You may have noticed that there is a new mega store opening in Innaloo.
A new Ikea store.
Ikea started as a young man’s dream in rural Sweden. Now Ikea has 158 stores in 29 countries and is about to embark on a massive global expansion plan. Why is it succeeding while traditional retailers go to the wall?
Ikea is preoccupied with relationships. Whereas traditional stores have usually appealed to individual consumers, Ikea wants to attract families or groups of friends. You often see not just couples trailing around, but the rest of the extended family, too: it is the modern equivalent of the day at the seaside in the 50s and 60s, a chance for the family to do something communally. Have you been there? There is a place for your kids, a place to eat, and you don’t just go to one section like you do in myers, they deliberately put arrows on the floor, and they make you go on a journey, and at the end of that journey, after the experience that you are encouraged to go on as a family, there are Swedish meatballs to eat together!
Ikea, with all its faults that I see as a Christian, has understood the value of relationships. The owner often visits his stores, suprising his “co workers”, giving them all a hug.
Relationships are so important, and maybe some of our relationships need a renewal. We all know our own pain – relationships that aren’t working the way we hoped they would. Think about some relationship in your life that isn’t quite right. Could it be that your relationship struggle is having a negative ripple effect that goes far beyond your own little world? Probably so.
