And don't forget: IKEA is one of the few places remaining where you can get decent, durable products, ones that will last, at a reasonable price. When my wife and I moved into our first (and current) house, almost 25 years ago, we didn't have much furniture, so we drove up to an IKEA in Toronto and used some money from her grandmother to buy various things we needed. We're still sleeping on the same bed and mattress. Our kids are using beds we bought then--first as bunks, later as separate twins. The armchair across the room from me dates back to then. With more items over the years, such as the dining table I'm sitting at now, which we bought used on Craig's List 15 years ago for our expanding family and which is still going strong. This past summer I helped one of my daughters move across country into her first apartment, and we spent a day at IKEA buying furnishings. Nothing fancy, but a sleeper sofa, a folding table and chairs, a coffee table, a small chest of drawers, an end table, and various housewares, all for under $1000. It's a great store.
My dad and I used to buy/sell/trade all sorts of vintage stuff, and I realized how much valuable stuff some people threw away while other people paid big money for it. Meanwhile e-waste was a liability for municipalities. So I had the idea of trying to create a program where the occasional valuable functional item thrown away could be diverted and sold and help pay for the e-waste program (beyond the very rudimentary reuse programs that the e-waste companies themselves sometimes do.) I'm also a retro video game guy so I love all the old consoles. We've still got speakers and stereos and computer monitors and other stuff I pulled out of dumpsters in my parents' house, still working great.
So, it's basically a nostalgia market. It seems to me that this could bring a welcome revenue boost for a local government, given the popularity of police property sales.
And don't forget: IKEA is one of the few places remaining where you can get decent, durable products, ones that will last, at a reasonable price. When my wife and I moved into our first (and current) house, almost 25 years ago, we didn't have much furniture, so we drove up to an IKEA in Toronto and used some money from her grandmother to buy various things we needed. We're still sleeping on the same bed and mattress. Our kids are using beds we bought then--first as bunks, later as separate twins. The armchair across the room from me dates back to then. With more items over the years, such as the dining table I'm sitting at now, which we bought used on Craig's List 15 years ago for our expanding family and which is still going strong. This past summer I helped one of my daughters move across country into her first apartment, and we spent a day at IKEA buying furnishings. Nothing fancy, but a sleeper sofa, a folding table and chairs, a coffee table, a small chest of drawers, an end table, and various housewares, all for under $1000. It's a great store.
Wal-Mart is pretty widespread in the parts of rural America I’m familiar with, and is arguably the major grocery chain in many rural areas.
Lots of cities don’t have Ikeas. There are only a couple in Virginia, Woodbridge and Norfolk IIRC.
a fully functional Commodore 64 computer
And what, pray tell, attracted to you to this thoroughly obsolete item apart from nostalgia?
My dad and I used to buy/sell/trade all sorts of vintage stuff, and I realized how much valuable stuff some people threw away while other people paid big money for it. Meanwhile e-waste was a liability for municipalities. So I had the idea of trying to create a program where the occasional valuable functional item thrown away could be diverted and sold and help pay for the e-waste program (beyond the very rudimentary reuse programs that the e-waste companies themselves sometimes do.) I'm also a retro video game guy so I love all the old consoles. We've still got speakers and stereos and computer monitors and other stuff I pulled out of dumpsters in my parents' house, still working great.
So, it's basically a nostalgia market. It seems to me that this could bring a welcome revenue boost for a local government, given the popularity of police property sales.
Interesting! How do you see that relating to this post?
Oh, I didn't really get to yesterday's comments, I will give it a full read!