Yesterday, we made a run to Paramus New, Jersey to the nearest IKEA.  David wanted some lights and I went along for the ride.   I had a wonderful surprise on the way home!  This is a partial reblog.

Very neat and well equipped children’s playroom!

Past products. 

Man or woman cave.  . . office in a very tiny space.

Modern white kitchen..yes cabinets, lights , fixtures…everything!

Modular bookcases assembled and placed together.

Only drawback for some people is that the furniture comes in flat boxes , yes for you or someone you love to assemble after you get the items home. Directions and all the hardware are supposed to be in the box with simple instructions. . . hmm.   The stores will now deliver and assemble everything from kitchen cabinets to beds….for a fee , of course. This is most helpful for the New York City renters who have no cars and come over to Jersey on the bus.

Some of my readers will recognize this immediately, but my Indian friends won’t , not yet anyway.  Let me start at the beginning of the story and tell it as briefly as possible. Ingvar Kempard started this company in Sweden in 1942.  The name is a compilation of his initials and the initials of his farm town. As a very young boy, Kempard had sold matches on the streets to help his family.  His heart has always been for the middle class and this is his business plan.

“We will offer a wide range of well-designed functional furniture products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them.”

It is necessary to sell in huge quantities in order to follow that plan and also be successful. There huge bright blue and yellow stores, visible for miles, are only in large metropolitan areas. The one million people living in the tri-city area of Upstate New York doesn’t have one.  On Thursday, we drove to Paramus , New Jersey which is the nearest to where we live.   There are actually 3 stores in the greater New York area with its 20 million population.

The pictures give you an idea about the showrooms, furnishings and storage systems. I am sure it  will be a hit in India as there is cramped space  just like in Europe where Ikea is wildly popular.  Yes, India has reached an agreement with IKEA with a proposed 1.95 billion dollars to build 25 stores.  This is the largest foreign investment that India has agreed to so far, though H&M, a very popular Swedish clothing store, is waiting not too patiently to be approved as well as some American companies.

When and where will the IKEA stores be built in India? The perfect location is a never compromised. They need 10 acres close to a highway with good visibility and good infrastructure with  public transportation, if possible. Each site will employ 800 Indians from carpenters to cashiers.  As of now , the concentration of inquiry has been in the largest cities. . . .Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore , and Hyderabad.

My  architect says that the best part about IKEA is that it is well designed, and affordable.  Modernity was all about simple, affordable, efficient things for the masses, but we all know of very expensive “modern” stores with  nothing affordable to the middle class. Mr. Kempard was an entrepreneur who  had a vision and a plan that it is still working very profitably today.

Surprise stop on the way home at  the Eileen Fisher Company Store at Harriman Outlets , where my favorite clothes are sold and at a fraction of the  horrible retail prices.  Eileen Fisher designs elegant, simple clothes with lovely details , and  fabric  of basic interchangeable colors and absolutely no prints!  The only drawback is the prices but I am fortunate enough to live about 2 hours to outlet stores.  Have you noticed that elegant but simple seems always to equal expensive?  Yesterday, I found several warm sweaters , one  of which was 75% off the retail price. Gives you an idea . . . . .

Though I am neither this young or thin, the clothes suit all ages and sizes.

I do love the angles which are quirky yet interesting and not over done.

Yesterday was a frivolous, fun day.. . . . David got his lights , we both had Swedish meatballs.. . . . and I got some warm clothes.  We  blessed to be able to do all this!