| Dubai FAQ | Dubai forum | Print | IKEA Dubai UAE
|
Saturday 21 November 2009 (UAE)
|
|
IKEA Dubai and Abu Dhabi
Ikea is a well-known Swedish furniture and home accessories store with outlets around the world, including the UAE and other Middle East countries. Ikea is well-known for good value furniture that is easy to transport and frustrating to assemble, but the popularity of the furniture is obvious, as anyone who has been stuck in an Ikea queue at Festival City on a Friday night knows.
The first Ikea store in Dubai was a small shop in Karama on Zabeel Road. A larger store opened in Deira City Center when the new mall opened in 1995, and an even larger store opened in Dubai Festival City when DFC opened in 2005. There is also an Ikea store in Abu Dhabi, and a much larger one is scheduled to open in the Yas Mall on Yas Island (date unknown as yet but seems unlikely to be before 2012).
IKEA locations
- Dubai, Deira City Center - open 1995, closed 2005.
- Dubai Festival City (DFC) - difficult to miss, just head for DFC and it should be obvious. Store opened in 2005.
- Dubai, Karama, Zabeel Road - open 1991, closed 1995.
- Abu Dhabi Marina Mall
- Abu Dhabi Yas Mall - Yas Mall under development on Yas Island. The Yas Mall Ikea was announced in a press release 16 September 2009 with no useful information such as where, when, or how big. Just that Aldar Properties (the Yas Island developer) had signed an agreement with Al Futtaim (the IKEA franchise holders in the UAE), and that the new Yas Island Ikea would be the biggest in the Middle East.
IKEA opening hours
| Opening times | Saturday-Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dubai Festival City | 1000-2200 (10am-10pm) | 1000-2400 (10am-midnight) | 1000-2400 | 1000-2400 |
| Abu Dhabi Marina Mall | 1000-2200 (10am-10pm) | 1000-2200 | 1000-2300 | 1000-2200 |
IKEA restaurants open at 0930 and close 30 minutes before store closing time.
What's so special about Ikea furniture?
For those who don't know, Ikea sells most furniture disassembled. Which means shelves, tables, chairs, desks, etc can be packed flatter and they'll fit into your Volvo stationwagon with ease (then again, a Swedish Chef and his complete kitchen would probably fit into a Volvo stationwagon). When when you get home, you unwrap your goodies, look for the assembly instructions which usually have a couple of diagrams of how to turn the special key provided and what the assembled item looks like, find a plastic bag with one less bolt than the number required, scratch your head for a while, and eventually find the maintenance guy and give him 50 dhs to put the blasted thing together. Or if you're Swedish and female, there is bound to be a copious supply of willing DIY male carpenters at any Dubai watering hole desperate to show off how clever they are. At least you save yourself 50 dhs that way since they'll be embarrassed enough when they fail to put the furniture together, that they'll pay the maintenance guy themselves.
The Ikea product line includes both home and office furniture, bathroom fixtures, beds and bedding, kitchen accessories from napkins to complete kitchens (minus the whiteware though), children's furniture, shelves and cupboards, pictures and picture frames, plastic plants, and wicker baskets to put everything in. Pretty well almost everything non-electrical that you need make your home a sweeter home.
A 10,000 dirham shopping spree at Ikea should be enough to kit out a 1 bedroom apartment with bed, sofa, table, chairs, desk, and most of the other bits and pieces needed. Take AED 15,000 if you're feeling generous, leave out the sofa and desk if you want to spend just 5,000 dirhams. Double or triple the amount for 2 or 3 bedrooms.
IKEA shopping and furniture assembly tips
- Write down on a notepad the important distances in your home where furniture is likely to be placed. Don't forget to bring the notepad and a pen/pencil with you when you go shopping. Ikea have bits of paper and pencils available if you do forget, but not the measurements of your home.
- Bring a proper builder's measuring tape with you (the steel tape that is spring wound into a holder), especially if you're shopping on your own. It's much easier to measure furniture with than the paper ones supplied by Ikea at their stores.
- Check carefully that you have all the nuts and bolts, before you leave the store. Ikea don't usually supply spares and if you don't check, that's bound to be the time you find you're missing a screw.
- Don't assume everything you need for furniture assembly is in the box. You will probably at least need a screwdriver (and later during assembly you might want to take a hammer to the half completed construction).
- Buy or borrow an electric screwdriver, especially if you're getting a job lot of furniture for your new home.
IKEA Restaurant
- Authentic Swedish meatballs and other goodies at quite reasonable prices. Busy though.
IKEA Breakfast
- 0930-1130 daily (in Dubai only). Get eggs, sausage, hash browns, mushrooms/baked beans for 5 dhs. Not during Ramadan.
IKEA contact details
- Tel toll-free in UAE 800-4532 (800-IKEA)
- Tel Dubai Festival City +971-4-20375555, email ikea_dubai@alfuttaim.ae
- Tel Abu Dhabi Marina Mall +971-2-6812228, email ikea_abudhabi@alfuttaim.ae
IKEA alternatives
These stores have similar quality (although Ikea is likely to be the most robust choice), style, prices, and will garner equally disapproving looks from any snob friends you might have.
- Homes R Us Dubai
- The Home Center
- Pan Emirates Furniture - cheaper than the others
- Home Living Design, or Living Home Design, or something - in the basement of the Dubai Mall. Has equally strange names for their desks, chairs, cutlery, pots, pans, and kitchen sinks - like Fnark, Plork, Snakkle, Plop.
Last update Sunday 20-Sep-2009
Related pages
- Home Center UAE - an alternative furniture shop (forum topic)
- Homes R Us UAE - different from the Home Center and Ikea but much the same.
- Shopping centers in Abu Dhabi - list with brief desciptions
- Shopping centers in Dubai
Related websites (open in new window)
- www.ikeaabudhabi.com, www.ikeadubai.com, www.ikeauae.com - three different websites with the same music and information, including online catalog, and talking assistants. Take your pick.
- Dubai directory - add your link free