Best of Canberra callout – non-IKEA furniture outlets

IKEA’s 3% tax rate is positively generous compared to the 0% tax rate paid by trade unions – which are multi million-dollar enterprises, many with their own property portfolios and other substantial business interests.

Also, given that union member fees are tax-deductible, unions are effectively double-dipping in the tax avoidance stakes.

A bit of trivia for all you IKEA buffs: Ingvar Kamprad designed IKEA stores to require as few staff as possible (few floor staff, self-service collection of items from the warehouse, DIY assembly) partly in response to the huge costs of employing staff in Sweden.

HenryBG said :

http://www.1825interiors.com.au/ The prices are very good.

I have a bedroom lounge chair and a few cushions from there, and they were good prices. I enjoy looking at their furniture and there are some very nice things to buy; however, I feel some of their furniture, especially the lounges with their cloth fringes (not to my taste), look like they would better fit in an American house, rather than an Australian house.

Raging Tempest said :

HenryBG said :

Ikea furniture is hit and miss. They don’t make tables that are big enough for a normal house – most of their stuff is aimed at pokey little apartments. Plenty of their stuff is chipboard. .

I have an ikea table that seats 6-10 and its solid and heavy (but I’m sure its layered laminate or something). There are quite a few big table options including extendables. I’ve found it pretty sturdy, but it may well come down to how you treat your furniture. They only things we’ve killed in 10-odd years are a coffee table and a poang chair.

I have had a serious look at Ikea tables and nothing I saw was large or solid.
Not saying it’s bad furniture, but when you live in a large house and you want a large table, Ikea just doesn’t have it.

HenryBG said :

Ikea furniture is hit and miss. They don’t make tables that are big enough for a normal house – most of their stuff is aimed at pokey little apartments. Plenty of their stuff is chipboard. .

I have an ikea table that seats 6-10 and its solid and heavy (but I’m sure its layered laminate or something). There are quite a few big table options including extendables. I’ve found it pretty sturdy, but it may well come down to how you treat your furniture. They only things we’ve killed in 10-odd years are a coffee table and a poang chair.

If you want real Scandinavian furniture, there’s always Grandfather’s Axe.
http://www.grandfathersaxe.com.au/

rubaiyat said :

Lazy I said :

watto23 said :

Wash the double standards of Australia. Every Australian company practices tax avoidance to some degree.

This.

Kerry Packer said it best.

I am not evading tax in any way, shape or form. Now of course I am minimizing my tax and if anybody in this country doesn’t minimize their tax they want their heads read because as a government I can tell you you’re not spending it that well that we should be donating extra.

IKEA had a hell of a lot of people working there when I checked it out, I am almost certain they weren’t commuting from Sweden.

Can you distinguish between paying the tax that you owe on profits earnt in this country \ and wages?

They are not the same thing.

It seems you are encouraging every employer to say “Why should I pay tax? My employees do it for me because they can’t afford my devious tax accountants and bank accounts in the Cayman Islands?

I’m not condoning it, but until the government cracks down on tax minimization across the board, I see no reasons why any particular company can or should be targeted. Their staff pay taxes and people buying there pays GST. I want the laws changed, we’d have a lower company tax rate and a lower income tax rate if all the “tax minimisation” was reduced. The problem is the people and companies who take advantage of it are the ones who also wield the power and would end up paying more tax so the whole of society overall pay less.

Then there is the fear mongering about loss of jobs in Canberra by other furniture places. I highly doubt the person who shops at Ikea are the same type of person who will pay thousands for a well made piece of furniture. Fantastic furniture are the ones most likely to suffer and their furniture has been rubbish for years. Officeworks also sells a bit of flatpack furniture also. The fact that 10% of sales in the Sydney Ikea stores were from Canberra and region residents, says something about the quality of the cheaper flatpack furniture available here.

Designcraft is the place you go to once, think, “that’s very nice”, and then never go again. Srsly, people *buy* stuff at this place? Surely you’d feel like the biggest sucker…

Ikea furniture is hit and miss. They don’t make tables that are big enough for a normal house – most of their stuff is aimed at pokey little apartments. Plenty of their stuff is chipboard. On the other hand, there is some good stuff there. Also the glassware and kitchenware is cheap and some of it is very good. (Next time somebody drops one of your champagne glasses you can ease their mind by saying, “Don’t worry, those glasses cost about $1 each at Ikea, here – break another one…”.).

