Insert obligatory Nazi reference, here: IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad was, as a teen, directly involved in the pro-Nazi New Swedish Movement (Nysvenska Rörelsen) until at least 1948.

From my experience, the furniture & kitchen items Walmart sells is better quality than Ikea.

If it seems to good to be true, it probably is (cheap labor being exploited)...

Funny how our progressive citizens and illustrious Mayor storm the ramparts to keep Wal-Mart out of Portland but cheer and pull out all the stops to welcome Target and Ikea, when all three cut some of the same corners on their supply chains and/or labor costs and force out small, local, independent businesses. Wal-Mart may be somewhat more aggressive on this, but that doesn't make Target and Ikea saints.

The real story here is the kind of exploitation of workers a company can get away with when operating in the United States. Poverty-level wages and lousy treatment of employees don't seem to be nearly as acceptable in many European countries--where government is regarded as something that should serve the interests of the great majority of citizens.

The United States is a great country for the wealthy few. But over the past 30 or so years, it's become a pretty harsh place for the majority of its citizens.

This needs to be FRONT PAGE NEWS here in Oregon.

And I expect Adams and his cohorts to be demanding answers from IKEA's local management, followed by flash mob rallys, calls for IKEA to unionize on Adams' Twitter account, and Randy Leonard's hit team to make sure that Portland's IKEA store can be safely evacuated in the event of a fire or plane crash (being that the store sits just off the ends of two of PDX's runways.)

I've called IKEA the "Swedish WalMart" for a long time; H&M is another company big on Asian imports...but it's OK if the company is headquartered in Europe - who cares what their actual labor and manufacturing policies are... That's why Adidas is better than Nike - even though both use the same Chinese and Vietnamese factories.

Who else remembers Vera Katz' statement that Portland NEEDS an Ikea to anchor the mass transit, no car development at Cascade Station?

Yeah . . . and when Wal-Mart wants to buy a former landfill site in NE Portland (current job openings = 0), people join in like it is a WTO protest.

Book cases I bought 2 years ago at Ikea were finished with real birch veneer. Now the same book cases have fake birch.

Ikea is just another sales and marketing machine to make money for the few at the top. It is so seductive to shop there--and that's the way the planned it. And I'm saying that as a capitalist.

As a part time Motion Picture Set Dresser, I can tell you for a fact, that my business can't get enough of Ikea when we dress sets.
Also for the most part Ikea products are a pain in the ass to assemble!
Think CHEAP.

Wow, it's amazing how ill informed people are & that people are comparing Ikea to Wallmart is a perfect example of that. I was born & raised in Sweden & let me say one thing; they treat their employees much better than most companies seem to treat their employees here in the US. In Sweden, they care about its people & in the US they care about big business. Ikea is a big business & I can guarantee that the employees are treated much better back home, with several weeks vaccation & paid sick leave just to name a few. The problem isn't the company, but how do I convince people who've been told that they live in the best country in the world growing up & told that they have freedom. It's kind of off topic, but I was never told those things growing up, yet I felt more free & I didn't realize how great the country was until I moved here. Don't get me wrong; I like the US for many things, but I feel a need to mention that, because the American dream is just that; a dream (or an illusion). I appologize if I'm coming off a little bit harsh & I don't mean to step on anyone's toes... I just think people need to start looking at their own country's problems...& by the way; they did not start when Obama took office! Blah, I'm ramblin, sorry... I need really need to take a nap. Good day to all of you, peace & love!