I went to an Ikea store for the first time in 2021. I moved, there wasn't one near where I was living anytime else in my life. Here there is one I could stop by on my drive home from my office (if I were to actually get to go into my office regularly instead of working from home).
The first time I went was a weekend. It was insanely overcrowded and before long I was feeling overwhelmed. I was there with my partner who I am living with along with another friend. They both seemed to enjoy it just fine. But I was not doing fine and trying to hide it. I hated how cookie cutter box it was, how loud everyone was, how I couldn't find anything I liked, it was exhausting.
The second time, we wanted to buy a lamp. I couldn't find any we liked. We ended up buying one at home goods instead. Again, stressful overwhelming experience.
The third time I went, our goal was to buy a couch. We were prepared. We had come to conquer the task at hand. Only to realize it wasn't going to fit in either of our cars and we were going to have to borrow my partner's father's very big Chevrolet Tahoe. We drove down the highway and the 30 minutes to his house felt like longer. Being on a time limit of when we had to pickup the couch by because of when the store closed was a tad stressful. We got the couch and brought it across the apartment parking lot, up the tight staircase, and into our weirdly setup 2 bedroom apartment. It was a success, but another stressful Ikea experience. Oh I also tried a strawberry ice cream cone from there on this trip. It wasn't very good, but it was only a dollar, so I can't really complain.
I now want to buy a bookcase and find myself leaning back towards Ikea again. Even with these past negative experiences and them being out of stock of the 2 models I was looking at (only want ones that can fit in my car please). I don't know why it's so hyped up in my head. Is it the Jonathan Colton song Ikea? Is it the BLÃ…HAJ shark plush that has become a meme of sorts throughout the internet. To the point, many stores are sold out of them? Maybe I secretly subconsciously like the feeling of being overwhelmed to the point of almost being in tears? Whatever it is, I'm feeling a craving for Ikea, even if I don't like meatballs.
Next time I go, it will definitely be the middle of the day on a school day. I cannot stand the crowds. Can they please make more of these stores so it's not like an attraction where people drive for hours just to go?
i kinda have an answer to your question, about why you like to come back, see about 10-20 years ago, ikea allmost when bankrupt, aannd in there last ditch attempt, they fired the original disign team a hired new people for the job. after a sum of time, they came up withe the idea of a maze, a few floors while looking like a mall, allmost every singal other store has never done this so they desided to go for it. see when you hit a dead end or your going in circles in i certin area, your brain subconsciously treats it a a maze( and it works even better when you have a map when they give it to you) and as you going around your faving fun subconsciously even if your stressed about the situation of people or anything else. so you want to go back because your brain likes it because you have never had that expiriance till you went to ikea and wants to fell it again. just a hpothasis
@Itzako
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