...just thought this was absolutely hilarious...
Friday, May 11, 2007
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Why IKEA in Dublin?
At the moment there are 252 IKEA stores worldwide in 35 countries. In France you have 18, in Germany 41 and even in a small country such as Iceland and as far off as Malaysia and Kuwait you can find Billy the bookshelf =>.
In Ireland there are none.
IKEA plans on opening a store in Dublin in May 2008 in Ballymun. However, despite the fact that they have received planning permission they are now facing the final decision making period after the local MPs, competitors etc got to state their case in the end of March this year.
Despite the obvious benefits to the local area (500 new jobs, €150 million investment) there are other major benefits to any local IKEA store.
Being a Swedish expat in Dublin I often get annoyed when seeing the extortionate prices for furniture in shops such as Habitat and the poor quality (and overpriced) Argos. House prices in Dublin are already so ridiculous that any normal person would not be able to afford them without going bankrupt while paying off the morgage. Adding to this that equipping the house would cost you some tens of thousands of Euros...
Let me give you a few examples. In Dublin you get this house on the north side for 1 million Euro (cheaper option if you want to live close to the city center):
www.daft.ie/110836
or this on the south side (more expensive):
www.daft.ie/135776
In the Stockholm archipelago you would get the below for the same sum of money:
http://www2.residence.se/pages/forsale_villor.aspx?OID=OBJ28647_826726077
http://www2.residence.se/pages/forsale_villor.aspx?OID=OBJ28647_815732133
Of course, salaries and general living costs are slightly higher in Dublin than in Stockholm, but is that really what makes the difference? In my opinion, of course not. The houses in Sweden aren't "better" than the ones in Dublin (maybe better general quality but that is all) or vice versa. However, in Sweden everybody uses IKEA as a basis. It is cheap and cheerful and good when you start off a new home. Not to mention that IKEA is extremely good style, you get a lot for your money in comparison to a lot of the stores in Dublin.
So why don't I just move back to Sweden and buy one of the nice houses instead of complaining about the Irish? Well, despite it all I happen to love Ireland and the Irish people. Ireland is a beautiful country with some of the most spectacular scenaries I have ever seen. It just needs a bit of a make over to cover up the nasty fitted carpets and flower patterned wall papers. It needs IKEA.
In Ireland there are none.
IKEA plans on opening a store in Dublin in May 2008 in Ballymun. However, despite the fact that they have received planning permission they are now facing the final decision making period after the local MPs, competitors etc got to state their case in the end of March this year.
Despite the obvious benefits to the local area (500 new jobs, €150 million investment) there are other major benefits to any local IKEA store.
Being a Swedish expat in Dublin I often get annoyed when seeing the extortionate prices for furniture in shops such as Habitat and the poor quality (and overpriced) Argos. House prices in Dublin are already so ridiculous that any normal person would not be able to afford them without going bankrupt while paying off the morgage. Adding to this that equipping the house would cost you some tens of thousands of Euros...
Let me give you a few examples. In Dublin you get this house on the north side for 1 million Euro (cheaper option if you want to live close to the city center):
www.daft.ie/110836
or this on the south side (more expensive):
www.daft.ie/135776
In the Stockholm archipelago you would get the below for the same sum of money:
http://www2.residence.se/pages/forsale_villor.aspx?OID=OBJ28647_826726077
http://www2.residence.se/pages/forsale_villor.aspx?OID=OBJ28647_815732133
Of course, salaries and general living costs are slightly higher in Dublin than in Stockholm, but is that really what makes the difference? In my opinion, of course not. The houses in Sweden aren't "better" than the ones in Dublin (maybe better general quality but that is all) or vice versa. However, in Sweden everybody uses IKEA as a basis. It is cheap and cheerful and good when you start off a new home. Not to mention that IKEA is extremely good style, you get a lot for your money in comparison to a lot of the stores in Dublin.
So why don't I just move back to Sweden and buy one of the nice houses instead of complaining about the Irish? Well, despite it all I happen to love Ireland and the Irish people. Ireland is a beautiful country with some of the most spectacular scenaries I have ever seen. It just needs a bit of a make over to cover up the nasty fitted carpets and flower patterned wall papers. It needs IKEA.
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