IKEA Redesigns Its Bestsellers(wsj.com)
wsj.com
IKEA Redesigns Its Bestsellers
https://www.wsj.com/articles/ikea-furniture-inflation-billy-c2f835bc
413 comments
https://archive.is/YQiDs
I love IKEA but these choices are not structurally-equivalent substitutes. They'll start becoming trash the (second) time you try to rebuild them when you move. It's the same garbage that Walmart has been selling.
Yes you buy something for 1/3rd the cost of something made of real wood but it'll last 1/20th the time.
What is particularly irritating is when you try to insert a cam or a screw and it totally mutilates the particle board rendering it useless or at least severely compromising the structure.
I'd rather see prices stay higher (so I'm screwed in a way that I'm aware) instead of getting screwed in unknown ways.
Yes you buy something for 1/3rd the cost of something made of real wood but it'll last 1/20th the time.
What is particularly irritating is when you try to insert a cam or a screw and it totally mutilates the particle board rendering it useless or at least severely compromising the structure.
I'd rather see prices stay higher (so I'm screwed in a way that I'm aware) instead of getting screwed in unknown ways.
So I was wondering why they'd openly admit in a WSJ article that they've "watered down" their furniture and are doubling down on their reputation for flimsy particle-board and paper construction.
Also, I've observed this trend starting way earlier than the pandemic and the start of recent inflation, I bought their butcher block countertops in 2013 and 2018 for my workshop. Let me just say I ripped out my 2013 ones and transferred as much of the old ones to the new workshop as I could.
I can see two reasons for this article:
1. Their customers are noticing and it shows in survey and satisfaction and this is an attempt at curtailing the reputation damage (but don't really see why it's in the WSJ then, maybe it'll show in the coming quarterly/yearly's and they can point to this later?),
2. or they're signaling to investors that they're going to boost profitability and/or margins.
Either way, not really a positive trend in my eyes.
But also unfortunately, it's not like the alternatives are generally much better :/ Seems to be an industry-wide trend.
EDIT: nevermind, Ikea is entirely privately held -- no investors to placate, so 1. maybe?
Also, I've observed this trend starting way earlier than the pandemic and the start of recent inflation, I bought their butcher block countertops in 2013 and 2018 for my workshop. Let me just say I ripped out my 2013 ones and transferred as much of the old ones to the new workshop as I could.
I can see two reasons for this article:
1. Their customers are noticing and it shows in survey and satisfaction and this is an attempt at curtailing the reputation damage (but don't really see why it's in the WSJ then, maybe it'll show in the coming quarterly/yearly's and they can point to this later?),
2. or they're signaling to investors that they're going to boost profitability and/or margins.
Either way, not really a positive trend in my eyes.
But also unfortunately, it's not like the alternatives are generally much better :/ Seems to be an industry-wide trend.
EDIT: nevermind, Ikea is entirely privately held -- no investors to placate, so 1. maybe?
There's a wired dichotomy that I found with IKEA furniture, most of their furniture is cheaply made and won't stand the test of time, but some of their stuff just seems to be bulletproof and indestructible. Right now I'm sitting on an Markus chair that my parents bought for me in the 7th grade (I was 13 at the time), now I'm 29 and the chair is still kicking along showing no signs of giving up.
I'm a bit saddened by this news, since making their products flimsier/lighter will surely make them feel worse.
Anyway, the very first paragraph has this:
ÄLMHULT, Sweden—Amid IKEA’s colorful staged living rooms, piles of umlaut-laden housewares and endless rows of flat-pack boxes is furniture that can have shoppers wondering: How does that chair cost only $35?
Which I think is really bad writing for a publication like the WSJ. Swedish does not have "umlauts". We have three letters more than the US English alphabet, but only two of them (Ä and Ö) have the double dots: the third has a ring (Å). These three are real first-class letters though, they are not "umlauted" (which means changed from some base letter due to grammar).
Anyway, the very first paragraph has this:
ÄLMHULT, Sweden—Amid IKEA’s colorful staged living rooms, piles of umlaut-laden housewares and endless rows of flat-pack boxes is furniture that can have shoppers wondering: How does that chair cost only $35?
Which I think is really bad writing for a publication like the WSJ. Swedish does not have "umlauts". We have three letters more than the US English alphabet, but only two of them (Ä and Ö) have the double dots: the third has a ring (Å). These three are real first-class letters though, they are not "umlauted" (which means changed from some base letter due to grammar).