And then there are the alternatives: horrible, cheap, useless furniture from the usual suspects.

Personally, I like stuff that’s made out of real wood. It’s always worth checking these guys out: http://www.1825interiors.com.au/
Alternatively, a bit more expensive but still waaay better value than either the chip-board sellers or the design-tossers:
http://designedfurniture.com.au/

The prices are very good.

Maya123 said :

I can’t see myself being a frequent visitor there though, as much of the furniture was not to my taste and I can find more interesting and better elsewhere; that is, if I ever need more furniture. What I have now will likely last the rest of my life. Some of it, has already had several owners and still going strong. I can’t see much of IKEA furniture managing this. It’s built for a disposable society. Buy, use it for a few years and chuck. Very wasteful!

I have three IKEA bookcases and a sideboard. I had a particular look in mind and IKEA was where I found it. I’ve had them 10-12 years and they appear exactly the same now as when I first assembled them. They’ve just been sitting there with books on the shelves. I can’t see any reason for that to change – It’s not like I jump on them or use them as ladders! I don’t get why people claim that IKEA furniture won’t last – and I say this having a mix of furniture quality in my house – including pieces from my great-grandparents’ home that are still going strong after more than 100 years, cheap starter furniture, second-hand items, and some more expensive pieces I’ve gradually upgraded to. The IKEA pieces are what I wanted and I doubt there’ll be a need to upgrade them.

You mean there *are* non-IKEA furniture outlets?

Lazy I said :

Kerry Packer said it best.

I am not evading tax in any way, shape or form. Now of course I am minimizing my tax and if anybody in this country doesn’t minimize their tax they want their heads read because as a government I can tell you you’re not spending it that well that we should be donating extra..

Kerry Packer was a prime example of how to spend the money “that well” having avoided paying his share of the tax.

Mostly he threw it away in Macau casinos where it went straight into the pockets of the Chinese criminal gangs who then used it to finance their other criminal activities, some of it back in Australia where the police who had not got Mr Packer’s tax, then had to deal with it.

Kerry Packer was a classic example of the hypocritical rich who want to make their money safely and with certainty under the good governance and protection of this country without paying for it. Paying for what you get for “free” is for schmucks.

The kind of schmucks who then foolishly praise the very people who are ripping them off and making the schmucks pick up the bill.

Kim F said :

Maya123 said :

I went to look at IKEA yesterday without any intention of buying more than a coffee and perhaps trying their meatballs in the cafe. I did end up buying some things though. Although I found most of their lighting fixtures less interesting (very ordinary) than what I can find in most local speciality lighting shops, I did like one funky, spacey light fitting and bought some for new home owners I know for Christmas presents. I was also able to buy a single bed sheet without the package of unwanted fitted sheet and pillow slips. It’s very hard to buy a single sheet, unless paying top dollar for a designer sheet, but unlike most shops, IKEA have single sheets for sale. I also bought a new kitchen bin, as it’s the cheapest I’ve seen for what I got. So, (smile) so much for planning not to buy anything.
However, I found much of their furniture range low quality, and I would rate it only slightly higher than Fantastic Furniture. It’s no doubt good for first home buyers, but for people who want something better, it isn’t the place. I found many of the finishes (artificial veneers for instance) not to my taste, and I thought many of the lounge covers were thin. I will make a compliment though, that several of their bathroom vanities had porcelain basins; better quality than vanities with plastic basins, which, in my experience, after about ten to twenty years begin to discolour. The rugs I looked at were low quality artificial fibres.
I did also get to try the Swedish meatballs. My opinion is they were okay, but nothing outstanding. I bought what I thought was the smallest helping, but really too big for me for lunch, and then saw several other people with smaller helpings. Apparently there are so-called children’s serves, which are a better serving size for lunch and much cheaper too.
The problem with such a big shop is that to get to one section you must work your way through many other sections, which is time consuming, and then work your way to the exit. This is IKEA’s plan though, so that you will spend money on things that you hadn’t planned to, such as Muppet here did. I was planning to spend that money for Christmas somewhere though, but IKEA got in first.
I can’t see myself being a frequent visitor there though, as much of the furniture was not to my taste and I can find more interesting and better elsewhere; that is, if I ever need more furniture. What I have now will likely last the rest of my life. Some of it, has already had several owners and still going strong. I can’t see much of IKEA furniture managing this. It’s built for a disposable society. Buy, use it for a few years and chuck. Very wasteful!

