"She's starting to become the Ronda Storms of the City Council."

Now that's just uncalled for!

/low blow

God forbid our local elected leaders try to stand in the way of masses of humanity clamoring to wake up early to buy furniture.

Long ago in days of yore
It all began with a god named Thor.
There were Vikings and boats
And some plans for a furniture store.
It's not a bodega, it's not a mall
And they sell things for apartments smaller than mine
As if there were apartments smaller than mine

Ikea: just some oak and some pine and a handful of Norsemen
Ikea: selling furniture for college kids and divorced men
Everyone has a home
And if you don't have a home you can buy one there

So rent a car or take the bus
Lay your cash down and put your trust
In the land where the furniture folds to a much smaller size
Billy the bookcase says hello
And so does a table whose name is Ingo
And the chair is a ladder-back birch but his friends call him Karl

Ikea: just some oak and some pine and a handful of Norsemen
Ikea: selling furniture for college kids and divorced men
Everyone has a home
And if you don't have a home you can buy one there

Ikea: plywood, brushed steel
Ikea: meatballs, tasty
Ikea: Allen wrenches
All of them for free
All of them for me

I'm sorry I said Ikea sucks
I just bought a table for 60 bucks
And a chair and a lamp
And a shelf and some candles for you
I was a doubter just like you
Till I saw the American dream come true
In New Jersey, they got a god damned Swedish parade

Ikea: just some oak and some pine and a handful of Norsemen
Ikea: selling furniture for college kids and divorced men
Everyone has a home
But if you don't have a home you can buy one there

/Jonathan Coulton = Awesome.

FTA: I asked Saul-Sena (who, in full disclosure, was once a client of my former political consulting firm) why neither of those buildings is green, and she had a simple answer: "It's because we didn't ask."

This is silly, everyone knows IKEA stores are blue and yellow, not green. Why would they paint it green??

Seriously, as an architect I hate that word - I can't wait until the fad of trendy cool green buildings is over.

As for comparing an IKEA store to a Wal-Mart, I'd actually say the newer Wal-Mart Supercenters are a bit nicer looking, minus the typical clientel. They're both giant boxes with somewhat dolled up facades. I'd call them comparable appearance wise as well, what's wrong with that?

ZachF81: I'd actually say the newer Wal-Mart Supercenters are a bit nicer looking

Sure, as an architect, you'd say that - you get to see them when they're new & done, before anyone actually shops there. Maybe if they actually stocked/blocked/cleaned the store nightly (properly) things wouldn't be so bad.

/tarzhay snob

Bloody William: Long ago in days of yore
It all began with a god named Thor.
There were Vikings and boats
And some plans for a furniture store.
It's not a bodega, it's not a mall
And they sell things for apartments smaller than mine
As if there were apartments smaller than mine

Ikea: just some oak and some pine and a handful of Norsemen
Ikea: selling furniture for college kids and divorced men
Everyone has a home
And if you don't have a home you can buy one there

So rent a car or take the bus
Lay your cash down and put your trust
In the land where the furniture folds to a much smaller size
Billy the bookcase says hello
And so does a table whose name is Ingo
And the chair is a ladder-back birch but his friends call him Karl

Ikea: just some oak and some pine and a handful of Norsemen
Ikea: selling furniture for college kids and divorced men
Everyone has a home
And if you don't have a home you can buy one there

Ikea: plywood, brushed steel
Ikea: meatballs, tasty
Ikea: Allen wrenches
All of them for free
All of them for me

I'm sorry I said Ikea sucks
I just bought a table for 60 bucks
And a chair and a lamp
And a shelf and some candles for you
I was a doubter just like you
Till I saw the American dream come true
In New Jersey, they got a god damned Swedish parade

Ikea: just some oak and some pine and a handful of Norsemen
Ikea: selling furniture for college kids and divorced men
Everyone has a home
But if you don't have a home you can buy one there

/Jonathan Coulton = Awesome.

Did ya know he wrote the Portal song?

/plans to see him live in March

I think she owes Walmart an apology for comparing them to that overpriced Ikea Ikrap.

Ikea is the greatest store on earth.

Where else can you get 100 tea lights for $3? Or a sick futon for $80?

'loves me some swedes.

Did I just say 'tea lights'?

Wow, I'm a Nancy.

Hank Rearden: Did I just say 'tea lights'?

Wow, I'm a Nancy.

What's a tea light?

ZachF81: Seriously, as an architect I hate that word - I can't wait until the fad of trendy cool green buildings is over.

You sir, are a shiatty architect then.

/energy efficiency isn't a fad, it's a form of personal responsibility.

They make you apologize for stating an opinion that is not extravagant or disproportionate these days? I hate this culture sometimes.

Ikea: mecca for douchebag hipsters.

Crappy stuff that breaks a week after you buy it.

No difference from walmart if you ask me.

There's something a little laughable and a lot sad about people who seem to have the need to set themselves up as some sort of "elitist" based on their loathing for X or Y store.

Ikea is a wonderful place for a very specific type of shopper: namely, young people just starting out on their own, college students looking to fill apartments and/or dorm rooms, or low-income families looking for some element of style. Its furniture is certainly not top-of-the-line, and their lines that are marketed as such within the store are, yes, overpriced. But overall, it's a great place. There was a time in my life when practically everything I owned came from Ikea, because I couldn't afford better and didn't want to be buying cardboard assembly kits from some department store. Now, I'm at a point in my life where I can, and often do, spend more on a single item of furniture than I would have once been prepared to spend on a month's rent. Ikea is no longer a destination I consider, because they don't stock the level of quality that I now look for. But it was certainly nice having them around at the beginning.

LargeCanine: Hank Rearden: Did I just say 'tea lights'?

Wow, I'm a Nancy.

What's a tea light?

FTA: "The finest cities in America (Austin, San Diego, Boston, etc.) are livable and have a great quality of life because their residents have made them that way. The smart, sophisticated inhabitants of these cities tell any corporation that wants to be part of their community which hoops to jump through, and when. Either the corporations jump, or they can 'get lost.' THAT is how great cities and communities are created; not by sitting back and accepting whatever the stockholder-driven corporation is willing to offer. It's a lot of work, and it takes smart, sophisticated inhabitants electing smart, sophisticated politicians to steer the community."

Sounds like something a lot of FL cities should have been doing years before now.

The design for Tampa is unacceptably boring

Been to Tampa. She's right the place is dull as dishwater and twice as ugly.

Launch a youtube attack against Ikea?

Let me guess, she voted Ron Paul in the Florida Primary.

Admittedly, just a guess. Got no hard data there.

lol, she'd damned well better appologize to walmart

smart, sophisticated inhabitants of Boston?

Do the mayor and police chief commute in?

The shiny, new Ikea store is replacing a huge rusting, abandoned building in the industrial section of Ybor.

What an asshat.

prjindigo: lol, she'd damned well better appologize to walmart

I agree. wal mart buys way better stuff from the Chinese than IKEA does. seriously, they do. IKEA stuff feels like its going to break when you touch it

BlorfmasterCrappy stuff that breaks a week after you buy it.

I'm sitting on a three year old $200 Ikea couch that has seen more wear and tear then a normal couch probably should. It's not broken.

In fact, nothing I've ever bought there has broken, even through transporting it on the interstate and dragging it up three flights of stairs.

Looks more like a Best Buy to me