IKEA has arrived in Denver!

source

(Well, actually it opened in Centennial, a suburb south of Denver.)

We have been waiting for IKEA to open for such a long time! It is hard to believe that it is actually open! The Denver Post ran a story in September of 2008 announcing that IKEA was going to open its first Colorado store in 2011. We have been anticipating the opening ever since. There is even an IKEA fan page with a countdown clock to the opening! Gobs of people have camped outside the store hoping to be the first inside for days. Even IKEA could not afford all the publicity it has gotten from the news media. It is all kind of funny!

Ikea Centennial, a photo by old town drafting on Flickr.

So, have I gone to see what it is all about? You bet! DAYS after the opening my son, daughter-in-law, and grandson set out to see what all the hype was about. Parking was very controlled - kind of like parking at a Broncos game. We took their “Bob” stroller and although it was a little large to maneuver around with all the people, it was actually no worse than pushing a shopping cart through the aisles.

By far the worst part of IKEA was trying to buy food! Oh my goodness! The lines were totally misleading! What we thought was the front of the line was simply another line! It took f-o-r-e-v-e-r to get our food. I am not so sure that I will try that again! I had their famous Swedish meatballs and they were good; were they worth the wait? Not so much.

source

What did I buy? Not much! I bought 1.5 yards of linen fabric, which I cut myself, I think it is too thin to do much with, but we'll see, a small salad spinner, and a $1 pillow to see how the stuffing will work in small items. All in all, it was a cheap day out and I got a lot of walking in.

Am I ready to go back to IKEA? Maybe after Christmas! 

~ Robbie