BEIJING - As a university student, I shouldn't feel out of place at Ikea. The Swedish furniture store carved out a small empire on reasonably priced, cosmopolitian but hard to assemble homeware. But wandering around the company's four story Beijing outlet, I felt like I should have worn better shoes.
At 8 p.m. on Friday night the store was packed with young families, many with a small child riding in the cart. Grandma and Grandpa also were along, offering advice as these middle-class professionals bought new furniture to go with their new downtown digs. Most shoppers looked thrilled to be there.
Ikea may be the furniture new graduates with loan payments can afford, but here in China it's a mark of luxury. The curved Swedish designs are a huge improvement from the drab Communist styles that decorate most Chinese flats.
I came for a pillow, since the dorms only provide one that usually falls on the floor in the middle of the night. I found that Ikea caters to a number of Chinese budgets: high and higher. Cheap pillows started at RMB 49, but these were useless. The first acceptable pillow cost RMB 99, and the store also sold RMB 199, 299 and 450 models. It's too rich for my taste, but the pillow racks were half-empty, meaning that someone is snatching up these pricy bed items.
Like so many other things in China, the center of the store was the food counter. At most Ikeas, the restaurant is hidden toward the end of the store, providing people with a rest after a relaxing afternoon of shopping. In Beijing it's accessible right from the entrance, and clearly is the only destination for some shoppers. The dining hall sat several hundred, and each table was full.
The wealth of the Ikea clientele was even more clear here. Most people used forks and spoons with ease, and came to dinner with fancy coats, suits and dresses. I even heard a smattering of English around the dinning hall -- even though very few ex-pats seemed to be in residence.
"Excuse me," a person said after bumping into me in English. Another young Chinese woman told me to get the Ikea Family card - this way on my next visit, I could get free coffee.
The line for food spilled out of the cafeteria area. Other diners stocked up on food as if they hadn't eaten in weeks: each one taking two or more heaping dishes plus salads, muffins and wine. It took more than 15 minutes for me to get my plate of Swedish meatballs and gravy, fries and a Coke for Y15.
The meal was delicious, and I'm glad to have had so much company. It appears I'll have a place to get Swedish meatballs in Beijing for some time to come.
