Today was IKEA's second official day open. It was pretty busy inside but the layout of the store made it feel very comfortable to shop without feeling claustrophobic. Staff was very hands off. In fact, we ran into several different groups of at least three employees gathered in conversation while completely ignoring all the customers. Being that it was the second day open and there was a large crowd of people just window shopping, I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt here because the employees we did interact with seemed to genuinely be smiling and helpful. Some people may appreciate the low pressure and relaxed shopping experience. A few notable areas outside of the main store floor: IKEA stores tend to have a great restaurant inside. There is a clearance area with some great deals if you are willing to take items "As Is". It is to the right of the checkout lanes. They also have a very nice marketplace after the checkout lanes that contains some niche foods, mostly catering to a European market. Strengths: low prices on items you want/need. Great selection. Nice store displays and organization. Plenty of kiosks with paper measuring tapes, pencils, paper for shopping lists, and shopping carts/bags/hand trucks. Paper to wrap fragile items at the end of the checkout lane and twine to secure items in your car provided. Cons: No shopping bags. All furniture comes disassembled - you must assemble it yourself at home. You need to pick up your furniture in boxes at the self service pickup area near checkout. read more

See all

The customer service and management at this location is terrible. They are out of stock of almost everything even when it says they have stock... for the amount of money people spend here Ikea should hire a bit more professional management that understands customer service! I won't be back! Not worth the headache! read more

I like that they have many home organization options. I'm personally not a fan of cheaply made furniture or assemble yourself anything. But they have lots of options for people who like that sort of thing. I haven't heard anything good or bad about their cafe food, but I ordered it for the first time and I must say that it is very comparable to hospital food and that I am not impressed. I won't be trying it again. Also the way everything is spread out isn't super easy to navigate especially with their hard to steer carts. I had a staff member helping me navigate it who was not friendly and seemed annoyed that I was asking where things were located. read more

After all of the anticipation among Ikea aficionados, the newest USA location--right here in Merriam KS is now open. The building is easy to spot off of I-35 at the Johnson Drive exit although you may choose to get off at Shawnee-Mission Drive. Ikea Way is a frontage road that runs between Johnson and Shawnee-Mission on the east side of I-35. The building sits on a bluff and it's blue and yellow (the national colors of Sweden) motif is striking. There is plenty of parking, but if you are coming on a day when rain threatens, bring an umbrella because you WILL be doing some walking! For those of you who have previously visited an 'Ikea-mini-city' you'll be right at home. Guided by Swedish sensibilities the colors and store layout are consistent from one location to another. I was in the Twin Cities when Ikea opened and rocked the area around the Mall of America!!! Even Holiday seasons are busy times here!!! My biggest amazement--apart from the sheer size of this place--is the time-warp you get wrapped in when you step into an Ikea store. The floorplan is laid out just so, and guides you from one area of day-dreaming to another, while you totally forget about time. While the floor-plan is somewhat maze-like, shoppers don't mind. It's a new experience after all!! Many of the larger units must be picked up on the bottom floor where the boxes are stored in an orderly fashion. A word about the boxes...even large bookcases and display shelves come in small packages. It's all about the efficiency here...(remember Swedish sensibility?) You will need to assemble most items at home, but consider that part of the allure of Ikea. The restaurant makes amazing deals on honest food entrees. They are known for their inexpensive breakfast specials--you won't leave hungry any time of day that you visit and it won't hurt the budget at all! Welcome to the area Ikea...we think you'll become a most-welcome neighbor to visit with!!! read more

People LOVE IKEA. I posted a pic of my child in an IKEA cart on Facebook and someone asked why my cart was so empty LOL. Maybe it's because i wasn't there to buy a crap load of furniture like everyone else. You follow arrows on the ground and it takes you to each dept. I somehow took an elevator because I had a cart and was going against the traffic, oops. My son loved playing in the kids area which is totally secure and free, while my Younger one and I shopped. I spent $17 plus $7 on food. The poor girl working the cafe counter by the checkout was alone and had a family right before me in line order 12 hotdogs! Just our luck. She was doing all she could to get those buns apart and dogs wrapped up. Get her some help! I didn't try the meatballs oops, the frozen yogurt was delicious on a hot day, and the weird cookies we bought to bring back to my mom, were straight disgusting lol! Do I think IKEA is the best thing ever, not really. Maybe if I lived in NYC and needed to furnish my college apartment I'd be more excited. read more

