Reading the sites of IKEA stores, I gathered that the staff are dedicated to make your shopping experience a pleasant one. If you are in Europe, America, Asia and Australia, you are certain to find a store near you. These stores have adequate workers and the environment is suitable for them and the customers to be in. While at the stores, you can have the opportunity to take a bite from ikea food restaurants. This encourages people to relax while at the same time buying their products. The most important thing the staff engage in is good customer relations. They are required to have all the product information so that they can make the sales very forthcoming.
The stores engage in accurate logistics in which the appropriate goods are delivered to the stores by distributors while off loading and arranging is done correctly. To make the shopping experience as inspirational as possible, there is a team of IKEA interior designers and communication experts who work in the sales area. You can go to the IKEA web site to search for a store that is near you. In total, the company has 278 stores in 36 countries. The new IKEA stores have a definite format in the way they are built. They are usually large blue buildings which do not have many windows. However, there are a few which are built with so many glass features.
One store that is known to make use of so much glass is the store in Koblenz Germany. This makes the store look so much attractive and classy. Most of these stores are built on the outskirts of cities mostly because of the cost implications. You cannot return goods to an IKEA store because they have a policy in which goods once sold cannot returned. However, it will be possible for you to bargain for prices making this very suitable to customers. IKEA stores have been known to be more than hospitable. On one incident, a comedian moved into an IKEA store in the suburban New Jersey. Mark Malkoff is still puzzled why the store has not yet kicked him out.
He ended up in the store after he discovered that hotel rooms were too expensive as he was waiting for his New York apartment to be fumigated. He simply moved into the store and made it his home. On the internet, you can even view a photo of Mark Malkoff on a showroom bed where he seems to feel at home. Away from the light side, the stores are dedicated to availing every ikea product that you need for your home. There is no doubt that you are going to be inspired by the displays of the stores as you shop. After knowing what you want from the showroom, you will go to the warehouse nearby and serve yourself. After that, you can make your payments at the cashier’s desk. It is so much fun visiting the stores and you know you are going to take home value.
Peter Gitundu is a Web Administrator and Has Been Researching and Reporting on Ikea for Years. For More Information on ikea stores, Visit His Site at IKEA STORES You Can Also Post Pour Views About ikea stores On My Blog Here ikea stores
It is not surprising that Americans are feeling a bit besieged these days with the dollar trading at 25 year lows, the national debt reaching $9 trillion, falling stock prices, the real estate pullback, turmoil in our banking sector, the war in Iraq, and seemingly unstoppable emerging economies like India and China growing at 10% per year.
It appears that I have more confidence in America’s future than most. A recent poll by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs indicated that 55% of those polled believe that the U.S. will be equaled or surpassed as a global power over the next 50 years. A group of Chinese polled believes their country will catch up to America in terms of global influence within 10 years.
My view is that while the world is clearly filling in, and emerging competitors like India and China are catching up with us quickly due to rapid advancements in technology and communications, the American economy is more than holding its own. Let’s take a walk down the sunny side of the street and put things in perspective.
America accounts for about 23% of world gross domestic product and from 2003 to 2006, U.S. GDP was larger than what China has generated in its entire history. Nicholas Vardy’s creative research shows that California’s GDP is equal to that of France and twice that of India’s. The Texan economy is equal to Canada, New Jersey to Russia, Nevada to Ireland, Florida to South Korea, South Carolina to Singapore, and New York to Brazil.
Furthermore, 693 of world’s largest 2000 companies and 83 of world’s largest 200 companies are headquartered in America. Americans won all Nobel prizes in sciences in 2006. 46% of market cap of largest 200 companies in the world are American. It has the deepest, most liquid capital markets with the NYSE listed companies with a combined value of $15 trillion–three times its nearest rival, Japan.