Off topic, is there any business that will CNC/cut particle board to size, shape, and create holes etc?
Basically thingiverse for furniture.
It would be awesome to be able to customize and reorder parts. For novice users, parametric models could be used to perfectly fit your closet in some nook.
I know there are fully automatic wood cnc machines, but I’m not aware of any company that offers this service (at a reasonable price of course).
Basically thingiverse for furniture.
It would be awesome to be able to customize and reorder parts. For novice users, parametric models could be used to perfectly fit your closet in some nook.
I know there are fully automatic wood cnc machines, but I’m not aware of any company that offers this service (at a reasonable price of course).
This doesn't seem like a bad thing. Many people treat Ikea furniture as disposable and this seems more environmentally friendly. If people are happy with a cardboard coffee table, seems like a win.
General FYI: Ikea furniture (like all particle board furniture) will be much more durable if you add a line of wood glue to the edges when building. It's a simple step that only takes a few extra minutes during construction, but the resulting furniture will last through many moves.
I like IKEA. They’re very honest about their construction. They do some solid wood products, and some particle board products - and you’re never going to be confused what you’re buying
Also, all their packaging seems to be recyclable - including their food packaging. That’s something supermarkets in the UK aren’t even close to
Also, all their packaging seems to be recyclable - including their food packaging. That’s something supermarkets in the UK aren’t even close to
Coincidentally, I'm writing this with my feet up on a vintage IKEA coffee table that's solid pine. I got it second hand from a thrift store for $20, but it must be at least 15 years old. When I move, I'll probably just donate it back to Goodwill, and the cycle will continue
If you're in the market for buy-it-for-life solid wood furniture:
https://www.thejoinery.com
https://vermontwoodsstudios.com/
https://hedgehousefurniture.com
https://57stdesign.com
https://www.57thstreetbookcase.com/ (all bookcases, some veneer and plywood)
https://www.spekeklein.com/home
https://www.pompy.com/
https://www.chiltons.com/
https://roomandboard.com (mix of solid and veneer, some MDF)
These makers are in a league of their own, very expensive, incredibly beautiful hand-made pieces:
https://www.sammaloofwoodworker.com
https://www.thosmoser.com (highly recommended)
https://nakashimawoodworkers.com (new commissions around $7K-$15K for a coffee table, $20K-40K for dining table, plus shipping; older Nakashima pieces are highly valued in the art world and sell anywhere between $15K-$300K)
https://www.wright20.com/search/nakashima/items#past
Edit: Also, to echo what someone mentioned below, if you're interested in solid wood furniture you should find a local woodworker.
Another edit and thought: I used to own a lot of IKEA furniture and as I've gotten older, have slowly replaced those pieces with items from Knoll, with custom pieces from local woodworkers, with a few pieces from the studios listed above. A lot of people are commenting on the cost, and yes they're expensive and could be considered luxury goods.
But if you like art and design and you care about quality, you save for what you want to buy. I wanted to be surrounded by great craftsmanship, so instead of buying "stuff" and instead of spending money on lots of subscriptions and services, or constantly upgrading phones and computers, I buy one piece of nice furniture every year. I believe the more you appreciate the things around you, the more they begin to influence your own work, and your sense of place.
I regularly see a lot of IKEA furniture on the side of the road and in dumpsters. I think this is the difference between buying "things" and having "possessions" but that's a discussion for another day.
https://www.thejoinery.com
https://vermontwoodsstudios.com/
https://hedgehousefurniture.com
https://57stdesign.com
https://www.57thstreetbookcase.com/ (all bookcases, some veneer and plywood)
https://www.spekeklein.com/home
https://www.pompy.com/
https://www.chiltons.com/
https://roomandboard.com (mix of solid and veneer, some MDF)
These makers are in a league of their own, very expensive, incredibly beautiful hand-made pieces:
https://www.sammaloofwoodworker.com
https://www.thosmoser.com (highly recommended)
https://nakashimawoodworkers.com (new commissions around $7K-$15K for a coffee table, $20K-40K for dining table, plus shipping; older Nakashima pieces are highly valued in the art world and sell anywhere between $15K-$300K)
https://www.wright20.com/search/nakashima/items#past
Edit: Also, to echo what someone mentioned below, if you're interested in solid wood furniture you should find a local woodworker.
Another edit and thought: I used to own a lot of IKEA furniture and as I've gotten older, have slowly replaced those pieces with items from Knoll, with custom pieces from local woodworkers, with a few pieces from the studios listed above. A lot of people are commenting on the cost, and yes they're expensive and could be considered luxury goods.