We drove all the way to Ikea today just so our 4 year old could play at Småland and the lady at the front desk measured her height and even though her head was very clearly grazing the bottom of the stick, she said, "aw I'm sorry." She was recently measured at the doctor and is exactly the height requirement. I was hoping my kid could get some play time with ppl her own age but I guess not. I get it, watching kids that aren't yours probably sucks but there were only two other children in there and they likely wanted the extra playmate. I had a list of stuff I wanted to purchase even planned on possibly eating here, but I'm too upset to support the store now. I'm so sad we wasted a trip out here for nothing. read more

IKEA is a dream store. We don't have one where I am from, but we definitely need one. It was also my first time even going into an IKEA, but I personally was not disappointed with it. For me this is like Target it is fun to walk around and you never know what you may find. My friend and I didn't know what it was like but once we experienced it, she told me it was like you first walk into Pinterest in person, then you actually go into all the decorating, and I didn't think about it that way until she mentioned it. Customer service is the only thing they need to step up. I mean I have read plenty of times online that it is hard to find an employee working around IKEA, but I believe they should have at least one person in each section, not necessarily each room. We only had one employee reach out to us and asked if we needed help, she was very friendly and I wish I would've gotten her name, but she really was a kind soul. More cashiers are also needed because the checkout was the worst part of it. There were only two lanes open and the lines went into the warehouse section, which I don't think they should. Our cashier was also very tired and didn't care to be there one bit. read more

I usually love this store, but today the checkout person was not very helpful. I left my family card at home, so we tried phone number lookup which is supposedly new. The number did not register, so no discount on items. Pennies are tight this Christmas, but she ran the sale at full price. I am disappointed in myself that I did not remember to get the number from an ikea email off my phone. Of course the not helpful employee did not suggest it either... she was in a hurry... read more

This review is for the IKEA restaurant upstairs and the quick hot dog stand cafe downstairs. Presently surprised at how clean both areas are. Kids love the chicken tender dinner with fries and they give u an ample amount. Kids love the hotdog / pizza stand downstairs. The big bonus here is for vegetarians. Upstairs restaurant has a veggie ball meal complete with quinoa and veggies and these awesome veggie balls, along with a tomato sauce mixture on the side. Great dinner, great price and just awesome that they offer this for vegetarians. Downstairs at the hotdog stand they offer veggie hotdogs. This is great for those of us that are vegetarian! I highly recommend eating at both upstairs and downstairs restaurants. read more

Admittingly, I have only bought wine glasses from IKEA but I love going to this city of furniture and home decor and exploring until I can explore no longer. Just when you thought you'd seen enough couches and enough lamps, there's more! I like that they have a greeter who hands out maps at the front entrance. Since you'll be walking miles and miles through the store, they have a convenient meal area where you can get chicken strips or sweedish meatballs. I foresee more trips to IKEA in the future when I decide to replace my couches. read more

I am an IKEA fan from long ago. I dont care that you have to put it together yourself, I dont care that its not "real wood" What I care about is that its designed well and reasonably priced. While I have only visited this store twice - I have purchased several items here already and am pleased with them all. The lines are super long through - when a store is this new you should prepare for a longer wait read more

All the good things about ikea stop at checkout! They need to "checkout" Costco! S. U. P. E. R. S. L. O. W.