The restructuring of the American economy, while painful to many, has produced a very flexible economic platform that has generated 30 million net new jobs in the last 20 years, while Europe has created a net zero new jobs. America is still the most dynamic of the large industrialized countries with 75% of current Fortune 100 companies not even in existence in 1980. In terms of ease in starting a new business and the number of company start-ups, in terms of productivity, no other country comes close. America remains open for business–worldwide.
American companies also continue to invest in cutting edge information and communication technologies. Investment in information and communication technology in America is 8.8% of GDP against 3.3% in Mexico and 6.9% in Brazil. On the education front, in a recent study by a British consulting firm, American universities captured six out of the top ten places in the world. Germany’s top ranking university came in 60th, France’s best was 26th and the education society, Japan, had only one university in the top twenty at 17th.
Even in manufacturing, America remains a powerhouse with a larger global market share than any country and with an output twice that of our nearest competitor, Japan. There are also signs that as wages and other costs rise in emerging markets and concerns about quality, protecting intellectual capital and logistics grow; offshore manufacturing will soon start to come home.
Next let’s consider one of the favorite bugaboos of the Democrats - income inequality. Mr. Carlos Slim is richest man in the world with a fortune equal to about 6.6% of Mexico GDP. Bill Gates wealth is at 0.4% of US GDP and the 100 richest Americans combined account for is a little over 4%. Compare this to the wealthiest 14 Russians who have a combined wealth equal to 26% of Russia’s GDP.
And the U.S. will increasingly be seen as a safe haven by global investors as uncertainty in the world increases with the constant challenge of radical Islam, a more forward leaning posture by Russia and China and defense spending cuts in Europe.
With all its faults, the U.S. political system is the most transparent and stable in the world and much preferable to multi-party parliamentary systems such as in India, where a small Communist party coalition member can stall market reforms. Investors tend to consider economic far more than political factors in making decisions but, in many cases, politics is more important. Just glance at the situation in Pakistan and you will appreciate our smooth transfer of power every four years even with razor thin mandates.
Then there is the demographic angle. The U.S., in large part due to immigration, is still growing, while most of Europe, Japan and especially Russia are rapidly declining. While most of Asia has a relatively youthful population, China is an exception, which will put tremendous strain on its budget.
But my greatest faith in America’s golden future is not based on what it has achieved or its current position of strength, but rather in how it will renew and reform itself to meet the growing challenge from countries like India and China. Our ongoing commitment to freedom, openness and flexibility is the key to our continued strength, innovation and leadership. Our time tested institutions are the pillars of our success.
I hope all this engenders the American can do spirit and not complacency. We have a lot to do to stay on top of the world. America needs to greatly simplify its tax system, relentlessly pursue innovation in education, use the leverage of our huge consumer market to open overseas markets, and put in place a cap on the growth of federal spending coupled with entitlement reform.
Our foreign policy will also become more pragmatic and avoid the extremes of isolationism and adventurism, which are not grounded in the national interest. We also need to shift our attention from Europe and focus on Asia and emerging market countries. For example, Japan’s Navy is more than three times that of the United Kingdom and it may prove to be our most important ally as the future unfolds.
To highlight the strength of America’s global brand and to promote openness around the world, I have formed a new organization, the Center for American Economic Diplomacy. We need to get this America Sunny Side Up message in front of the global media which tends to focus only on America’s faults.
I am most confident about America’s future because Americans won’t settle for less than being first among equals.
Carl is President of the global investment advisory firm Chartwell Partners. He is a columnist on global investing with Forbes and writes the “Global Gambits” column for Forbes Asia and is also the editor of the Chartwell ETF Global Advisor investment newsletter and the http://www.ChartwellETFadvisor.com advisory website. He is the author of “Think Global, Grow Rich” and “The New Global ETF Investor” and, during the administration of George H.W. Bush, served on the Executive Board of Directors of the Asian Development Bank in Manila, Philippines.
Carl was a Vice President and opened Asia-Pacific markets for the investment bank Robert W. Baird & Company and a global ETF specialist with the Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS).