But if you like art and design and you care about quality, you save for what you want to buy. I wanted to be surrounded by great craftsmanship, so instead of buying "stuff" and instead of spending money on lots of subscriptions and services, or constantly upgrading phones and computers, I buy one piece of nice furniture every year. I believe the more you appreciate the things around you, the more they begin to influence your own work, and your sense of place.
I regularly see a lot of IKEA furniture on the side of the road and in dumpsters. I think this is the difference between buying "things" and having "possessions" but that's a discussion for another day.
Having shopped at Ikea for 20 years now there is one pattern I noticed: In general Ikea won‘t increase the price of an article, instead they would produce it cheaper and cheaper.
I have a 40 years old billy, the shelves are made of solid wood! IKEA quality has been dwindling for decades.
Constantly looking to shave pennies off of products is understandable from a business perspective, but as many are commenting, quality often suffers. With some household items - not just from Ikea - it seems like the race to the bottom leads to everything becoming so bereft of raw material that they are disposable. Try to buy simple things like a dishpan or dish rack, and most brands have become so flimsy that they don't last.
I really wish that Ikea would offer a sub-brand which is more premium. They did that many years ago. I have a dresser from the early '90s which is still in good shape. It was differentiated by design. materials and construction. It also cost a lot more than other similar items. Around that same time they sold a series of shelves/cabinets with aluminum extrusions for the corners, and some of their more dense particle board with premium veneers for the shelves/panels. It really competed with high end stuff from other contract furniture companies like Steelcase, Knoll, and Herman Miller.
Ikea no longer seems to be interested in competing on quality.
I really wish that Ikea would offer a sub-brand which is more premium. They did that many years ago. I have a dresser from the early '90s which is still in good shape. It was differentiated by design. materials and construction. It also cost a lot more than other similar items. Around that same time they sold a series of shelves/cabinets with aluminum extrusions for the corners, and some of their more dense particle board with premium veneers for the shelves/panels. It really competed with high end stuff from other contract furniture companies like Steelcase, Knoll, and Herman Miller.
Ikea no longer seems to be interested in competing on quality.
There is so little left to cut. Replacing wood veneer with foil? Man, that’s low.
I’d never buy furniture from them. Just smaller things like glasses and plants. They’re a shadow of what they used to be.
I’d never buy furniture from them. Just smaller things like glasses and plants. They’re a shadow of what they used to be.
I used to buy a lot of Ikea stuff (to save time) and recently I've just started making my own from basic plywood etc because the quality has totally gone to shit. I used to buy the pine stuff, there's very little of that any more.
It's designed in such a way now that if you use it slightly outside of parameters it's fucked. Like, pick up a chest of drawers the wrong way and the particleboard snaps in a way that is impossible to fix properly without replacing the entire beam.
Try and screw something to the side of a Kallax or whatever, it's honeycomb cardboard so screws just fall through. Yeah you can do it with a bit of effort, but I mean, meh.
I don't think that square items of furniture like that should be disposable. You should be able to just cut it up and use the scrap wood for other projects. Even if you don't want to, leave it outside your flat or house on a dry day, someone will.
It's designed in such a way now that if you use it slightly outside of parameters it's fucked. Like, pick up a chest of drawers the wrong way and the particleboard snaps in a way that is impossible to fix properly without replacing the entire beam.
Try and screw something to the side of a Kallax or whatever, it's honeycomb cardboard so screws just fall through. Yeah you can do it with a bit of effort, but I mean, meh.
I don't think that square items of furniture like that should be disposable. You should be able to just cut it up and use the scrap wood for other projects. Even if you don't want to, leave it outside your flat or house on a dry day, someone will.
Not a good trend, IKEA is like the Toyota of furniture. It's inexpensive but functional. With these changes they will be no different than cheap trash furniture. So why pay any premium for Ikea when I can just Amazon the cheapest equivalent furniture knowing both will equally break sooner than later?
I like Ikea but I usually avoid their cheaper lines and opt for the "higher end" stuff with real wood...sure it's usually just pine, but it seems to hold up a hell of a lot better and it's not that much more expensive. Plus natural wood is gorgeous.
Eg. Buy a Hemnes bookcase instead of a Billy. A ton more affordable than a custom walnut or oak bookcase from a local furniture maker if that is out of your price range, but will last practically as long.
Eg. Buy a Hemnes bookcase instead of a Billy. A ton more affordable than a custom walnut or oak bookcase from a local furniture maker if that is out of your price range, but will last practically as long.