my first experience with the IKEA here in KC after relocating for work! I was looking around pricing items to furnish my entire new place from IKEA which would add up to a couple thousand dollars! I nearing the end of seeing the store and walk by this lamp in a display room (which you will see attached). The display lamp just so happens to double as a speaker and to my surprise, the price was $99 bucks. For that reason, I took advantage of the deal and picked up two of them in black! I get to the front waiting in line to check out and ready to swipe my card expecting about $200 plus tax.....but no the register shows $358 plus taxes which didn't seem right at all! I share that the price that was literally attached to the product on display showed $99 bucks. So I showed her a picture as I was taking photos of all the things I had my eye on and the pricing so I could easily come back in a few weeks to make my big purchase. I was originally going to pass on the lamp but I said to myself why not get the deal they are offering. after the cashier call someone or someone(s) I should say that caused me to wait nearly 15 mins comes over and ask what can we help you with. I told the woman who wasn't very friendly or customer-focused the photo of the item and that clearly their team made a mistake but it shouldn't be a problem to honor what was listed. My experience working retail is if we make a mistake we make it right with the customer and then we resolve the error. We walk back to the display which is now completely had this price tag torn off by another man who paired up with the not so friendly lady and placed blame on me as the customer for not know they made an error (which isn't my problem). I then ask if there is no issue with the price why would you remove the tag and his response is "Do you want other people to see the wrong price too". In my mind thats an admission of guilt and you went out of your way to not make it right so no one would have a deeper conversation with management about making sure you properly mark items. They were both apparently part of management but didn't carry themselves as such and to be frank were downright #rude, #disrespcetful and seemed to not care about me or my concern at all. Again placing blame on me the customer who has no understanding of their pricing and products. they refused as a team who ganged up on me low key and thew it in my face they wouldn't honor it. I then asked to speak to a manager actually the General Manager which they refused and were unwilling to give me the contact number or email for them. They basically said we are fixing this your fauly for not knowing and you can call the 1800 number. Might I add for them to get the name of the GM and the phone number which they should know both took nearly 20 mins which is unbelievable? When asking the woman where her co-worker went she dismissed me with the nastiest attitude and said just wait for him. Is it just me or is this the definition of #badcustomerservice #rudeemployees #angry #upset #dissappointed My question is how will IKEA make this right for a mistake made by there company? read more

IKEA - KC @ikea ws hrrbl! Blmd as the cust. nt knwing ur wrkr ddnt prop mrk a item & list fr $99 whn ws 179 trtd lk the crmnl. #rude - Furniture Stores Near Me - Merriam, Kansas

This is the worst stocked ikea ever. They never have to most popular items stocked. Do better!!!

7:30pm, a few days before Christmas and ONLY 2 Checkstands open. Line is awfully long and no help in site. Called the Corp office and they called the local store. 10min later, 2 more checkers. Really? Where were u 20minutes ago? Won't be back for awhile read more

I had never been to Ikea before and this location was so great. It was clean and we'll organized. It was perfect. The cherry on the cake was a sweet lady named Darla who helped me with picking the absolute most perfect pillow. Ikea is lucky to have her, she is a gem. read more

IKEA - Darla is the best - Furniture Stores Near Me - Merriam, Kansas

My wife and I went to this IKEA this past Saturday in search of furniture for our nursery. My wife and I did A LOT of research beforehand so we had a pretty good idea on the exact items that we were looking for, which I recommend! The IKEA is absolutely huge with a lot of showrooms that are pretty fun to walk through. Like any other IKEA, they also have a ton of inventory and options to look at. They have everything that you'd need for a house. After we wrote down all that we wanted, my wife and I began to 'pick' our wants. Luckily this time, all of our stuff was in stock, which was awesome for us. We went to the IKEA in Minnesota and they were sold out of a few things that we wanted. After we picked out stuff, we got in line, waited a while, rang up, and left. The whole experience was great and I can't wait until we have to go back to get more furniture. read more

Wow...I don't even know how to describe the Ikea experience. First of all, don't go on a weekend...what a zoo! Parking was a challenge, but we gave up on close to the entrance spots and went further out...and even then, it was sort of a road warrior dash to find a spot. Once we did, we headed inside, and joined the herd headed up the escalator, where at the top, an employee was handing out maps and explaining the concept to first-timers like us. She stated that upstairs was all about lifestyle and inspiration, but that purchases were made downstairs. This was somewhat misleading, as there are ample opportunities to grab smaller items while you're on this floor. We milled about, looking over the selections and sample rooms. I guess growing up with a father that's a pretty talented cabinet maker/furniture maker, it's hard for me to look at cabinets made with MDF and veneers, and take them seriously. I could imagine that if you were in the business of flipping houses, you could update a kitchen pretty quickly to turn a profit, but I don't think I'd ever consider using them for a long-term solution. You truly get what you pay for, and I'm not sure that an Ikea kitchen would be durable. It'd look nice, but I have to wonder about the long-term. Ikea also offers a variety of appliances, and they seem to have pretty good warranty terms...better than other retailers (i.e. - they offer a 5 year warranty on their refrigerator, and Home Depot only offers a 1 year) As we worked our way through the store, going from section to section, we spotted a few useful things. Once we got downstairs, we grabbed a bag and began putting a few small items in. All in all, not bad value, and we got out of there for less than $50. We did NOT try the cafeteria - but there were a whole of folks who did. I'm not sure I'm ready to dine at a Swedish furniture/homegoods store, so we didn't partake. We will probably go back eventually, but now that we've at least done the walk through, we'll be better prepared to shop the Ikea way next time. read more

