dylan_bell•14d agoProlific Poster

The weirdest thing about that IKEA in Brooklyn... the escalator setup

I was stuck in the middle of the meatball line last Saturday and realized half the people were just riding the escalator up and down for fun because the layout makes zero sense. You gotta go through the marketplace to get to the exit and it's like a maze. I timed my loop and it took 12 minutes to get from the checkout to the door. Has anyone else walked out of a big box store feeling like you needed a map?

2 comments

2 Comments

king.andrew13d ago

Waited 12 minutes to get from checkout to the door? That's insane. I would have lost my mind and just started climbing over the fake plants and pillows. The escalator thing makes sense in a sad way though - they design those stores to trap you. I swear they put the exit in a hidden room behind the kitchen displays on purpose. Were there at least some good meatballs to make up for the nightmare maze?

richard_dixon13d ago

Take a look at the escalator placement from a fire safety standpoint. I used to do building inspections and that setup is a nightmare for evacuation. The way they force you through narrow aisles and past the checkout maze means if something went wrong, you'd have a real bottleneck. The "fun ride" people are actually blocking the only clear path out. That 12 minute loop you timed is basically a deathtrap in an emergency. Nobody talks about it because they're too busy complaining about the meatballs.