This isn't a new thing, this is their equivalent of the Toyota Kaizen continous improvement thing.
Here's a book review of their "Democratic Design" book in which they discuss trying to fulfil 5 design paramaters,
Form, function, quality, price and sustainability:
https://uxdesign.cc/ikea-democratic-design-3-design-takeaway...
Here's a book review of their "Democratic Design" book in which they discuss trying to fulfil 5 design paramaters,
Form, function, quality, price and sustainability:
https://uxdesign.cc/ikea-democratic-design-3-design-takeaway...
> keep prices down and profits up
There’s your problem right there. We are all getting a worse product from IKEA because they have to keep investors profits up.
They wrap this boot to the face in a lovingly quaint “scrappy engineers” story that’s supposed to make it seem like this is all unavoidable effects of some mysterious process.
We’re the authors of our own hell folks.
There’s your problem right there. We are all getting a worse product from IKEA because they have to keep investors profits up.
They wrap this boot to the face in a lovingly quaint “scrappy engineers” story that’s supposed to make it seem like this is all unavoidable effects of some mysterious process.
We’re the authors of our own hell folks.
I have bought and assembled 6 billy bookcases one by one over the last 15 years and the drop in quality over time has been quite perceivable.
The latest one I assmeled used plastic locking mechanisms to keep the shelves in place instead of the metal of all my prior bookcases. Probably good enough, but doesn't inspire confidence.
The latest one I assmeled used plastic locking mechanisms to keep the shelves in place instead of the metal of all my prior bookcases. Probably good enough, but doesn't inspire confidence.
This is not new. IKEA is continuously redesigning their products and the name does not change. You can buy a billy book case that is fundamentally different than the model that was produced 35 years ago.
Less wood, less metal, more plastic, less material. Cost cutting at every point.
I have a Besta Casefeom 2018 that was made with 1mm wood veneer and it looks decent. The pins where the shelf rest are made from metal and some screws are also metal.
The 2022 version has paper foil printed to look like wood, the pins are plastic, the screws too. IT IS ABSOLUT TRASH! Literally.
The foil is so bad, you will scratch it of accidentally with your fingernails, the plastic screws are one time use only, maybe twice. The pins are bending without any weight on it. I returned it.
They look nearly the same, cost the same as 2018, but they are different. Be warned.
Less wood, less metal, more plastic, less material. Cost cutting at every point.
I have a Besta Casefeom 2018 that was made with 1mm wood veneer and it looks decent. The pins where the shelf rest are made from metal and some screws are also metal.
The 2022 version has paper foil printed to look like wood, the pins are plastic, the screws too. IT IS ABSOLUT TRASH! Literally.
The foil is so bad, you will scratch it of accidentally with your fingernails, the plastic screws are one time use only, maybe twice. The pins are bending without any weight on it. I returned it.
They look nearly the same, cost the same as 2018, but they are different. Be warned.
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I like driving around cities when it's moving time for college kids. You can pick up all sorts of great scrap wood left on the curb, mostly from IKEA parts. I had to stop picking it up because I amassed so much. I've made several tables and 3 bed frames.
How many times are we going to rediscover that free market isn't just companies competing for the customer on price, but companies competing in a race to the bottom on quality/cost to pad their earnings as well?
Yeah, this is most apparent on their best-seller: Kallax.
Try lifting your old Kallax vs the new one. No, you are not suddenly turned into Captain America. It's the new Kallax that's suddenly became so light and hollow.
Try lifting your old Kallax vs the new one. No, you are not suddenly turned into Captain America. It's the new Kallax that's suddenly became so light and hollow.
I so miss the cheap 150x75 cm Linnmon honeycomb tabletop.
Their default desk depth is now a mere 60 cm because everyone aparently use laptops on desks, nowadays. Ugh. Anything with more depth than that -> so much costlier.
Their default desk depth is now a mere 60 cm because everyone aparently use laptops on desks, nowadays. Ugh. Anything with more depth than that -> so much costlier.
The only ikea item we managed to break (actually, bend) was a midbeam (SKORVA).
I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did! It broke in the third apartment, so it survived two moves. And it was just $15 to replace.
I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did! It broke in the third apartment, so it survived two moves. And it was just $15 to replace.
If you glue IKEA stuff together while you're assembling it, and attach it to the wall, it's as strong as you need it to be.
basically, making ikea products fall apart in two years instead of 5 years. What a shame, just increase the prices slightly.