IKEA - Furniture Stores Near Me - Merriam, Kansas

Oh ikea... Giving Walmart, target, NFM a run for their money. What can I say? I think we all waited for you to arrive in KC and now that you have, we spend our weekend roaming through the showrooms trying to do over our houses. It doesn't matter if you're here all day or not, cause if you get hungry just stop in the cafe for the infamous Swedish meatballs! We are now assembling our couches, dining room tables, office chairs, and beds. Anything and everything comes ready to assemble with instructions. Wondering how you get that cart down to your car? Don't worry... There's an escalator for you AND your cart! Don't forget to grab a cinnamon roll on your way out! read more

With Ikea you have to watch the quality & the complicated assembly, but overall we've got pieces we've bought that stood the test of time and definitely passed the budget test too! Our matching poang rocking chairs are consistently the favorite chairs our guests choose to use when visiting us. Even after 10 years they are in great shape, and should we ever tire of the color we can buy new slipcovers! More simple favorites include my washable feather pillow, kitchen grater, napkins and tea-lights. Come prepared to spend 2 hours if this is your first visit, and make sure to grab some treats at the food section after the registers as a reward! Love Ikea!! read more

This place is amazing. So much stuff at pretty good prices. I love how you can walk through and see everything styled in different ways before making your way downstairs to go pick up your item. Also while the cafeteria food is great. Don't sleep on the deals downstairs like hot dogs and those amazing cinnamon rolls. If you come here I recommend having at least a hour to waste and a pocket full of money. read more

Trish! Thank you so much for the help always. You are a life saver and the reason ikea is my first stop when I get a day to shop. That cabinet worked out perfectly, thank you again! read more

Great experience. Loved the meatballs and seeing everything in the store. I'd come here just for the dinner to be honest! It's nice to get a warm dinner that's semi healthy for under $10. Mine came with meatballs - mashed potatoes & gravy - steamed veggies read more

Felt like I was walking through a thrift store. The display furniture is old and dirty. While these are extraordinary times with supply chain issues, at least display the inventory you do have in a clean and organized manner. There were plenty of employees standing around doing absolutely nothing- except for the few smoking outside. It was bizarre. We won't be back. read more

Nobody helped us when we needed help setting up an account. They only let you use your phones when your there to buy a purchase even though you can not because their wifi doesn't work. We had to go to their computer to do a membership here and they didn't show us or help us with it. As well of that it was slow, didn't update and they showed no help. Rude and not helpful here. I would not suggest going here unless you wanted to come here and have no help when paying if you don't have an account. Sonos the employee, her manager did not direct us into what to do either. Finally a guy on the floor said we could go to the Kiosk told us we could get a membership there. All of this took about an hour. Would not recommend coming if you want no help. read more

First time in. We had lunch upstairs first. Decent food. Wifes salmon in lemon dill sauce was great. The meatballs were good, but nothing to write home about. Daughters chicken fingers were the standard wholesale food fry em up variety. Store itself was very well laid out. Easy to get in and through the store. Found what we needed and of course a few things we didn't but you know how it goes. The checkout though. That's a different story. They were short staffed. 3 lanes out of 18 open. Each lane had between 10-12 customers waiting it took almost 30 minutes to check out. They could really stand to have a self checkout option. read more

Ikea can be a bit overwhelming the first time through since it is not laid out like a traditional store. Once you find the shortcuts, you can move through the store pretty quickly. I've been here several times, and it is always busy. Shopping at Ikea feels more like an experience or an adventure than running to Target and picking up a cheap nightstand. read more