Yes……understand all that….but how were the meatballs ?????

Ordinary, but reasonably priced. $7.99 for a large serve of 10 meatballs and I think $3.99 for a ‘child” serve, which would have been big enough for me for lunch, and I saw several other adults ordering ‘child’ sized meals. There was a choice of mashed potato or chips to go with that.

Kim F said :

Maya123 said :

I went to look at IKEA yesterday without any intention of buying more than a coffee and perhaps trying their meatballs in the cafe. I did end up buying some things though. Although I found most of their lighting fixtures less interesting (very ordinary) than what I can find in most local speciality lighting shops, I did like one funky, spacey light fitting and bought some for new home owners I know for Christmas presents. I was also able to buy a single bed sheet without the package of unwanted fitted sheet and pillow slips. It’s very hard to buy a single sheet, unless paying top dollar for a designer sheet, but unlike most shops, IKEA have single sheets for sale. I also bought a new kitchen bin, as it’s the cheapest I’ve seen for what I got. So, (smile) so much for planning not to buy anything.
However, I found much of their furniture range low quality, and I would rate it only slightly higher than Fantastic Furniture. It’s no doubt good for first home buyers, but for people who want something better, it isn’t the place. I found many of the finishes (artificial veneers for instance) not to my taste, and I thought many of the lounge covers were thin. I will make a compliment though, that several of their bathroom vanities had porcelain basins; better quality than vanities with plastic basins, which, in my experience, after about ten to twenty years begin to discolour. The rugs I looked at were low quality artificial fibres.
I did also get to try the Swedish meatballs. My opinion is they were okay, but nothing outstanding. I bought what I thought was the smallest helping, but really too big for me for lunch, and then saw several other people with smaller helpings. Apparently there are so-called children’s serves, which are a better serving size for lunch and much cheaper too.
The problem with such a big shop is that to get to one section you must work your way through many other sections, which is time consuming, and then work your way to the exit. This is IKEA’s plan though, so that you will spend money on things that you hadn’t planned to, such as Muppet here did. I was planning to spend that money for Christmas somewhere though, but IKEA got in first.
I can’t see myself being a frequent visitor there though, as much of the furniture was not to my taste and I can find more interesting and better elsewhere; that is, if I ever need more furniture. What I have now will likely last the rest of my life. Some of it, has already had several owners and still going strong. I can’t see much of IKEA furniture managing this. It’s built for a disposable society. Buy, use it for a few years and chuck. Very wasteful!

Yes……understand all that….but how were the meatballs ?????

Lousy. Look interesting in the photo but the reality is odd flavor with dribbled thin gravy and mash with a squirt of lingenberry jam instead of actual berries. Really rubbish.

Maya123 said :

I went to look at IKEA yesterday without any intention of buying more than a coffee and perhaps trying their meatballs in the cafe. I did end up buying some things though. Although I found most of their lighting fixtures less interesting (very ordinary) than what I can find in most local speciality lighting shops, I did like one funky, spacey light fitting and bought some for new home owners I know for Christmas presents. I was also able to buy a single bed sheet without the package of unwanted fitted sheet and pillow slips. It’s very hard to buy a single sheet, unless paying top dollar for a designer sheet, but unlike most shops, IKEA have single sheets for sale. I also bought a new kitchen bin, as it’s the cheapest I’ve seen for what I got. So, (smile) so much for planning not to buy anything.
However, I found much of their furniture range low quality, and I would rate it only slightly higher than Fantastic Furniture. It’s no doubt good for first home buyers, but for people who want something better, it isn’t the place. I found many of the finishes (artificial veneers for instance) not to my taste, and I thought many of the lounge covers were thin. I will make a compliment though, that several of their bathroom vanities had porcelain basins; better quality than vanities with plastic basins, which, in my experience, after about ten to twenty years begin to discolour. The rugs I looked at were low quality artificial fibres.
I did also get to try the Swedish meatballs. My opinion is they were okay, but nothing outstanding. I bought what I thought was the smallest helping, but really too big for me for lunch, and then saw several other people with smaller helpings. Apparently there are so-called children’s serves, which are a better serving size for lunch and much cheaper too.
The problem with such a big shop is that to get to one section you must work your way through many other sections, which is time consuming, and then work your way to the exit. This is IKEA’s plan though, so that you will spend money on things that you hadn’t planned to, such as Muppet here did. I was planning to spend that money for Christmas somewhere though, but IKEA got in first.
I can’t see myself being a frequent visitor there though, as much of the furniture was not to my taste and I can find more interesting and better elsewhere; that is, if I ever need more furniture. What I have now will likely last the rest of my life. Some of it, has already had several owners and still going strong. I can’t see much of IKEA furniture managing this. It’s built for a disposable society. Buy, use it for a few years and chuck. Very wasteful!

