IKEA Dominicana

[NALs]

In a few days (February 16) IKEA will be 11 years old in the Dominican market. It's not only the first IKEA store in Latin America and the Caribbean, but the first IKEA anywhere in the Developing World.

Any DR1er has experience shopping at IKEA in Santo Domingo? What type of experience(s) have you had?

 

[NanSanPedro]

NALS, Could you add a vote for "No, I haven't been to the main store but am open to the possibility."

BTW, nice pic with pleasant traffic on JFK.

 

[william webster]

I have been there - Yes - but my wife is the true shopper.....

I'll get her feel on this

 

[JD Jones]

I don't go unless I absolutely have to. I despise having to walk the entire store even when I go for one item.

 

[NanSanPedro]

I don't go unless I absolutely have to. I despise having to walk the entire store even when I go for one item.

lol, a step counter's heaven!

 

[Yourmaninvegas]

IKEA straight rocks
And it is not even on EAST SIDE
I burn that store up.
And personally add to their bottom line every time I can.

And their products and selection is not even the best part.
Albondigas baby.
And the store behind he cajas with unique ingredients.

It is the store in Santo Domingo above all others for me that shows bad customer service that you find here in is not about the individuals working in the establishment.
It is about the business system they are working in.
I have never failed to received TOP NOTCH customer service within IKEA SD.
And will keep shopping there until my very last breath.
Good times

 

[william webster]

Re: Ikea RD

All the stores are the same - in the world, from what I've seen
Products may differ, but layout, etc is the same.

There is a short cut, I'm sure....... I use it
Bypass the early part of the store

 

[Yourmaninvegas]

There is a short cut, I'm sure....... I use it
Bypass the early part of the store

Yes, you can back track through the cajas against the flow.
Something that sounds like you would be doing on a regular basis.
Or you can go up one floor and cut through to the restaurant
At this cut through you will find a elevator where you can head directly to the second floor.
But remember, I don't live here.

 

[CristoRey]

IKEA straight rocks
And it is not even on EAST SIDE
I burn that store up.
And personally add to their bottom line every time I can.

And their products and selection is not even the best part.
Albondigas baby.
And the store behind he cajas with unique ingredients.

It is the store in Santo Domingo above all others for me that shows bad customer service that you find here in is not about the individuals working in the establishment.
It is about the business system they are working in.
I have never failed to received TOP NOTCH customer service within IKEA SD.
And will keep shopping there until my very last breath.
Good times

No doubt, Ikea rocks. I've shopped them in Houston, DC,
Amsterdam, Budapest, Bangkok, Tampa and Santo Domingo.
Funny story. My first trip to Ikea in SD was early 2012 and Gmaps
said Metro Line2 was in service but it wasn't operating yet so
that shopping trip ended up being my first time in a carrito in this
country.

 

[irishpaddy]

i was pleasantly surprised with Ikea in DR .....bought some chairs for my balcony and 4 years later they are still in good condition...and the Restaurant isnt bad for a lunch either

 

[Buffness]

Any DR1er has experience shopping at IKEA in Santo Domingo? What type of experience(s) have you had?

Hmmm....

We were fans until COVID. The PC branch had many issues last year ...probably due to logistics and poor management....We experienced the same issues discussed here :

Buying something online from IKEA - complete nightmare

Today IKEA has a 10% discount on anything you buy. I needed some things, so when I received the email I went online and chose what I wanted. Got to the final stage, but there's no way to ask for a Comprobante Fiscal as someone cleverly completely forgot to include that on their website...

dr1.com

Our business is now with a good Dominican furniture factory.....you give them your spec ....negotiate the price ...and you could bag yourself custom made furniture ...way stronger than IKEA ....and if you are nice with your dinero...they will “customize” your IKEA furniture to last longer ...by replacing the “recycled wood chips fused together with resin glue” ....on some IKEA furniture.....with real wood. Viva RD !

BTW , anyone else found that IKEA office furniture deteriorate quicker in RD ?

 

[JD Jones]

Hmmm....

We were fans until COVID. The PC branch had many issues last year ...probably due to logistics and poor management....We experienced the same issues discussed here :

Buying something online from IKEA - complete nightmare

Today IKEA has a 10% discount on anything you buy. I needed some things, so when I received the email I went online and chose what I wanted. Got to the final stage, but there's no way to ask for a Comprobante Fiscal as someone cleverly completely forgot to include that on their website...

dr1.com

Our business is now with a good Dominican furniture factory.....you give them your spec ....negotiate the price ...and you could bag yourself custom made furniture ...way stronger than IKEA ....and if you are nice with your dinero...they will “customize” your IKEA furniture to last longer ...by replacing the “recycled wood chips fused together with resin glue” ....on some IKEA furniture.....with real wood. Viva RD !

