Lesson
Do you have a dream apartment or flat? What's your idea of a sweet pad? For most people, designing an apartment means taking a trip to Ikea. Because of Ikea, people in Spain, Russian, France, China, Canada and the United States all have the same furniture. Now that's globalization! But no one complains about the Swedish big-box retailer Ikea. Why not?
It's probably because it's hard not to love Ikea. Ikea's products are inexpensive. You can buy kitchen accessories and furniture for next-to-nothing, and it's possible to fill several bags with merchandise for less than the price of dinner.
Plus, Ikea's products are well designed. It's easy to find inexpensive furniture at other stores, but it's nearly impossible to find inexpensive furniture that looks good. Ikea's couches, armchairs, lighting and nearly everything else in the store all look pretty good. And other than Ikea's high-end merchandise, nothing will cost you an arm and a leg.
In some ways, visiting Ikea is like visiting a foreign country. The colors blue and yellow, which happen to be the colors of the Swedish flag, are everywhere. And speaking of flags, Ikea has its own! Ikea also has childcare where shoppers can drop off their kids while they shop, and shoppers queue for up to 30 minutes to eat Swedish meatballs in the Ikea cafeteria.
Ikea currently has almost 300 stores in nearly 40 countries and more than 100,000 employees. In 2006, Ikea sold more than $22,000,000,000 in products. That's more than some countries.
Is there an Ikea in your country? Do you like Ikea?
Vocabulary
Sweet: Cool (Slang).
Pad: A cool living apartment or house.
Accessories: Something used for convenience.
Next to Nothing: Inexpensive.
Merchandise: Products for sale.
Couch: Sofa:
Pretty: In this context, pretty is a modifier that means somewhat.
Cost an arm and a leg: Expensive.
Drop off: To leave behind.
Queue: To wait.