For this kind of shopping experience and it is the only one like it -- it is a 5 star place. The future is fun and trendy and cool looking -- but I personally would buy very little of it because I don't get the impression the quality is all that such that the stuff is going to last and hold up with long term regular use. However, as long as you know what you are getting into and what it is you can find a lot of really cool and very high quality stuff here still. The accessories and such are top of the line for the prices and the cafe is the best I have ever found at a place to shop for anything. I have even gone to the cafe just to eat and walked around later to browse just for fun. You can get free coffee if you join the free member club as well, a little secret not many know about. Also, the breakfast is only a few bucks and pretty good. And kids can eat cheap all the time and the regular food is good too for the price. This is just part of why I give this place a 5 star rating, because the food is not the reason people go here until they have had the food and then some tend to go back just for the food.. and hey while you are here you might as well browse! Really smart concept they have here on that.. This place is also an adventure to go to because it is like a maze and you can spend hours going through the show rooms to see it all. It is huge and I mean it is huge. read more

Seriously only four registers going on the Monday after Christmas? Each line is 20 people deep. Poor planning I'd pull all associates to the registers to take care of your customers. I've been standing in line for 10 minutes to buy one item. read more

Needed a nice decent table and chairs with a great price. Found lots of nice tables and chairs for a great price, just had my wife with me, so we spent more. But, she's happy, and I'm ok. Thanks IKEA for helping my wife, and giving us a place to sit and eat at home. We'll be back I'm sure. read more

I love IKEA! As a single mom who had to start over with nothing, IKEA was a lifesaver. Almost all the furniture in my house is from here. While it may not be the sturdiest furniture, it looks nice and with all girls, we aren't hard on furniture anyway. This is my go to for picture frames too as they are all reasonably priced. I always end up buying more than I planned in here because there is so much cool stuff. I restock on light bulbs and batteries here too. read more

IKEA - Furniture Stores Near Me - Merriam, Kansas

This review is more about the general experience my wife and I had on our most recent visit and not as much on the quality of items we have purchased from here. We are moving and my wife wants to get us new desks for our new office. We head out to IKEA for some shopping. We have been here before and know that there is typically a lot of people. This day, we quickly get in to the parking lot and get a solid spot. So far, so good. We head up to the showroom level and find a desk to our liking. We write down all the info we need (lots of pieces) and head out. If you have visited IKEA before, you know that it is a maze to get out of. They specifically make you walk through EVERYTHING in order to entice you to purchase their stuff...or to drive you insane. Some of the 'shortcuts' are being used as the only way through as there is some areas closed off for updates/new stock. The foot traffic is quite busy, but we fight through the crowd. Second level is their smaller items, which we bypass through a handy shortcut and go into their warehouse sized stock room with the larger items. We find what we are looking for, but the desktops have damage on the corners, which we don't find out until we are about to check out. Now, for the absolute hell that is checking out here. We were here on a weekday during the recent holiday break. There were 3 lines to check out. Each were about 15 people deep. Shouldn't that say to you to get some more checkers going? It didn't for them for a long time. By the time we are one spot away from checking out, they open 4 more lines. We try to maneuver our large cart full of large items to a new lane when a wave of humanity races in front of us. How rude! It may have been easier to change lanes if IKEA didn't load up the check-out area with many large boxes and items they want to push on you during check-out. To make matters worse, we were stuck behind 2 older ladies with a cart full of 100+ small items that looks like they emptied the clearance bins into their cart. The checker scans each item individually. By now, the now 7 lines have 10+ people in them. The smell of food up front is driving us nuts and making us irritable. The ladies try to use a coupon on their phone, which the checker spends 10 minutes trying to figure out. It fails. Anger...rising...must...not...strangle...old...ladies... Then they pay with about $700 CASH! Finally, we get to check out. 5 minutes and we were through. Now, we need to get the items delivered to the new apartment. We head over to the delivery counter. There are two people working on something at the counter and no one waiting there when we arrive. We walk up to the counter...and wait...and wait...and wait to even be acknowledged by these two. 10 minutes and one of them finally looks up and asks, Can I help you with something? As we get the process started, another couple comes up behind us and the other person starts helping them. In the middle of getting our delivery setup, the other person asks the guy helping us to help her out. Hang on! We were here first! Finish us up and then move on! Come on, man! Lastly, we point out the damage to the desktops that we pulled off the shelf. The best thing they did was send someone to grab replacements, which we inspected before we left. My wife and I leave, exhausted and hungry, vowing never to return and to only shop from IKEA online. read more

