IKEA — Attraction in New York

Hmmm...Where do I begin? Ok..As a New Yorker its hard to find furniture stores. So my sister recommended IKEA. I told her it was FAR. But she told me there's a shuttle...FREE shuttle. I thought why not. I went to Borough Hall (take the 4 or 5). The shuttle runs every 40 minutes. I enjoyed the ride. The conductors are respectful and friendly. I got there and wow! I took a catalogue and started just walking around. By the way if you have kids, they have a nursery? Play area? At least thats what it looks like from outside. I think that's helpful, specially if you're gonna take long. On the 2nd floor they have a restaurant. I haven't tasted the food. So sorry, no review to provide. My sister did mention that there are some staff who are a bit impatient if you don't know what piece of furniture you are buying. So her experience wasn't that great. I recommend you take photos of the tags of the furniture you like. Thank you smartphones!! The workers will ask you for the number or name of the furniture and if you don't have it..you will have to go back and look for it(Good Luck!😳) . Anyway, I bought 2 pieces of furniture that day. A sofa bed, and a wardrobe. It is not high end but still...affordable. They offer to deliver it for a 30$ fee. I also accepted the assembly help. That is a bit pricey depending on which item of furniture. But I will review that when it happens. My furniture will be delivered in a few weeks. Big tip! Check your address in your bill statement for your furniture. Mine was typed wrong but it was easy to have it changed. Also, if you are buying a bed. Do some research as to what type of mattress you want. I would also recommend that if you are going there. Take water and a snack! The neighborhood is far away from delis😒. The only place near with food is the IKEA restaurant. Now to pay...After you talk with a worker and get a bill statement you have to pay on the first floor. Oh my lord! The lines are huge! They should get organized with that. Have one line dedicated to people who are buying 1 item or 5 items. Have a line for people with bill statements. Because wow....those lines are huge!! Anyway don't let this deter you from going. The lines move fast. Unless the worker says last customer. Then off you go to another line. That bit is confusing. They should have the last customer hold a sign that they are last because people are rude! I went and the worker had asked a person to tell the rest that she was the last person but the customer didn't tell the person in front of me nor me. So the worker felt embarrassed/frustrated. In 3 minutes that line grew...I know it's not the customers job but they should think of some ideas as to how to solve that. I've seen some workers at other stores do that. They give a sign to the last customer that says closed. Most people don't mind. Also this prevents confusion. Anyways besides that, it was a great experience! But it's not done yet! I will edit and review this experience when my furniture gets assembled! Till then have fun there and enjoy the experience! 😎 PS: I took a photo of the tag. This way you can see what I mean. Make your life easier! Take a photo! 📷

PSS: They delivered the furniture and they assembled it fast. Big tip, clear up the room where they are assembling it. This makes it easier for them to their job and get out faster. The workers were respectful and professional. Definitely can't wait to buy more furniture items from IKEA

1/9/21 I threw out the bed. It kept coming lose in certain parts. Might by another one from...

To start, there are some good aspects of this IKEA, the location is large with more complete merchandise inventory than the Long Island and, in some cases even the, Elizabeth locations while the accessibility by car, public transit and water is a definite plus

But the size of the location and atypical layout can make it confusing for first time visitors, even those familiar with other IKEA locations, the accessibility is also a bit of a mixed bag, the distance from major highways means you need to navigate a fair bit of local streets to find it and the water options are only available during the weekends

By far my biggest issue with this location is the checkout process, the "express checkout" stations are split into small clusters on either side of the manned checkout stations and while this means loss prevention can be better controlled it also means the "express checkout" lanes are anything but express, other IKEA locations I've been to tend to arrange the self checkout as one line feeding into multiple terminals to allow the line to move more smoothly but here you effectively end up with a line for every two self checkout terminals, this invariably creates situations where conflict can arise between shoppers who think there is only one line versus those who believe there are two

Earlier today the couple ahead of me got into a bit of a tussle with a guy coming up from behind, the couple thought there was just one line while the guy coming up behind felt like there should be two, these kinds of situations could be alleviated if there was clearer signage or better organization but there isn't

