Is Ikea Open?

Spicedwine

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Just wondering if the Ikea store is open. I was told that it was by someone who was in Santa Domingo recently, but from the previous posts on this it sounded like it would be awhile. Any "real" info appreciated.
 

Robert

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Jan 2, 1999
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I drove past it today, it's months away, maybe mid next year.

They are still pouring concrete.
 
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destinationbarahona

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Nov 22, 2008
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www.destinationbarahona.com
Just go to
Bienvenido a IKEA Santo Domingo
and have a look to the website!
And you will see: Ikea is really professional! No dates! We open ....
No way in this country. You can make your plans. European way.
Everything dated. Planed.
Than we will face the reality in the DR. We have no problems - just looking for solutions. And that takes sometimes a lot of time!
But what I see when I pass the construction area: They are quiet fast. So I really wish for myself: Ready in 2009!
 

NALs

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Jan 20, 2003
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Ikea Santo Domingo

For whomever needs to see before believing:

s5006428sr6.jpg


s5006432sq7.jpg


s5006431fz9.jpg


-NALs
 

melagomania

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I really have doubts of the success of Ikea in this country. Unless their prices are competitive. The Market will be primarily foreigners and upclass. But, what about once the market runs out..... It wont last for long, especially in light of an oncoming economic crisis... good luck
 

NALs

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I really have doubts of the success of Ikea in this country. Unless their prices are competitive. The Market will be primarily foreigners and upclass. But, what about once the market runs out..... It wont last for long, especially in light of an oncoming economic crisis... good luck
We can all rest assured that Ikea is not the type of company that throw darts at a dart board.

There is a reason they are investing in the DR, they are building next to Americana Departamentos, they are doing all of that now.

It has nothing to do with a wild guess or going by intuition.

The DR consumer market is not going to experience this crisis some "experts" have been predicting for a while now. Most of Ikea's customers are going to be middle class Dominicans. The foreign and upper class component, while large, is not large enough to support a store like Ikea, of the dimensions they are building it. Go to any hypermarket like Carrefour, Jumbo or to high income businesses like Supermercado Nacional, Americana Departamento, or Librer?a Cuesta and you will notice that at any given time, the majority of its customers are middle class Dominicans.

-NALs
 

suarezn

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I think is going to be extremely successful as this is something The DR does not have yet (Modern looking furniture, accessories, etc at reasonable prices). I for one can't wait for it to open so I can furnish my whole house with their stuff. I don't really care for the styles you find in most DR furniture stores (old looking, blocky, dark furniture)...The only places that sell similar modern styles (i.e. Plaza Lama) are a huge rip off.
 
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Robert

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I personally think Ikea will completely change the retail furniture market in Santo Domingo. They wouldn't be coming here, if they couldn't. They are the most successful and powerful furniture retailers in the world.
 

tomis1

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While I find the IKEA furniture to be ?cheaply? constructed, the design will be a great improvement over the few forward looking stores in SD. It will be great to update one?s vacation house on a spur of the moment and not have to ship from overseas.
 

Tamborista

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IKEA may have a successful business model and "modern" looking furniture, but the majority of their products are pressboard and plastic and are not meant to last more than 4 years in a dorm room/college apartment.
 

suarezn

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IKEA may have a successful business model and "modern" looking furniture, but the majority of their products are pressboard and plastic and are not meant to last more than 4 years in a dorm room/college apartment.

Hopefully this will inspire Dominicans to innovate in their designs while continuing to build sturdy pieces. I agree most of their stuff is not the most durable, but if it looks good and is cheap then that should be a perfect match for The DR...You know how vanity plays in The DR
 

Chirimoya

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Dec 9, 2002
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Yes, it's almost disposable but it looks good and it fits in with the redecorating fad where people feel compelled to transform their houses continuously. But will IKEA in the DR keep the prices low enough to make people feel they are getting such a good deal? Like bedside tables for ?5?
 

SteveS

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Apr 15, 2008
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I personally think Ikea will completely change the retail furniture market in Santo Domingo. They wouldn't be coming here, if they couldn't. They are the most successful and powerful furniture retailers in the world.

I've said much the same to the Wife for the last 6 months. As long as IKEA price everything similarly to the rest of the world (as they seem to do round the world already) then they can severely dent the competition, especially with the younger end of the market. Decent quality modern looking designer furniture for 1/3 the cost.....??

Will the Dominican public still continue to shop for $3,000 sofas at Americana, $5000 dollar bedroom suites at Hache? or at Ikea, a well renown Funky new store at a fraction the cost......... hmmm......
 

NALs

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I personally think Ikea will completely change the retail furniture market in Santo Domingo. They wouldn't be coming here, if they couldn't. They are the most successful and powerful furniture retailers in the world.
On the money.

This will be the first IKEA in Latin America. Speaks volumes to the investment climate and economic performance of the DR, given that they could had easily decided to open their first Latin American store in one of the larger economies of the region.

-NALs
 

Cibaeno

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What I am wondering about is if they will offer their regular stuff there or a special furniture for this market. The IKEA stores I know from Germany mostly offer those light and bright wood types that actually aren?t used here. You have those heavy and dark wood types here, also due to the fact that the humidity is too high here and that usually damages the light wood types easily.

But on the other hand would it be quite expensive to offer a special program just for one market.