Many bemoan IKEA's distinctive yellow and blue buildings popping up across the landscape like mushrooms after the rain (the Swedish superchain opened 24 stores this year alone).
Let he who doesn't own -- or covet -- a single item of its cleverly designed budget housewares cast the first stone; for the true converts, there's Ikeafans.com, a virtual community where more than 12,000 congregate to talk shop.
What seems at first like a giant web of bulletin boards is actually a highly organized online world, not unlike the cult store itself: Track down assembly manuals (there are hundreds archived) and tutorials, scan the glossary and photo galleries, find out what's been discontinued or upgraded, and even follow along with (or create) a member blog where IKEA die-hards share renovations, decorating inspiration and more.
written on Tuesday Oct 9, 2007
more than meatballs.