Yes……understand all that….but how were the meatballs ?????

Maya123 said :

I went to look at IKEA yesterday without any intention of buying more than a coffee and perhaps trying their meatballs in the cafe. I did end up buying some things though. Although I found most of their lighting fixtures less interesting (very ordinary) than what I can find in most local speciality lighting shops, I did like one funky, spacey light fitting and bought some for new home owners I know for Christmas presents. I was also able to buy a single bed sheet without the package of unwanted fitted sheet and pillow slips. It’s very hard to buy a single sheet, unless paying top dollar for a designer sheet, but unlike most shops, IKEA have single sheets for sale. I also bought a new kitchen bin, as it’s the cheapest I’ve seen for what I got. So, (smile) so much for planning not to buy anything.
However, I found much of their furniture range low quality, and I would rate it only slightly higher than Fantastic Furniture. It’s no doubt good for first home buyers, but for people who want something better, it isn’t the place. I found many of the finishes (artificial veneers for instance) not to my taste, and I thought many of the lounge covers were thin. I will make a compliment though, that several of their bathroom vanities had porcelain basins; better quality than vanities with plastic basins, which, in my experience, after about ten to twenty years begin to discolour. The rugs I looked at were low quality artificial fibres.
I did also get to try the Swedish meatballs. My opinion is they were okay, but nothing outstanding. I bought what I thought was the smallest helping, but really too big for me for lunch, and then saw several other people with smaller helpings. Apparently there are so-called children’s serves, which are a better serving size for lunch and much cheaper too.
The problem with such a big shop is that to get to one section you must work your way through many other sections, which is time consuming, and then work your way to the exit. This is IKEA’s plan though, so that you will spend money on things that you hadn’t planned to, such as Muppet here did. I was planning to spend that money for Christmas somewhere though, but IKEA got in first.
I can’t see myself being a frequent visitor there though, as much of the furniture was not to my taste and I can find more interesting and better elsewhere; that is, if I ever need more furniture. What I have now will likely last the rest of my life. Some of it, has already had several owners and still going strong. I can’t see much of IKEA furniture managing this. It’s built for a disposable society. Buy, use it for a few years and chuck. Very wasteful!

I don’t have any furniture from Ikea but I do have a drying rack which is useful. I’m at the point where I would rather pay the same price as Ikea for better quality second hand furniture.
Fortuately for me I have mates who are willing to give us quality stuff for free because it is the wrong colour/wood.

rubaiyat said :

“According to the Fair Go for Canberra website, IKEA has made over $1 billion in profit and paid less than 3% in tax since starting operations here in 2003.”

2003?

Ikea has been in Australia many decades.

Its first store was in Gordon, Sydney in 1975.

But what about all the benefits they bring to Canberra?
Let’s see now, there’s er, er, um.
Mr Barr, what were all those good things you mentioned?

I went to look at IKEA yesterday without any intention of buying more than a coffee and perhaps trying their meatballs in the cafe. I did end up buying some things though. Although I found most of their lighting fixtures less interesting (very ordinary) than what I can find in most local speciality lighting shops, I did like one funky, spacey light fitting and bought some for new home owners I know for Christmas presents. I was also able to buy a single bed sheet without the package of unwanted fitted sheet and pillow slips. It’s very hard to buy a single sheet, unless paying top dollar for a designer sheet, but unlike most shops, IKEA have single sheets for sale. I also bought a new kitchen bin, as it’s the cheapest I’ve seen for what I got. So, (smile) so much for planning not to buy anything.
However, I found much of their furniture range low quality, and I would rate it only slightly higher than Fantastic Furniture. It’s no doubt good for first home buyers, but for people who want something better, it isn’t the place. I found many of the finishes (artificial veneers for instance) not to my taste, and I thought many of the lounge covers were thin. I will make a compliment though, that several of their bathroom vanities had porcelain basins; better quality than vanities with plastic basins, which, in my experience, after about ten to twenty years begin to discolour. The rugs I looked at were low quality artificial fibres.
I did also get to try the Swedish meatballs. My opinion is they were okay, but nothing outstanding. I bought what I thought was the smallest helping, but really too big for me for lunch, and then saw several other people with smaller helpings. Apparently there are so-called children’s serves, which are a better serving size for lunch and much cheaper too.
The problem with such a big shop is that to get to one section you must work your way through many other sections, which is time consuming, and then work your way to the exit. This is IKEA’s plan though, so that you will spend money on things that you hadn’t planned to, such as Muppet here did. I was planning to spend that money for Christmas somewhere though, but IKEA got in first.
I can’t see myself being a frequent visitor there though, as much of the furniture was not to my taste and I can find more interesting and better elsewhere; that is, if I ever need more furniture. What I have now will likely last the rest of my life. Some of it, has already had several owners and still going strong. I can’t see much of IKEA furniture managing this. It’s built for a disposable society. Buy, use it for a few years and chuck. Very wasteful!

