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Op-Ed: A shopper’s experience at IKEA Puerto Rico

Author Brenda Reyes-Tomassini is a licensed public relations practitioner and works as a public affairs specialist at EPA’s Puerto Rico office.

Author Brenda Reyes-Tomassini is a licensed public relations practitioner and works as a public affairs specialist at EPA’s Puerto Rico office.

After the long-awaited and much-touted arrival to the local market, IKEA, the Swedish/Dutch company founded by Ingvar Kamprad in 1943, opened its first store in Puerto Rico in Bayamon, last week. The concept unveiled is modeled after the one in the Canary Islands, Spain and the Dominican Republic, called an “IKEA Point” (Punto IKEA).

The day of the opening, a Puerto Rican media outlet pointed out that the turnout had been less than expected in the early morning hours. Thinking this was my chance to grab some of my beloved dark chocolate from IKEA, and a piece of wall art I had wanted to buy last month at an IKEA store in New Jersey, I headed over to Bayamón.

Was the reporter wrong? Had she missed something or had something else happened in the last hour? The store was full and there was a long line of cars along Route 2 just to get inside the store’s parking lot. I passed by the store a few days later and the crowd outside did not seem to dwindle.

So, I visited their website, whose information I found through its Facebook page. I placed my order and, two days later, received a notice that my order was ready to be picked up at the store. I called their service number beforehand after hearing rumors of dissatisfied clientele.

In fact, I my order turned out to be all wrong. Instead of one item, I had three (of the same) sent to the IKEA Point. The lady on the other end — not from Puerto Rico — was not very helpful and when asked specific questions about ease of pickup and waiting time, she did not seem knowledgeable about the answers. She also kept apologizing for the problems filling orders. I told her I only wanted to make sure that my order was ready to be picked up and that instead of three, I was only charged for one item.

The size and layout of the IKEA Puerto Rico store is too small to have the pick-up and showroom on the same floor/area.

The size and layout of the IKEA Puerto Rico store is too small to have the pick-up and showroom on the same floor/area.

Problems persist a week later
I arrived to the store on Monday at 7:30 p.m., one day short of it’s one week opening. The lines were not that long outside and there was parking for those picking up. Everything seemed somewhat organized outside and the private security guards were very helpful.

However, inside, the story was different. The store was crowded and people were sitting on couches as if in their own living rooms. All the while, people waited in line, outside. Despite it’s small size, the store is well lit and decorated. But as someone who has been to quite too many three-story IKEA stores, this only looks like an entrance to any store in the U.S.

Employees at the pick-up counter were extremely disorganized. Of the four counters, divided in two stations, only one was providing pick-up service. After being in line for more than 30 minutes, I inquired the female employee at the counter, who told me I— along with those behind me — was in the returns line. When I asked about the sign only stating “Pick-up,” she got all defensive and hostile.

People moved from line to line without proper supervision from the employees and getting ahead of those who had been in line longer. After 45 minutes, I finally headed over to my car with the help of Jesús, the only store employee who seemed in a hurry to dispatch pick-up orders.

Take-aways from this experience
Message: IKEA’s strategy has been all wrong since the beginning. As a public relations professional, I can see that they never made clear to the general public how their new concept would work.

A focus group would have given them a clear idea that this “IKEA Point” or “showroom” concept was hard to grasp in the Puerto Rico market, or at least how to work around it.   They needed to work a few months in advance on an integrated (marketing/social media/advertising/public relations) communications campaign to familiarize the public with their sales strategy.

Showroom size: The size and layout of the store is too small to have the pick-up and showroom on the same floor/area.  It’s a given people love to sit and test the furniture.

Service:  Employees are disorganized and there seems to be a lack of direction. I also noticed an attitude problem. They are doing all sorts of tasks and working long hours.   While in larger IKEA stores, one does not encounter many employees, while the layout is bigger, allowing for the customer to grab whatever they are buying without having the need for an employee to take an order.

Parking: The lot is too small for the amount of people going into the store.

Pricing: Some items are pricier than what can be found in IKEA stores on the U.S. mainland. The wall art I bought was $29.99 in New Jersey and $40 in Puerto Rico.

Limited variety: IKEA is well known for its affordable and varied home decoration accessories and furniture.

Social media:  Social media has changed the rules of engagement regarding a company’s image strategy. A dissatisfied customer will vent on their social media page and the status will go viral in minutes. IKEA PR has been no exception. One too many dissatisfied customers have left messages on their Facebook page. Their strategy has been to bury their head in the sand. For every comment regarding their bad service, they have been replying with the same message: store hours or the ease of ordering through the Internet.

I have been an IKEA customer for many years. However, aside from the purchase made today, I really doubt I will be visiting IKEA Puerto Rico again any time soon.

Author Details
Author Details
This story was written by our staff based on a press release.
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3 Comments

  1. Kenneth McClintock June 18, 2013

    Brenda makes several excellent observations. A few of my own:

    1-I read they’re “testing the market” first. The market where every national chain store sells more per square foot than virtually every store in the nation? Come on! Do your research right, not on the cheap. How many IKEA “showrooms” or IKEA Points exist in the states? Few, if any, I suspect.

    2-I bet that this store falls under an IKEA division that doesn’t include the U.S. stores we all know, being a part of the U.S. market.

    3-Why the higher prices? Probably because they’ve placed us under the same corporate pricing structure as the Canary Islands and the Dominican Republic, where members of the emerging middle class are willing to pay whatever price to feel they have access to mainland (be it the US or Europe) goods and services.

    Whenever I see a long line, whether at a restaurant or at a store, I usually turn away since my time is valuable and I have some respect for myself (as much as I love Krispy Kreme donuts, I’ve never stood in line to buy one, and I’m probably healthier for it!). I have turned away from private businesses where they’ve wanted to pat me down or wand me before being admitted—if they have to do that, that place or its intended clientele is probably too dangerous for my safety! When I see discriminatory treatment against PR, my stomach turns.

    So, thanks to Brenda’s opinion and those of several friends along the same lines, I don’t think IKEA will see me anytime soon, until they stop discriminating and start respecting consumers here. If they’ve got it right in New Jersey, do it exactly the same here. My wish to them? Change or fail!

    Reply
  2. Brenda Reyes June 18, 2013

    Kenneth you hit right on target. We are used to mainland U.S store layout and sales concept. Their idea of a store is foreign to the average customer here.

    Reply
  3. Khrystie Vazquez June 19, 2013

    Excellent article! I have been an IKEA customer for many years too. I have heard so many negative critics that I will not be visiting the store here in Puerto RIco. I rather wait longe,r as I always had, and keep the good impression visiting the mainland stores. Puerto Rico is a good market to have a regular store. This kind of concept should have been tried in the mainland first, instead of Puerto Rico. Appparently, a study market was not well performed at the time of decision making.

    Reply

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