I recently moved here, and have been anxiously awaiting IKEA's opening day. My hometown had several nearby IKEAs, then, sadly, I moved somewhere without IKEA. I purposely did not buy a few things so I could have an IKEA adventure when they opened. I waited a few weeks to try to avoid the crowd, but that did not really work. I went on a Saturday afternoon (9/20), but I guess I did not wait long enough, because it was PACKED in there. While driving in, there were several workers directing traffic. It was kind of hilarious - I've never seen anything like that. I'm sure IKEA is not regretting their decision of opening up shop here in KC! When I got into the garage, there was no problem finding a spot. When approaching the inside of the store, however, the crowd was way denser than I expected. I felt like we were cows being herded, a flock of geese, lemmings, etc. It was just nuts. I started going through the showroom, but decided halfway through to just skip it. IKEA is set up sort of like Bed Bath and Beyond, where you have to walk through the whole store to get to the end. However, IKEA has several shortcuts that lead to both the kitchen area (cups, decor, lamps, etc.) and the self-serve furniture area. I do not necessarily need to walk through the showroom, I usually skip it. The showroom has few things you can actually grab to purchase, it is more of a display. I usually skip it and look at the kitchen knick-knacks and areas where you can purchase rather than just look. At this particular stage of my life, I like IKEA for the very cheap furniture and quirky decor. IKEA also has more expensive, nicer, things. They sell just about any type of homegood you can think of - furniture, storage, lamps, kitchen supplies, textiles, etc. etc. etc. I believe all of their furniture comes in boxes and you assemble it at home. I love this concept because I hate renting a truck for furniture (I have a small car) and I do not mind putting things together myself. In this particular trip, I bought a coffee table ($20), a multi-purpose table ($20) and a candle holder ($4). I am waiting at least a month to go back, and not attempting a Saturday afternoon again! The directions are cross-cultural (pictures, no words). My large table was very easy to put together, but the coffee table took forever. It probably just depends what you buy and how complicated the instructions are. Summary: IKEA is the best and I am thrilled that it opened in KC. read more

This is probably the best food and furniture store ever. The kid area is perfect to keep the kids busy. On top of that, the food is cheap and delicous. 10/10 recommend. read more

IKEA wins the award for best store design intended to make (force) customers to view absolutely everything the store has to offer and make many impulse buys. With the exception of the dog butt hooks, they didn't get me! IKEA is full of inexpensive and interesting home items. Much of it is very simplistic and can easily be reproduced at a much higher quality if one has an ounce of ability. You will find some good buys, I escaped with a nice umbrella and some new plants (which beware, many of their "plants" are plastic.) The small space rooms are cool and really emphasize how space can effectively be used. These might be worth a trip there alone. IKEA isn't a place I would want to visit often. A place I would probably never go to on a weekend again. Schedule a few hours to make it through the maze if you do go. read more

I'll preface this by saying I love IKEA. I've paid many visits to IKEA stores in California, Arizona, Oregon and Colorado. That said, this location has some work to do. The store is clean and organized like you would expect, but the front end and parking garage staff leave much to be desired. The cashiers at this store are VERY slow. After more than two months working these registers, you'd think they would have a handle on their jobs but sadly that is not the case. I have visited this location four times -- usually not on peak hours -- and waited in the checkout line for over 25 minutes each time, which is totally unacceptable. There was no sense of urgency with any of the cashiers I encountered or observed. I could have hopped onto a register with no training and checked people out faster than the IKEA employees. The guys they have retrieving carts in the garage can frequently be found loitering around their service elevator -- it's a little intimidating for shoppers to walk up and see six or eight men in orange vests having loud conversation. Don't these guys have work to do? Get it together, Merriam IKEA. read more

