi and many new items.
I saw the coloured paper napkins, the white and blue mugs, and the stainless steel cutlery I bought in Abu Dhabi. I need more. Next trip to IKEA is for shopping.
