"Destination Shopping"

[scrapsandsass]

So, since Anne raised the nightmare topic of shopping, I thought I'd bring up the whole idea of "destination shopping." Do you do destination shopping?

It is odd to me that Ikea is considered a "tourist destination" on the freeway exit sign. Do you have large stores like this in your area? There are a few within a hour's drive from us. One is a huge sporting goods store, another is a mammoth bead store, and then of course Ikea, and several outlet malls. Do you go to stores like this on a regular basis? Is it a crazy experience where you live?


We went on our annual pilgrimage to Ikea the other day, and I have now taken a vow never to go back on a weekend. It is one example of where it seems that consumerism is out of control. Part of the problem is that Ikea is always a nightmare (insanely crowded and full of pushy rude people that you end up stuck with the entire trip through the store), but then to top it off, they tore down one parking structure to make room for a new "more spacious shopping experience" they are building to replace the current store that will be done in the next couple of years. That doesn't leave much parking, so they have to have police outside handling traffic, which doesn't really work. There are backups each way for a couple of blocks surrounding the actual store. We ended up having to park about a half a mile away and took the Ikea shuttle bus to the store, which meant after shopping we had to split up... Tim stayed with the full cart, and Jessica, Kennedy & I headed back to get the car to come back for loading. It was completely insane. The good part was that Kennedy was totally excited to ride a bus.

My daughter compared it to childbirth. You totally don't remember all of the pain of it until you are right there, in it, and then afterward, it fades quickly.

So do you have these experiences?

 

[Dalis]

I have to say I hate Ikea, the lab rat feeling going through corridors with no windows makes my claustrophobia enhanced 100%. Now, my destination shopping is Amazon. LOL!!!

 

[tkradtke]

I'm not a big shopper, so I'm totally not into "destination shopping". We did trek out to Ikea the other day, but it was a weekday and we hadn't been there in years.

I am a little bit baffled by the concept though. We're down on Michigan Avenue here in Chicago every Sunday for church which is a big destination shopping area. It cracks me up to see people from out of town carting around big huge bags from Macy's, American Eagle Outfitters, Forever 21, etc. Stores that are about in every mall these days. I understand the American Girl and even the Lego store, but some of the more common mall stores, I just don't get.

 

[DixieDoesPSP]

OMG I LOVE LOVE LOVE Ikea! Just came back from there on Thursday actually. I go to the Burbank Ikea here in California which is LA area and I never have the problems you are talking about. Thats crazy. I have been to about 3 different ones now and have never had that kind of experience. Maybe i am lucky. It is my favorite store in the world. I just bought my son a rod iron dining table with chairs for 99.00 at Ikea. It even has a glass top its amazing and will hold up great for bachelor pad living. I'm looking at new cabinets from there right now too. I cannot wait!! The store is about an hour to an hour and a half away from me depending on the traffic but its so worth it and a nice get out of Bakersfield day trip.

 

[readingfool]

Never been to an Ikea, have no desire to go. Then again, I loathe shopping anymore, I have to force myself to even go to Walmart, which happens about twice a year. If there was a place here that would deliver groceries, I'd probably never step foot in a physical store again. I sometimes even order my canned goods from Walmart, just to have them delivered. I'm not sure, but I could be well on my way to becoming a hermit in my old age.

 

[jk703]

We are in such a populated area...and all the stores are usually nearby. Between bigger stores, malls, strip malls, and stand alones, we've got most of the big things covered... and they are within a 1/2 hour of either home or work. If I need it, I'll go there if I can't get it online first. Usually, stores are always filled with people... always, lol!

I think there are 2 IKEAS within an hour or so of me.

 

[lorryfach]

I live in the city on purpose so I don't have to travel to do normal things like shop. I refuse to do weekend IKEA but it's ok on a weekday morning. I wouldn't travel that far for it, though. There are two pretty close to me and a third is coming. It's just a store, not a destination.