I keep starting this review in my head and then I stop because I really want to be able to give IKEA 4 stars, but they just aren't quite there. Believe me when I say that I have been waiting for a long long time to see an IKEA come to KC. When visiting other cities with IKEAs, I would often bring a giant suitcase to bring home IKEA goodies since you just can't order most of their merchandise online. That's one of my big beefs with IKEA. I think they could serve more people if they offered more of their items online, but I digress...this is about the local store and not the website. For merchandise and pricing, they get 5 stars. They offer a lot of stuff with some fun and interesting designs for a really reasonable price. If only they could/would keep it in stock. Each time I go, there is always something I find that I want but it is out of stock. Most recently, it was a dutch oven/casserole that was well-constructed and reasonably-priced, but it was not in stock. And not available online. And there's no way to know when/if it will be available again. Frustrating! Also, check-out is always a nightmare. The staff are always very nice, but the lines are incredibly long. The last time we went, because they were out of stuff we wanted, we literally got less than twenty bucks worth of stuff but it took half an hour to check out. While I don't exactly expect this store to cater to me, these long waits at checkout are a bit too much. They really need to get a handle on their staffing. read more

This place is crazy and good. So I guess that makes it crazy good? First off parking can be a bear and the people hunting for close spots are like savages trying to hunt down an elusive mythical creature. So skip that mess and park outside. Few extra steps but that will offset the damage the food court will do later. Plus there are loading spaces at the door. So when you are ready to leave its just drive up and go. Do you like to be herded by the unseen. Well you are in luck. Each part of the store is a showroom with arrow shapes project on the floor. You and 200 guests will enjoy walking from fresh room design to fresh room design. A golf score style sheet in hand. As you see things you like you will scrawl codes onto your sheet and save it for the warehouse. Halfway through you hit the food court. Meatballs and sweets will taught you. Fill you up and prepare you for the trek through the bowels of the store know as the market. Here is where things go sideways. Its jam packed with great items from art to table-wares. Your herd will split up from the path of lights and become disjointed. Carts will be trying to merge between row after row of wares making the use of "excuse me" and "sorry" seem like breathing. From there you are herded to the warehouse. Where you will take your golf sheet, match up numbers, and cry when you find the item you love is out of stock. Then its through the checkout to buy your market items as a consolation prize. Plod out to your car with your new cheap ikea bags and vow to be back. If only to get those cute glasses you passed on the first time because the loud family with zero manners was too close them this time to chance it. And maybe some meatballs. read more

IKEA biggest time suck ever. Took forever to get help, then I had to go get pieces in self help and now I have been waiting 15 minutes for the furniture pull and they are saying another 15-20 minutes. Seriously!!!! I thought they were supposed to be fast and friendly. 1st the greeter I had to get his attention and he was rude and unhelpful. 2nd I had to wander around and find "help" she gave me a booklet and told me to go to another person. 3rd ended up at a computer with no help or instructions. 4th found another person who showed me how to use the system. 5th checked out and had to get some of my own stuff. 6th 30 minute wait for my furniture pull. Not happy. read more

I grew up near the IKEA in Schamuburg, IL which was, I believe, the first in the US. So I've been to IKEA many times. I looked forward to the KC location, but didn't obsess over it like so many people. Naturally, I gave it several months after opening before visiting. I did visit on a Tuesday morning, when crowds were nil. The first thing I noticed is how awful the layout of the property is. I mean, even in Chicago, where space is more limited, you park and walk right in. The layout here is crap - you park somewhere, walk a while, go up some escalator, turn the corner, go up another escalator, make sure you grab a cart at one escalator because there's not other carts beyond, but then you can't take the escalator because they don't have the cart escalators like many IKEA's do, and you're finally in the store. Get your crap together IKEA, this layout is awful. Once inside, it's a typical IKEA - lots of stuff of questionable quality (you're not buying stuff that will last decades here), but it's fine to decorate with. I tend to like their little stuff more than their big pieces of furniture. But their selection is vast and affordable. They have their restaurant which is pretty mediocre as always. The pancakes are fine, the meatballs are horrible. But they do have the best shopping carts in the world. They can spin 360 degrees. Basically, my wife and I were walking down the aisles spinning the cart around. Good, quality, immature fun. read more