Music is non-discernable (I don't remember if there is any at all) but there is so much for the eye it is not needed. The whole store smells like baking cinnamon buns, a store specialty (offered in the Cafe and in the Bistro as you leave). This makes the place really smell like home! Every inch of the store (excluding the warehouse for utility sake) it taken up by a display of some sort and everything is pleasing to look at and dissect. Special displays, such as the "living in 480 sq ft" full home layout are fantastic and feel very complete, as if you could simply kick off your shoes and watch television or lay down and take a nap. Additionally everything is interactive and sitting down on a sofa in a display or even laying down on a bed on display is actually encouraged, as the spaces are meant to look and feel like lived in built environments in the home.
Interesting or Breathtaking:
Many of the items available in IKEA are available elsewhere and yet this particular customer friendly layout, offers...
To be honest the layout and marketing of this store is genius as it offers the consumer the feeling that they can create beauty themselves, if they simply mirror the concepts displayed in the store. The whole of the IKEA experience, which I honestly didn't get before I visited, though I had been told by friends, is absolutely breathtaking! I also wanted to mention that IKEA has an interesting policy on shopping bags, they will sell you plastic bags, for a nominal fee or you can buy reusable bags for just under a dollar apiece. It is a bit of a surprise at the check out counter but to me it was a pleasant surprise, and as I watched other customers checking out I noticed that many opted for no bags at all or a single reusable tote for their small items. It was actually rather refreshing to see, so many people opt out of a wasteful habit that we take for granted in the U.S.