Then there is the problem with the "express checkout" as implemented here, at other locations I can use the app to scan my items ahead of time and then pay with a QR code the app generated which makes the checkout process quick and easy for all involved, but here they have a so called random spot check where a worker comes up and scans everything again anyway

I can understand the need for such an action in the interests of loss prevention but what was supposed to be a check of only some customers looked more like a full scan of everyone, of the 8 or 9 parties ahead of me who were checking out on 4 terminals, only one didn't need the associate to do a manual rescan of everything, meaning one worker effectively handling 4 checkout lines, this invariably slows down everyone

The worker had an understandably somewhat sour disposition when I pointed out the absurdity of this kind of checkout process and she pointed out that the express checkout was supposed to be for 15 items or less, but I saw no signage to indicate this and not all of the people who checkout ahead of me had more than 15 items, one slightly older couple purchased a large number of plates and bowls so I wasn't the only one who wasn't aware of any limitations on the number of items

I had been intending to go have lunch in the store but the checkout process left such a bad taste in my mouth that I didn't want to bother, if this was the experience at mid-day on a weekday when there aren't very many customers, I don't even want to think about visiting on the weekends or during busy holidays

Overall, while I believe this is the newest of the IKEA locations near NYC, it is also the one I least enjoyed visiting, prior to this my least favorite was the Paramus location in NJ but this one beat them to the...

Ok... My store review loses 1/2 star for the little food/cafe area that sells the hot dogs & cinnamon buns after you leave the checkout before exiting. and Loses 1 1/2 stars for their delivery

So why give it 4 stars? -the products they sell are great...I have been a loyal customer since my now grown children were just one small child lol The products are versatile so if you’re a “think outside the box” or “a creative” you can do a lot with many of their items (storage boxes, textiles, dish drains and the such). Their tea candles and votives are the best in quality and quantity. -some of the actual floor staff are not sooo helpful but there are some gems that will know the prices and help you with location & directions within the showroom. It’s IKEA...you have to put it together yourself OR you can pay a few dollars extra for someone to do that for you once delivered 🙄

The delivery...is how can I say it...not consistent with what is told to you IN the showroom when you are scheduling at purchase time.

May I make it known, the item to be delivered was a gift for someone elSE who does not live near me

BUT once I had (to make a second trip to the store in seven days 🤨), explained what the issue WAS with the delivery #neverHappened #noConfirmationCall , the person who helped me was informative, understanding, rectified the situation and I was not charged any additional fees. as a side note, I had to sit outside the delivery address for three hours to inSURE it wouldn’t be missed “again“🤨and come to find out the address was transposed on the invoice since the delivery guys called me from up the block to say “we’re here” and I didn’t see them and had to describe myself and flag them down 😟

Poor delivery is not really IKEA’s fault but 🤷🏾‍♀️ they lose some points with me (especially to have to return to the store) Buy from them, just bring it home yourself.

The little hot dog & cinnamon roll snack counter is often dirty and there’s little seating. 40% of the counterstaff could be a bit more friendly (I seem to get that 40% quite often 😐). But for what it lacks in stars is made up for by that relaxing ferry ride from Wall St. to Red Hook whICH will easily get 10 stars! I’ve only used it when the weather is warm, but it’s worth the $5.00 for the ticket ... you will be discounted that $5.00 when you complete your shopping and the return trip is free upon showing your receipt to the dock personnel proving you’ve spent more than $10 in the store. I recommend the upper deck seating...the view of the East River Crossings, Statue of Liberty (in the far distance), lower Manhattan skyline, and nice short ocean experience will quickly melt away any stress #worthIt

There is also a free mini shuttle bus from the BoroHall 4-5 subway station that takes you from Downtown Brooklyn to Red Hook. Both of these modes are on a schedule...and do note the last departure times. But if you miss them, the NYC transit bus from the front of the store can still take you from IKEA to Downtown Brooklyn (BoroHall) ...you’ll have to pay the normal bus fare you would pay on any bus or subway (MetroCard or...