Yeah, They've Got That here, too!

The Israeli flag:  Kachol-Levan at its finest!

The predominant colors on display in Israel - as among Jews around the world - are Blue and White:  Kachol-Lavan.  Americans refer to anything that's quintessentially American, or which implies American patriotitism, as 'Red, White, and Blue.'  In the same way, Jews especially in Israel invoke 'Kachol Lavan' as an expression of patriotism.  El Al, the Israeli national airline, used to advertise to the Israeli public:  Tus Kachol-Lavan - 'Fly Blue and White.'  (Instaed of giving your business to foreign airlines.)  When Israeli Aircraft Industries was developing it's homegrown fighter aircraft, the Lavi, it was commonly referred to as 'Ha-lavi Ha-Kachol-Lavan' - 'the Blue and White Lavi.'  On one visit to Israel, Clara and I rented our car from Eldan, a homegrown car rental company represented at the airport rental counters among Hertz, Avis, Thrifty et al.  When we experienced a conflict with the counter agent on picking up our car, we told her that we'd chosen Eldan specifically because we wanted to rent 'Kachol-Lavan.'  This expression of loyalty gave the agent the push she needed to solve our problem.  (The story may be unbelievable to others who have rented cars at Ben Gurion Airport, but it actually did happen that way!)

The IKEA store in Rish LeTziyon

Given all this, on my first day in Israel Clara having picked me up at the airport, was driving south on Highway 4 towards Ashqelon.  As we passed the city or Rishon LeTziyon, I looked off to the left and, seeing a familiar Blue-and-Yellow icon, I murmured 'Oh, they've got that here, too.'

Of course, that is IKEA, the Sweden-based furniture and home furnishings company whose huge stores, gaudily painted in the colors of the Swedish flag, have become ubiquitous all over the world.

When Clara and I were stationed in Germany, fellow Americans from our Kaiserslautern military community would talk endlessly about making the trek to Mannheim, to the nearest IKEA store, whenever they needed home items.  It wasn't an especially long trek:  about 90KM, an hour unless one encountered a stau.  We personally never made the trek, and to that point in our lives had never been inside an IKEA store as we'd never lived in close proximity to one. (In the same vein, we never 'got' the hype about the Trader Joe's chain of grocery stores because we'd never been in or near one.)

After I retired from the US Air Force and we were living in Colorado Springs, IKEA opened a store in Centennial, a souther suburb of Denver which was within striking distance of our home.  But we never went, despite the ravings of some of our friends, because it was reported that the crowds in the store during its early months in Colorado were thick and difficult to navigate.  And then we moved to Australia.

In Australia IKEA was present and established.  Although we lived in a furnished apartment, at one point we were looking for bookcases and, not finding anything we liked for a decent price in the area, we drove up to Logan (a suburb of Brisbane) to the nearest IKEA store.  We found the bookcases we sought, brought them home, and I proceeded to assemble them from their flat-pack packaging.

Proud display of IKEA goodies after assembly:
a butcher block kitchen cart, and two nightstands.
The bookcase - currently serving as
a tchotchkes case - is not ours; it belongs to the house.

In doing so, I began to understand IKEA's appeal.  First of all, the store - if a bit overwheling at first for its size - was about as customer-friendly as a large store could be.  And the bookcases we bought, comparing favorably in price to those on offer elsewhere, seemed superior in quality of materials and logic of design.  I don't mean the aesthetics, but the cleverness of the hardware and fastening methods.  Over the years in Australia, we found these bookcases superior to other 'cheap' bookcases in the way they stood up to their use.  Specifically, the shelves took the weight of my tomes and did not bow as the shelves of cheap bookcases tend to, but remained straight and true.  And that counts for something!  Just as important, I'm more than a little clumsy with tools but find that IKEA pieces go together fairly easily for me.

When people start talking about IKEA, they will cite different reasons that they like the shopping experience it offers.  Some like the inexpensive food in the in-house rrestaurant.  Others like the logical flow through the store, set up in one continuous snake-like trip so that one misses nothing.  Others like the easy parking and profusion of bags, carts, measuring tapes, wish-cards, and even sharpened pencils that bring ease to the experience of choosing and then taking home one's purchases.  Some like the faux-Swedish names that they give to each product, and the fun in trying to pronounce them.  I especially like the series of apartment mock-ups peppering the route through the store, showing customers examples of what they can do with 35 square meters, 55, 75, whatever.

Whatever one's reason for appreciating IKEA, it is clear that customers treat a visit to the store more as an event, then as a routine shopping excursion.  One manifestation of thise mindset that I quickly observed in Australia, is that shoppers in IKEA - in particular, female customers - tend to 'dress up' more than those visiting other shopping venues.  Why dress up when shopping  for home furnishings?  Because the shopping is and event, that's why.  That aside, there seems to be a general excitement and intensity present, that one does not perceive in 'normal' stores!

A few weeks after my arrival in Israel, a friend informed me of a sale going on at IKEA, and I decided it was finally time to make the trek to Rishon to check it out.  Although we once again have a furnished apartment, we do need a few pieces of furniture to accomodate our living.  For example, I need a desk and have been disappointed at those on offer at local stores in Ashqelon.

Happy shoppers cruising bargains at IKEA Israel!

So, does the IKEA concept translate into 'Israeli'?  Not all imported brands do.  As examples, Starbucks failed here, and The Gap Israel is in its death throes.  Not so IKEA.  We visited on a Sunday afternoon - remember that Sunday is a normal work day in Israel - and the store was packed.  Israelis were filling their large bags and carts with all manner of home furnishing items, all of which appear to be identical to IKEA's offerings in Australia, the US (Recently, I finally did visit the IKEA store in Centennial) and, presumably, elsewhere in the world.

So, Levy's verdict is...IKEA does translate well into Israeli.  In our turn through the IKEA store here, I perceived that same quality of excitement among the shoppers, not to mention a tendency to dress nicer than patrons at 'ordinary' shopping venues.  Of course the sale underway - there were some really good mark-downs - added to the excitement.  But I'm sure that the sale was not its only source.

Please come to Israel! (And bring COSTCO too, while
you're at it!)

Well, now the Levy's have been to IKEA on three continents and are quickly becoming True Believers.  Yes, the furniture is not heirloom quality; it is produced to a specific price point and it won't last forever.  But it compares well to other 'cheap' furniture and the shopping experience is unparallelled.  Yup, they've got that here, too!  No, if only Trsder Joe's - we finally got to experience that shopping experience after they finally arrived in Colorado Springs - would make it here!  (Not to mention COSTCO...)