jerusalem | “The customer is king in our store,” says Shlomo Gabay, CEO of IKEA Israel.
That may well be one of the reasons why the Swedish emporium reigns supreme for millions of Israeli shoppers.
More than 8 million customers have passed through the blue and yellow doors since the store first opened in Netanya in April 2001.
Averaging 8,000 customers a day, the store has been an unqualified success — so successful, in fact, that plans are now afoot to build a second store south of Tel Aviv. Gabay estimates that the second store will begin to operate within two years.
The exact location has yet to be determined, but it will be somewhere between Ashdod and Ben-Gurion Airport, says Gabay.
No stranger to new stores, IKEA opened its first facility in Sweden in 1958 and now operates more than 200 stores in 33 countries.
Although IKEA is quite a phenomenon in Israel, its principles and policies apply across the board internationally. And that, Gabay says, is the key to IKEA’s success.
“Besides the low prices and overall concept of the store, IKEA is so successful here because, for the first time, a company has come to give the people in Israel the best service they could find,” says Gabay.
“From the moment you walk in the door, we take care of everything — from the billboard in the lobby that tells you what to look for, to the special carts and strollers for children. That’s something you won’t see anywhere else in Israel. And everyone on the staff is so friendly,” he stresses. “We really take seriously the way we serve our clientele.”
To accommodate shoppers with children, IKEA has a large playroom for the little ones. It is fully supervised, so parents can feel free to go about their business. For older children, there is a movie theater that has films playing all day long. And on holidays, there are many special activities set up to keep children amused and entertained.
Another unique customer service that Gabay cites is the 60-day refund. “In other kinds of stores, it is common to have a week or 30 days, but not two months. We go to the extreme. We give customers two months to decide whether they want to keep a product or not.”
On the subject of products, Gabay says that one of the questions he is most frequently asked is whether the store stocks items geared especially for Israelis.
The answer is no.
“We don’t have specific products for the Israeli market,” he says. “In general, we have found that people have the same needs all over the world, so our product lines reflect those needs.”
However, always open to customer feedback, they do make changes when they can. For example, the Netanya store has stocked a new range of mattresses to suit the Israeli market, he says.
Availability of the products was a problem when the store first opened, he recalls. “We didn’t know how big the demand was going to be, so we kept running out of merchandise. That was a major complaint among our customers.”
That problem solved, what else do Israeli customers complain about?
Gabay rattles off the first few that come to mind: “Why is there only one store?” “It’s too far.” “Why isn’t there a shuttle from Tel Aviv?” “Why can’t this cabinet or closet be made to fit my specifications?” “I bought 20 chairs and five tables, so I want a discount.”
Regarding discounts, “It doesn’t work that way,” explains Gabay.
“Because we buy in such large volume, we can lower the prices of items in all the stores,” he says.
In other words, IKEA doesn’t give discounts on individual sales — no matter how big — because the prices are already reduced.
As for the products themselves, contrary to what many may think, they are not all Scandinavian and not all manufactured by IKEA.
Each store in the chain carries a pool of some 10,000 to 12,000 products, says Gabay. These products are purchased from a range of 3,000 suppliers from 70 countries.
In the Netanya store, there are 7,000 items. “We focus on the same products, but when you go into any one of the stores you won’t find just one style group. We carry a range of different styles, such as modern, young, multifunctional and traditional. Everyone can find something to suit their taste,” says Gabay.
“Israel is a modern country, so 60 percent of our merchandise is modern,” he adds.
So what can Israeli consumers look forward to in the upcoming summer season?
“There are eight months of summer here, so it’s not so much a summer stock as a new aspect to the products. We will have new, bright colors that reflect cheerfulness and happiness. We will also have a new range of sofas, as sofas are our most popular item. This year, the store will be focusing on kitchens, with fully equipped kitchens with all the accessories, as well as dining areas, giving customers a chance to see a total look.”
And speaking of dining, IKEA’s restaurant may not offer gourmet cuisine but the food is fresh, tasty and very reasonably priced. The fare is meat and dairy, served on different sides of the room.
Although the food itself is kosher, says Gabay, they don’t have a kashrut certificate. “We want to fix that,” he says. “We want to get the hechsher so that all the people in Israel can eat here and be comfortable. Haredim shop here, so we want to give them a chance to join us in the restaurant as well.”
Gabay estimates that the certification will take several months to obtain.
One person who will be happy when that happens is Jerusalem resident Margie Fish.
“If IKEA were kosher, it would be perfect,” she says. “It’s a fun place to shop. There is so much — everything you need, from soup to nuts. It’s colorful, clean and very attractively laid out. I like to walk down the aisles and look, and then go back and look again. And they have a great system for finding things. For each large product on display, there’s a sign that tells you where you can pick up a packaged one.
“When you walk toward the checkout counters, there are rows of boxes on each side that are easy to identify. You just pick up the piece and put it in your cart. Plus you don’t have to cart it around with you when you shop.
“The checkout lines are very long, but I can’t complain because every register is open. If I lived closer, I’d go to IKEA more often,” says Fish.
One of the best deals at IKEA is the restaurant’s bottomless cup. If you buy a cup of coffee or a soft drink, you have unlimited access to the fountain and can refill your cup as often as you want. Gabay admits that when this service was first introduced in the Netanya store, the staff was afraid the customers would take undue advantage. But, he says, he is happy to see how well the clients remain within respectable boundaries.
The respect is mutual, which is why IKEA is not open on Shabbat. “This is a Jewish country,” says Gabay. “We respect all religious groups, so we do not operate on Shabbat. And we have to give our staff a chance to rest.”
He is quick to add that the store opens on Saturday evenings after sundown.
Sunrise or sunset, inveterate shoppers enjoy going there any time of day. “No matter how tired I am, my step quickens when I approach the store. I don’t shop, I buy,” asserts IKEA aficionado Toby Shuster.