[Keter]

I wrote a comment a few days ago about how awkwardly/inconveniently the food market was located in the Austin/ Round Rock store. I don't know how they are typically located, but this one is on the "wrong" side of the checkouts. To buy from it after shopping in the rest of the store - which is how the traffic flow directs you! - you have to cut backwards through the main checkout lines or go over to the cafe to pay. After completing our shopping, loading our purchases, and standing in line to check out, we don't WANT to stand in line to check out AGAIN in the cafe! To solve this placement problem, many of us have been zipping over there to grab a couple of things while waiting in line. It's awkward, but tolerable.

Well, it looks like they are trying to keep people from doing even that. Yesterday, while waiting in line, I watched a couple with a very full cart try to go over to the food market before standing in line. They were stopped, and then told that they couldn't take their cart over there. They replied that they were buying for a big family Christmas, and would need the cart. They were told they would have to pay at the cafe in that case. These folks were middle aged, dressed well, overweight (not capable of running) and had a large purchase already picked out. They were not a shoplifting threat, and they were not offered any other options. The cafe was empty, but there was no employee visible over there, either, and half of the lights were off, as if it was in the process of shutting down early. The couple made the purchase they had in the cart and left without going to the food market.

I had been waiting for my husband to return from the restroom and when he did, I told him what I had seen and asked him to hold onto our stuff and I was going to try to fly solo to get one bottle of lingonberry drink concentrate (makes an awesome Cosmo-like drink). I walked up to the employee who had just discouraged the couple, smiled, pointed to the food market, and didn't wait for permission. I got my bottle of juice, however, on returning to the queue, I got a dirty look which I pretended not to notice.

Look, Ikea Austin/Round Rock - I'm addressing this to YOU, the store management, not to IkeaFans - if you are going to make it a nasty pain in the butt for tired shoppers to get to the food market, you can expect it will not sell much. If you are going to have employees further discourage customers from buying from the food market by throwing attitude and acting like people are thieves, it will cost you a lot more in sales because people remember when they've been treated rudely and will not return soon. I hope you address the location and accessibility of the food market in your upcoming remodeling so that customers can get to the food market before going through the checkouts.

Address: 1 IKEA Way Round Rock, TX 78664 Telephone:(512) 828-4532 Store hours:Store open every day: 10am - 9pm IKEA Store Directory Entry for IKEA Round Rock

[hexkeyfan]

I think you will be disappointed to find out that all IKEA bistros are located after the main cash registers.

Although I find that rude and unhelpful to simply tell a couple no, the least they could have done was gotten them a cart

[Susan]

Yes, this is true, although in our store there are a couple of register units on wheels that are used when there's the food market traffic to support it, I suppose. Come to think of it, I don't know that I've ever actually seen it in use, but I imagine it must be.

You can sort of see the kind of register on wheels thing I was talking about in this photo; funny, when I was taking the dozens of pictures I took for the article about the change in brands in the IKEA SwedeShop, I managed to avoid taking pictures of the registers!

Susan

[Tigratrus]

Totally agree, it's certainly not a well thought out solution.

Seems like a bit of a vicious cycle too:

Many people don't buy from the market because there's no person standing on that side to check them out and they can't pick up their food items before they check out at the main registers.

Since not enough people are buying in the market to justify keeping a co-worker at the Market register full time, the problem above is exacerbated.

Seems like a classic case of the type that management is meant to solve.

James

[NBeth]

The E Palo Alto Ikea has a much enlarged market now, with a dedicated open cashier every time we see it. It would be nice to buy everything all at once, though!