Quote:
Originally Posted by trueviking
remember when we didnt have old navy and everyone would go to the states just to fill up on 5 dollar t-shirts....then they opened one here and it was like the biggest selling old navy in north america for a couple of months,....now the place is empty and nobody cares.
thats what would happen if ikea came to town...we have spent decades hanging on every hint and rumour...it will finally come...every house will have bags of tea lights in the closet....every junk drawer will have 10 L shaped wrenches in it....basement rec rooms will be loaded with 99 dollar bent plywood chairs.....and we will all wonder what the big fuss was for so many years.
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That doesn't explain the constant growth of the company though. I don't have the stats but Ikea is much larger worldwide than it was 10 years ago, 20 years ago etc. The founder is now one of the richest men in the world. It first opened in Richmond BC in 1976 in a fairly small (by today's standards) location. After perhaps 8 years they built a new much-larger store on a larger site. That store was then expanded at least 2 times.
Then about 5 years ago, they added the 330,000 SF Coquitlam store to better support the eastern suburbs and Fraser Valley communities. They're obviously doing a huge volume of business with the 2 stores 30 years later.
If what you suggest is true, it probably affirms the fact that there aren't enough youngish families in Wpg setting up shop in condos, townhouses and older homes that want value-oriented and stylish homeware and furniture. And there aren't enough of these types plus singles migrating to Wpg to bolster the population sufficiently. You might call it "churn". I think the Ikea model depends on fresh blood.
