Ikea

Great things and Bad things It is really nice to have IKEA in New Haven. The cafeteria is clean and food is reasonable (Swedish meatballs are $6.99 now. It used to be half that price not too long ago). And there are CHOICES of merchandise and you can roam all you want! Parking is also easy and is a delight. I love it. Then, you need to get out of there with the merchandise! Although there are so many employees floating around, there is always a long line to endure, and through the cashiers who are none too happy to be there. This seems to happen no matter the time and day I go there. If it is a busy weekend, there are enough lines opened so that you have to wait for somewhere between 5 to 15 minutes to get out. They will not open all the lines available. See photo 2. If you go when there is almost nobody there, you see one line and the wait is the same. See photo 1. By the way, the line is just as long in the self-help line with people trying to avoid the long cashier line. This almost seems like a store policy. I am genuinely curious. Most of the time I opt to purchase the item from Amazon. I am glad to see that some IKEA items are popping up on Amazon.

I just spent nearly $1k here and I will never spend another $1. Apparently spending that much doesn't earn you even the slightest help. I also had to go to multiple places (the floor, the warehouse and the pick up) to find my purchases. Multiple extremely heavy boxes without any offer of help. Meanwhile ppl were standing around looking at screens or chatting or standing and looking off into space. There was only 1 checkout lane open that was taking several minutes so I went to self-checkout despite extremely heavy boxes, trying to maneuver things cause my purse handle to snap. There was also a "where's Waldo" of finding the cart for boxes. Over the years I've spent quite a lot of $ here, but never again. Filled up my car with massive boxes all by myself long before my order finally arrived.

Went here to price and find a piece of quartz for a project redo in my RV. They did not have what I wanted as the pieces only came in a size that was too big. Walked the whole store, was almost empty of folk, odd for that store. Fun to walk through and get ideas. Did buy a new set of induction cookware in a pretty shade of blue at a great price. Happy about that. I usually go here once a year as it is a trip for me but I usually do find something I wanted, could use or just like.

I absolutely love this place..the ideas they give you in every room is amazing. Also they have a good amount of items which are so affordable. I'm just in love with these different spaces/rooms/ideas that they have and that together with your own would be even better. I couldn't buy anything today but I'll definitely go back.

Very good collection of home improvement goods, affordable and innovative. Has a nice relaxed restaurant and free coffee for IKEA card holder. Plenty Parking Space. Must visit. Post Update: In my first visit I couldn't find a specific item for which only the display one was available, but none to purchase. Ironically in my second visit I found the product in the showroom section and not in the market place section. If you are looking for a specific product, sometimes you may find it hard. Of course it may be there. I suggest taking help from the Hej support guys or IKEA app.

Perennially short on inventory and staff. Usually long lines and waits for returns and checkout. Staff often seem unhappy and unfriendly. There are exceptions. The showroom is great, but often, items are missing in the marketplace. We once tried the furniture pickup option, and it took forever. Cafeteria always seems grungy and not great food quality. Products are decent quality for the price.