IKEA in Omaha???
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My thing is that the Mart has killed pretty much any competition, or scared it to death. Â Dillards doesnt carry furniture because of the Mart.
Is that a good thing? Â Well, prices are pretty low. Â On the other hand, if you don't have a choice of where to shop, you also have to buy what they sell. Â Don't like the brands they carry? Â Too bad. Â Dont like the choices the Mart offers? Â Too bad.
Where I live there are many choices and they all compete with each other. Â Macys, Hawthorne, ABC Warehouse, IKEA, and lots of others, all wanting my business. Â When I lived in Omaha I thought it was pretty cool that the Mart had a 100,000 sqft electronics department and 100s of recliners. Â Now with the experience of not having the Mart its been a real eye opener. Â For one thing, I don't have to navigate a million square foot store just to buy one thing. Â
There are pluses and minuses but having no competition can have the effect of making one lazy.
Thats just my opinion...
Is that a good thing? Â Well, prices are pretty low. Â On the other hand, if you don't have a choice of where to shop, you also have to buy what they sell. Â Don't like the brands they carry? Â Too bad. Â Dont like the choices the Mart offers? Â Too bad.
Where I live there are many choices and they all compete with each other. Â Macys, Hawthorne, ABC Warehouse, IKEA, and lots of others, all wanting my business. Â When I lived in Omaha I thought it was pretty cool that the Mart had a 100,000 sqft electronics department and 100s of recliners. Â Now with the experience of not having the Mart its been a real eye opener. Â For one thing, I don't have to navigate a million square foot store just to buy one thing. Â
There are pluses and minuses but having no competition can have the effect of making one lazy.
Thats just my opinion...
StreetsOfOmaha wrote:I'd rather buy local, too. However, don't kid yourself. The Mart isn't really any more local than any other big box that imports their stuff from all over the place.
Come on, you know better. Â Of course the furniture isn't made all right here, but it is a local company, something IKEA will never be. Â More money spent at the Mart stays in Omaha than Switzerland or where ever the heck.
Novak, Not all Dillard's carry furniture and when they do its not a tremendous selection at that. Â How much furniture does Macy's actually carry? Â Yeah, I lived in Chicago with IKEA, Macy's and etc. and I get your point about competition, but I can't say I miss any of those stores.
I have to wonder if NFM's selection and quality are so bad, then it would seem their competition should be able to enter and stay in this market.
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Do I? I guess we should have defined terms. You're thinking economically, and I'm thinking environmentally.nebport5 wrote:StreetsOfOmaha wrote:I'd rather buy local, too. However, don't kid yourself. The Mart isn't really any more local than any other big box that imports their stuff from all over the place.
Come on, you know better. Of course the furniture isn't made all right here, but it is a local company, something IKEA will never be. More money spent at the Mart stays in Omaha than Switzerland or where ever the heck.
Other than the CEOs at the top of the pyramid, what is the difference in economic impact of an "NFM" vs. an IKEA (or the like) in Omaha? Both employ locals. Both generate local sales tax. Both bring people from elsewhere to the city to shop.
So my question stands. How is the Mart really any more local than any other big box that decimates competition?
"The right to have access to every building in the city by private motorcar in an age when everyone possesses such a vehicle is actually the right to destroy the city."
Lewis Mumford, The Highway and the City, 1963
Lewis Mumford, The Highway and the City, 1963
There seems to b a void in furniture offerings in Omaha that NFM isn't currently filling. That is in Modern-looking furniture design. It was once filled by Elan. I'd welcome Ikea and Room & Board to the mix. Ikea for the more budget-minded mix, and R&B for the high quality stuff.
He said "They are some big, ugly red brick buildings"
...and then they were gone.
...and then they were gone.
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I'll answer that easily. Without the Mart there would be no Rose theater. Period. The Blumkins donate a mountain of cash to charity. A lot of it they do quietly. That much is true about a local store. On that side I appreciate the Mart.StreetsOfOmaha wrote:Do I? I guess we should have defined terms. You're thinking economically, and I'm thinking environmentally.nebport5 wrote:StreetsOfOmaha wrote:I'd rather buy local, too. However, don't kid yourself. The Mart isn't really any more local than any other big box that imports their stuff from all over the place.
