Has anybody taken the free NYC IKEA bus from Port Authority to New Jersey?

Is it very crowded? Slow/Fast?

Thanks.

Is this meant to be on the Europe board ?

They have IKEA in the US ?

They have IKEA in the US

Yup. And Hennes. And Zara. They're even getting Tesco convenience stores later this year - edible chilled food, decent wine and all the rest. And Topshop keeps claiming they're going to open.

Getting almost civilised, isn't it?

yep, the colonies are catching up.

Soon they'll have drinks with no icecubes!

The first IKEA store came to Canada in 1976 and to the United States in 1985.

It only runs on weekends and can be crowded. The earlier bus you can get, the better. It is as fast as the traffic that day. Since it uses the Lincoln Tunnel, some delays are possible.

And I guess someday we'll even learn to speak English!

June 12, 1985, The first IKEA store in the United States opened in Plymouth Meeting, PA, outside of Philadelphia. The opening advertising campagne attracted opening crowds of 15,000 to 20,000 people a day for the first week. The Pennsylvania Turnpike exit for the store had to be shut down, the fire department were called in several times for crowd control.

It was the most exhausting day of my life, I was one of the first 8 managers hired. I still can't look at my wooden knock-down shelves with thinking about it.

I bought my kitchen at Plymouth Meeting!

As to ice ... I'll have to have it my iced tea. <GRIN>

oops! So sorry, I meant for this to be in the US forum.

So... do you pronounce it

eye-key-uh or ee-kay-uh?

Just call me a trouble maker.

Yes, Flanner, and like gasoline, the prices in the colonies are MUCH more civilized, too.

You're amateurs at this. When an IKEA opens in London we have riots.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4252421.stm

So do the Saudis

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/mid...st/3618190.stm

I can only reach these levels of rage after going in IKEA and trying to buy something.

You're right. It was an innocent time back in 1985. Now if you get the last fifty cent wine glass, you're taking your life in your hands. I bring an emergency packet of sugar with me when I go these days, in case I feel like I am going to pass out. Does everyone have a love-hate relationship with IKEA?

I like the meatballs.

Interesting stuff, Bellacqui.

I find that it is always pretty quiet if I go in the evening on a weekday. I wouldn't go at the weekend unless I absolutely had to.

Interested in this bus, now - does it have storage for flatpack wardrobes etc ?

Yes, the bus has storage underneath--the usual luggage compartment. When you first get on, the chaperone makes it very clear that IKEA does deliver to Manhattan, but no matter what it is, the delivery cost will start at . . . well I don't know now, but a few years ago it was $60. So you see people loading those big packages onto the bus from their dollies, and then struggling out of the bus terminal to hail a cab. I've also seen people on the subway with those boxes.

I used to notice a lot of stoned people just wandering around the various levels.

I always assumed they were high but I'm now imagining they had just been trapped in there too long, dog-eared catalogs in hand.