BTW , anyone else found that IKEA office furniture deteriorate quicker in RD ?

Yep. Humidity.

 

[HS10]

I have had good experiences with IKEA here.
Especially with their delivery and set-up service. If you buy something complicated like a dresser or a bed, they expertly put it together at a very reasonable cost. I recall 3 workers (one being a gal) putting together my bedroom stuff. It would have taken me all day but they were done in an hour.

 

[Aguaita29]

I've bought stuff at the main one, but find the check out lines to be way too slow. There was a time when we used to go at least once a week, on the weekends, for brunch. We liked the food, but got kind of tired of it.

I once took a friend from Puerto Rico for lunch. He was really impressed and said the one they had over there wasn't as big.

 

[Auryn]

I find smaller items at IKEA SD to be less expensive than in Canada. Placemats for example, are cheaper. But floor lamps that were $10 abroad (IKEA Edmonton/Calgary) were $20 in SD. Shipping cost related most likely.

Cheap particle board furniture isn’t going to last as long anywhere, but throw in the humidity/heat and things definitely fall apart faster in the DR coastal regions.

I still buy lots of items at Ikea. Not all is bad quality. When I lived there, it was my go to place for almost all household items. On a reasonable budget, only Cuesta really compared, and it was usually more expensive for most things due to often better quality.

My sister in law loves Ikea and buys most of her furniture there. She likes the ultra modern type stuff (I don’t so much) and she says it’s the best place to purchase it.

 

[Africaida]

I am going to Ikea soon in SD. I like contemporary stuff and I haven't seen anything like it here, that weren't prohibitively expensive in that style.

I won't go for furniture but for home goods : Kitchen items, rugs, lamps and deco (will probably end up buying towels and bed sheets)

Love Ikea !

 

[Pikobello]

I'm a german guy and IKEA is a part of culture there. I was a little child when my parents bring me to the store, so you become costumer very young...
When I was 18 and left my parents home for my own space, all comes from IKEA. I have assembled all stuff by my own, from little furniture to the entire kitchen. I like more the modern stile of furniture than the DR Graf Dracula stile from 18. century.Yes I know tropical wood like caoba is more durable like plywood in this clima and I was very sceptical when I bought the first item when they open the store, but still in good shape.
So the quality from IKEA isn't so bad. To get approval to sell your stuff in Germany is not easy and the products in all stores are the same.
The functionality of there items is awesom. Look at there kitchens how many details they offers. You can by a sofa where you can easy take off the upholstery and wash them. Or when you tired of the colour, by a new one, you don't have to change the sofa! Tell me one store who offers this...
There are much more things to tell about but then it get's a book....at the end I'm fine with them.

 

[bob saunders]

I'm a german guy and IKEA is a part of culture there. I was a little child when my parents bring me to the store, so you become costumer very young...
When I was 18 and left my parents home for my own space, all comes from IKEA. I have assembled all stuff by my own, from little furniture to the entire kitchen. I like more the modern stile of furniture than the DR Graf Dracula stile from 18. century.Yes I know tropical wood like caoba is more durable like plywood in this clima and I was very sceptical when I bought the first item when they open the store, but still in good shape.
So the quality from IKEA isn't so bad. To get approval to sell your stuff in Germany is not easy and the products in all stores are the same.
The functionality of there items is awesom. Look at there kitchens how many details they offers. You can by a sofa where you can easy take off the upholstery and wash them. Or when you tired of the colour, by a new one, you don't have to change the sofa! Tell me one store who offers this...
There are much more things to tell about but then it get's a book....at the end I'm fine with them.

We like their storage options. Very good for organizing and separating school supplies....etc. I also like their lamps. My son has a water buffalo leather ikea chair that I bought in Edmonton in 1986 and gifted to him in 2012, after many years of being a dogs bed. He still has it and says it's his favorite chair.

 

[Caonabo]

Isn't IKEA just one of the many horrible corporate structures that are all too common within the last 30 years?

 

[Yourmaninvegas]

Isn't IKEA just one of the many horrible corporate structures that are all too common within the last 30 years?

Not at all.
So let me educate you Caonobo and I will not be using pictures to do it.
Open up your eyeholes and READ

"Since its inception, the IKEA company vision has been to create a better everyday life for the many people by offering a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishings at prices so low that as many people as possible can afford them."

About | IKEA Foundation

ikeafoundation.org

Nothing horrible about that and actually all too uncommon in a corporate structure.
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