 

[klee73010]

Ikea is a trek for us. There's only one, and it's about 40 or so miles from my home in apache junction, but it's all freeways, so it's a pretty quick drive... 30 or so minutes. We don't go often though, because really, I don't need to buy that much furniture. Haha.

I shop online, or plan to go to the shopping center(s) that are near where I'll be anyway. (There's one not too far out of my way when driving home from work, for instance)

There are a few outlet malls I've thought about driving to, but there's really no point, because I'd probably not buy anything anyway, so I always talk myself out of it.

 

[carilyne]

My son and I went to the one Kimberlee is talking about and we were both EXHAUSTED when we were done. I can't even imagine a more spacious shopping experience there. It's was a nightmare then with parking I can't even imagine. Thanks for the warning!

I AM a Destination shopper. I must admit. It's a joke around here. My destination? AMAZON! especially which a kid in another town who takes the bus to come home. A dad in Fresno. I know my prices but I also count what it's going to cost me to ship. Okay confession over. We even joked about an Amazon Christmas and leaving presents in the shipping boxes just to be funny and not wrap.

 

[Lindzee]

The IKEA in Montreal is supposed to be one of the largest in North America. It's no destination for us because it's probably less than 10 kilometres from our house. We've had security directing traffic there practically since it opened, and they just expanded ours too. We go there only rarely, I really don't like IKEA. I find the good quality stuff just as expensive as anywhere else and you have to put it together yourself... The cheaper stuff is just cheap. They are good for some handy kitchen gadgets, and maybe some funky fabrics, cheap glasses and dishes, but not much else. Not worth going for those items, and I 'm with Dalis, following the tourist Congo line at a snails pace through the store with no windows drives me batty...

 

[Karen]

I don't shop very much anymore. Mostly I get whatever possible on Amazon. Clothes I have to go shopping for to try on and same with shoes and I do pop into Michaels quite a lot still.

I do love Ikea, but the first time I went there was with a list of what I wanted to re-do my craft room. I got everything and headed through the maze to actually check out and then I realized I forgot something and almost cried when I realized you have to start over and do the whole maze again. It took us about 4 hours to get out of there and I went in knowing what I wanted! I don't think I'll ever get my husband to go in there again. Good thing there isn't one closer to our house!

 

[sarahbhb]

My destination shopping usually consists of going to St. Louis so that I can go to some of the more niche stores that you can't get in a small town. We go to at least one game store every visit, plus there's a cross stitch store that I like a lot. I really like shopping at specialty stores for certain things because the people that own/work there tend to care more about the product they are selling so they are really great for answering questions etc. We're getting ready to go buy a sewing machine for my daughter from a quilt shop because it comes with a lesson which will most likely be better coming from an expert than DH and I trying to stumble our way around a new machine.

An IKEA actually just opened up in St. Louis at the end September, we haven't been yet, but we used to go to the one closest to us when we lived outside Chicago every few months. We didn't buy much in the way of furniture from them but I loved going there to find small space storage solutions (we lived in an apt at the time). It will probably be after the new year before I get a chance to go but I'm already starting a wishlist.

 

[sushimommy]

Our nearest Ikea is 3 hours away, so definitely a destination shopping thing for me - I have only been able to get there once so far, because all the odds have to be in my favor - not a weekend, no kids with me, time to go and spend the day in the maze, etc

 

[bestcee]

I like ikea. I enjoy seeing all the ideas for small spaces.

I don't know if you consider it destination shopping , but we have a plan to go to the new biggest Costco in salt lake city. It's only a short drive, so it's not really destination to me. I do want to go to the Edmonton mall and mall of America someday. Not to shop , just to see.

 

[lorryfach]

All the IKEAs I've been to have shortcuts built-in, so you don't have to do the whole maze, and if you already know what you want, you can often skip the maze completely. There's a machine in the warehouse that will tell you where to find the stuff, and there isn't much that is only found in the maze.