Ikea is Everyday People
The Times’ “Critical Shopper” columnist has concluded that it’s time to “make lemonade” when it comes to how Ikea’s presence in Red Hook is viewed: Sure, it furthers Red Hook’s transformation into the Paramus Park shopping mall in New Jersey. Yes, it may bring traffic and inauthenticity to the area. But walking through the maze…
The Times’ “Critical Shopper” columnist has concluded that it’s time to “make lemonade” when it comes to how Ikea’s presence in Red Hook is viewed:
Sure, it furthers Red Hook’s transformation into the Paramus Park shopping mall in New Jersey. Yes, it may bring traffic and inauthenticity to the area. But walking through the maze of home furnishings, I saw what I love about Brooklyn: everyone. A middle-aged woman was buying bathroom slippers; a gay couple was deciding on a kitchen countertop; two Muslim women in beautifully printed silk head-scarves were inspecting the sliding walls of a bedroom closet; a Latino family was deciding on bunk beds for their excited daughters. This store is for everyday Brooklynites needing something cheap and relatively well designed, even if the stuff is of dicey quality and doesn’t last forever. When you see Ikea furniture on curbs around town, at least you’ll know that these everyday Brooklynites can still afford to live in Brooklyn.
How does the columnist know the gay couple, Muslim duo and Latino family are all Brooklynites? Eh, let’s not sour the lemonade—think he’s got a decent point?
A Diverse Brooklyn, With Meatballs [NY Times]
Photo by madaes
bring on the walmart and put it right next to the ikea.
Everyday does not mean poor. Everyday is the middle ground, the most common. Poor people don’t go shopping for new furniture. They get it second-hand, off the street, or from friends and family. Or they do without as best they can.
Was there a diabled lesbian eskimo too?
Ikea is the best thing to happen to Red Hook since it ceased to be a working port.
I too have a couple of IKEA items that have lasted for years. I’m sure people’s incompetence with instructions and allen keys is the problem.
Agree with other posters about the same diversity at other Ikeas. I frequent the Elizabeth store and see the same exact types described in the article, EVERY time I go.
Regarding the quality of the furniture–the tables are great, but my sister, friend, and I all bought the same dresser, a Hemnes 4- and 6- drawer chest, and all 3 have fallen apart and warped. Truly disappointing. I will restrict my Ikea purchases to tables alone.
It was a pretty snotty line but what can you expect from someone who makes a living writing about shopping? I envision him in a whopper of an 18th century ballgown, with a huge white wig styled like a sailing ship and mincing through Ikea dropping crumbs on the floor so we could eat cake.
Went to Ikea the other day and I confess to loving it. And I enjoyed seeing the wealth of people and cultures. I also have news for the writer- not everyone shops there because its cheap. Some of us actually- gasp!- like the stuff. However, there is nothing that will make Red Hook, or any other part of Brooklyn remotely like New Jersey.Jeez- we can barely get Brooklyn to be like the rest of NYC (a good thing, no?), let alone like NJ 🙂
These “everyday people” (aka poor people) can do themselves some good by actually shopping at quality stores, which we should have in Red Hook instead of this Ikea crap. This is just a tool to keep the poor, poor.
Elitist garbage from the NYTimes . .surpirse surprise
9.14 why is that elitist. Its just reality. Or do you think everyday brooklynites shop at ABC for their furniture?