IKEA in Bucharest

My enthusiasm for IKEA is not matched by many people I have met. My sister and Bryn Miyahara might be the only two people who fully appreciate the wonders of the big blue and yellow store. While they know the layout of the store well enough to bypass the floor arrows, they understand that actually following the arrows is all part of the experience.

A few weekends ago I visited the only IKEA in all of Romania. My partner in crime for the trip was a coworker who has not, as of yet, seen Kelly Ronan in a hyper excited state. As my level of enthusiasm increased as we approached the store his only explanation was telling me I was obsessed. He was more excited for cinnamon buns and Swedish meatballs. I was excited to find out if IKEA in Bucharest is, in fact, just like IKEA in College Park. The orange juice box from the IKEA café explains the general state of the adventure:



I am pleased to inform IKEA enthusiasts that the store was, in fact, exactly the same. The main noticeable difference was that this time I didn’t have the English translations of the Swedish words to help me out. The signs were in Swedish and Romanian which didn’t do me much good as my knowledge of the Swedish language is limited to one word (Hej!). The signs indicating the best deals were still in yellow with the same IKEA font. The shopping list I had created beforehand didn’t change as all of the items were the same. I was able to see the comforter and rug that I have in my room in DC. The IKEA art section has the same pictures of New York City and Paris. The 100 pack of tea light candles is just as exciting in Romania as it is at home.

The most intriguing difference was the shopping bags at IKEA Bucharest. At College Park you have the option of buying a large plastic bag that is rather impractical for use after you leave the store. Europeans have it figured out as for approximately $0.25 you can buy a shopping bag shown below. I didn’t need one of these bags for my purchases but clearly I bought one anyway. And now that I have the bag, I love it so much I obviously won’t use it so it is collecting dust under my desk. And come December I will fold it up and take it home to show it off to my sister who will at least pretend to be jealous.



The IKEA café offered the same variety of food but lines longer than any I’ve seen before for Swedish meatballs and potatoes. Seating in the café area was packed. The line for food was long and people had food carts so they could carry 6 meals at once while other people in their party scoured the area for seats. The highlight of the whole International IKEA experience? The fist fight I witnessed whilst eating chicken nuggets. Thankfully IKEA has security guards who came along to break up the fight. We never quite figured out what the fight was over. Maybe someone threatened to steal a meatball or something.