IKEA: Wal-Mart for Yuppies

We recently decided to buy a real dining table. Our church is encouraging its members to get together for a meal with neighbors at least monthly, and we had no way for such a group to all sit around a table together.

After surfing the Web and cruising most of the local furniture stores, we found lots of great choices, nearly all of which cost over a thousand dollars, and in some cases up to four thousand dollars. And then there was IKEA, where the most expensive table available cost $349.

I honestly tried, but just couldn't convince myself that any of the other tables were actually worth triple the price, or even an order of magnitude extra. Then too, there was the simple fact that an IKEA table fits in the car today, and ordering elsewhere can take several months for delivery.

I had to assemble the IKEA table myself, which took a half hour. All needed tools were included in the box. Result: a very good-looking dining table that normally seats six, and expands easily to seat ten. The added leaves store right inside the table, another plus.

I've previously been fond of calling Trader Joe's grocery stores "Aldi for yuppies", because they sell Whole Foods-quality foods at Aldi prices. (By the way, Consumer Reports just praised Trader Joe's, Whole Foods and even Aldi.)

Now I realize that IKEA is similarly "Wal-Mart for yuppies." The same quality offerings we love from Scandanavian furniture stores, but at Wal-Mart prices.

Which raises an interesting question: Why is it that cultural elites find it so easy to sniff at Wal-Mart, yet flock to IKEA? I expect that whatever complaint can be made about Wal-Mart could be made with equal validity about IKEA. The only difference I see is that the "better than you" types don't want to be seen shopping at Wal-Mart, but can't do without IKEA. Result: once again, the "better people" try to shield poor folks from options for a better life.

One of my favorite memories from childhood is that my mom, from an aristocratic but poor family, had to find ways to look good for less. If two of her fancy friends wore the same dress to a party, it was a major emergency. My mom's solution? She shopped at Sears, a fine store at which none of her fancy friends would have been caught dead. Worked like a charm.

Four of my favorite shirts came from Wal-Mart last year. And I intend to keep shopping at both Wal-Mart and IKEA, along with Trader Joe's and even Aldi, no matter who sniffs their nose in response.