Come on, you know better. Of course the furniture isn't made all right here, but it is a local company, something IKEA will never be. More money spent at the Mart stays in Omaha than Switzerland or where ever the heck.
Other than the CEOs at the top of the pyramid, what is the difference in economic impact of an "NFM" vs. an IKEA (or the like) in Omaha? Both employ locals. Both generate local sales tax. Both bring people from elsewhere to the city to shop.
So my question stands. How is the Mart really any more local than any other big box that decimates competition?
On the other hand, there IS a big void in furniture, appliances and electronic stores in Omaha. Why hasn't someone come in to try to fill the void? Warren Buffet gave the best answer. "I'd rather wrestle aligators than compete with the Mart" That doesn't mean another store won't sell in Omaha. What it means is that the Mart is a fierce competitor. Mrs. B said that she loved putting someone out of business. The Mart pays cash for inventory and doesn't borrow money. NO ONE else on the planet works that way.
Is that why IKEA, Crate & Barrel, etc. aren't in Omaha? I don't know. What I do know is that in other, larger cities there is more selection and variety. I didn't appreciate that until I moved.
P.S. Â Check out the Mart store in KC. Â Almost exactly the same square footage as the Omaha store. Â All in one building, much nicer layout, easier to check out. Â Why don't they do that in Omaha? Â They don't have to.
Good point Novak. Â And I'd say NFM has a more positive impact on our local economy than Target or Best Buy, which though much larger companies are conceptually beneficial to Minneapolis. Â Also NFM does utilize some local suppliers such as Omaha Bedding, which has annual revenues between 20-50 million. Â Of course there's the Berkshire connection to NFM as well.
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Novak, pointing out that the Blumkins are good corporate citizens hardly answers the question.
"The right to have access to every building in the city by private motorcar in an age when everyone possesses such a vehicle is actually the right to destroy the city."
Lewis Mumford, The Highway and the City, 1963
Lewis Mumford, The Highway and the City, 1963
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Stargazer wrote:Can we move this forum thread to the 'Projects Never Built' section?
It deserves a place alongside the tornado tower.
or how about moving it to a new section called "Wishful Thinking Projects Never Built"
The Tornado Tower could get it's own section, "Projects Never Built (Thank God!)"
Confirmed get moved to the appropriate section. Â Its not like we have that many rumors.Seth wrote:I think there should be three sub-forums in the "Rumors" category: New Rumors, Confirmed Rumors, and Dis-proven Rumors. That way we can keep score (and maybe even start some betting pools!)
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I know. Â I just like to kid around.Brad wrote:Confirmed get moved to the appropriate section. Its not like we have that many rumors.Seth wrote:I think there should be three sub-forums in the "Rumors" category: New Rumors, Confirmed Rumors, and Dis-proven Rumors. That way we can keep score (and maybe even start some betting pools!)
flyOMA wrote: That is the one hang up with Omaha's furniture stores, they have nothing but the status quo. If you want to get affordable contemporary furniture, you need to shop outside the Omaha market. Elan has nice stuff, but they are so outrageously priced it's not even worth looking at (with no competition, I suppose they can do that).
I think you have great views. I really go to Omaha market ever since. I haven't tried at Elan's and I also believe that they really offer unreasonable prices for their items which is too bad.
Last edited by Baecere75 on Tue Dec 28, 2010 8:59 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Two days early! Â Its not that cool... Âthe1wags wrote:Denver's Ikea is opening on Wednesday. There's 50 or 60 people in line already. What the heck? Ill go check it out, but I'm in no kind of hurry.
There is a couple in Omaha that made a business out of diving to Ikea once a month and picking up orders for people.
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There is an IKEA here and we've been there twice. Â Once when we first moved here just to check it out & another time a few months later. Â That time we left with 12 cereal bowls that cost a total of $3. Â The food is pretty good & free breakfast on Saturday so there you go.
Is it a big deal? Â Ok, so if your city gets one you get to say you have one, Nyah, Nyah, Nyah. Â Other than that, you've gotten along so far without one and the earth kept spinning on its axis.....
Is it a big deal? Â Ok, so if your city gets one you get to say you have one, Nyah, Nyah, Nyah. Â Other than that, you've gotten along so far without one and the earth kept spinning on its axis.....
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We in Chicago have two!
They do have some really cool looking stuff and I intend on refurnishing my bedroom either party or fully with IKEA furniture. But it becomes pretty obvious from inspecting some of the floor models that you get what you pay for. Quite a few of them were full of dents and scratches.
At the end of the day I don't feel like it's too much better than NFM. IKEA just has more display areas that look like rooms in a house.
They do have some really cool looking stuff and I intend on refurnishing my bedroom either party or fully with IKEA furniture. But it becomes pretty obvious from inspecting some of the floor models that you get what you pay for. Quite a few of them were full of dents and scratches.
At the end of the day I don't feel like it's too much better than NFM. IKEA just has more display areas that look like rooms in a house.
While the quality of the product may be similar to furniture sold at walmart, I would not say they are anything alike. Â Completely different set up.DeWalt wrote:I've been to the IKEA in The Twin Cities many times, while visiting our kids. Basically WalMart with a Nordic twist.
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Current locations:the1wags wrote:I'm thinking this is pretty pie in the sky. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Omaha would be the smallest metro area in the IKEA US lineup, and by a pretty sizeable margin. I don't think its gonna happen.
Arizona
Tempe
California
Burbank
Carson
Covina
East Palo Alto
Emeryville
Orange County Costa Mesa
San Diego
West Sacramento
Colorado
Centennial
Connecticut
New Haven
Florida
Orlando
Sunrise
Tampa
Georgia
Atlanta
Illinois
Bolingbrook
Schaumburg
Maryland
Baltimore
College Park
Massachusetts
Stoughton
Michigan
Canton
Minnesota
Twin Cities
New Jersey
Elizabeth
Paramus
New York
Brooklyn
Long Island
North Carolina
Charlotte
Ohio
West Chester
Oregon
Portland
Pennsylvania
Conshohocken
Pittsburgh
South Philadelphia
Texas
Dallas
Houston
Round Rock
Utah
Draper
Virginia
Woodbridge
Washington
Seattle
Ooops, that was me, forgot to log on.
Just for kicks, lets look at some of that list.
Omaha's MSA is 865,350 (2010 Census)
Tempe (Phoenix) MSA 4,192,887 (Census 2010)
Burbank, Carson, Covina, and Orange CO are all part of the LA area.
East Palo Alto and Emeryville are part of the Bay Area.
San Diego MSA 3,095,313
Even Sacramento's MSA is 2,149,127
I'm not going to dig through all of them but, the likely closest in size MSA with an IKEA is Salt Lake at 1,124,197 (2010)
I'm not trying to kick Omaha in the balls or say that it's impossible, but I will say that it is highly unlikely at this time.
Just for kicks, lets look at some of that list.
Omaha's MSA is 865,350 (2010 Census)
Tempe (Phoenix) MSA 4,192,887 (Census 2010)
Burbank, Carson, Covina, and Orange CO are all part of the LA area.
East Palo Alto and Emeryville are part of the Bay Area.
San Diego MSA 3,095,313
Even Sacramento's MSA is 2,149,127
I'm not going to dig through all of them but, the likely closest in size MSA with an IKEA is Salt Lake at 1,124,197 (2010)
I'm not trying to kick Omaha in the balls or say that it's impossible, but I will say that it is highly unlikely at this time.
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the1wags wrote:Ooops, that was me, forgot to log on.
Just for kicks, lets look at some of that list.
Omaha's MSA is 865,350 (2010 Census)
Tempe (Phoenix) MSA 4,192,887 (Census 2010)
Burbank, Carson, Covina, and Orange CO are all part of the LA area.
East Palo Alto and Emeryville are part of the Bay Area.
San Diego MSA 3,095,313
Even Sacramento's MSA is 2,149,127
I'm not going to dig through all of them but, the likely closest in size MSA with an IKEA is Salt Lake at 1,124,197 (2010)
I'm not trying to kick Omaha in the balls or say that it's impossible, but I will say that it is highly unlikely at this time.
I was posting mainly to show they are suburbs or very close to large cities.. I dont see why one would come to Omaha