Lazy I said :

watto23 said :

Wash the double standards of Australia. Every Australian company practices tax avoidance to some degree.

This.

Kerry Packer said it best.

I am not evading tax in any way, shape or form. Now of course I am minimizing my tax and if anybody in this country doesn’t minimize their tax they want their heads read because as a government I can tell you you’re not spending it that well that we should be donating extra.

IKEA had a hell of a lot of people working there when I checked it out, I am almost certain they weren’t commuting from Sweden.

Can you distinguish between paying the tax that you owe on profits earnt in this country \ and wages?

They are not the same thing.

It seems you are encouraging every employer to say “Why should I pay tax? My employees do it for me because they can’t afford my devious tax accountants and bank accounts in the Cayman Islands?

“According to the Fair Go for Canberra website, IKEA has made over $1 billion in profit and paid less than 3% in tax since starting operations here in 2003.”

2003?

Ikea has been in Australia many decades.

Its first store was in Gordon, Sydney in 1975.

Ezy said :

Canberra Milk are my favourite local supplier of furniture.

😀 this did not go un-noticed.

I’m not into the mass-produced stuff that is a direct competitor to Ikea but there are some fantastic furniture makers about the place.

Uneke Furniture makes some beautiful stuff and Thor too as previously mentioned.

An alternative to Thor for custom built and joinery is Gino and Robyn at Select Custom Joinery out at Wallaroo, fabulous custom made pieces.

A well designed custom piece from Thors Hammer would be nice.

http://www.thors.com.au/furniture

Holden Caulfield said :

Meanwhile, back on track, a furniture store nomination… it’s not cheap, but Designcraft in Hume.

I would second this nomination. Gorgeous items, but absolutely not cheap.

Meanwhile, back on track, a furniture store nomination… it’s not cheap, but Designcraft in Hume.

watto23 said :

Wash the double standards of Australia. Every Australian company practices tax avoidance to some degree.

This.

Kerry Packer said it best.

I am not evading tax in any way, shape or form. Now of course I am minimizing my tax and if anybody in this country doesn’t minimize their tax they want their heads read because as a government I can tell you you’re not spending it that well that we should be donating extra.

IKEA had a hell of a lot of people working there when I checked it out, I am almost certain they weren’t commuting from Sweden.

watto23 said :

Wash the double standards of Australia. Every Australian company practices tax avoidance to some degree. But we will pick on IKEA because someone probably was unable to assemble their new bookcase and thus spat the dummy and decided to take revenge. Yes IKEA does the tax avoidance thing as do many companies and individuals.

The trade unions don’t practice tax avoidance.

Canberra Milk are my favourite local supplier of furniture.

Wash the double standards of Australia. Every Australian company practices tax avoidance to some degree. But we will pick on IKEA because someone probably was unable to assemble their new bookcase and thus spat the dummy and decided to take revenge. Yes IKEA does the tax avoidance thing as do many companies and individuals.

Why target Ikea? Consumers would be surprised at how much tax “minimization” is going on out there, even our politicians are raking it in through legal loopholes that earn money unethically (Smokin Joe is a good example). If we start boycotting them all there won’t be many places left to shop.

A couple of things you missed in telling us about fair go for canberra, in that it might have possible political leanings…
From their website (“What is Fair Go for Canberra?
Fair Go for Canberra is a community driven campaign enabling Canberrans to defend ourselves from the cuts, lies and broken promises of the Federal Liberal Government. We are inviting all Canberrans, and all community groups to join the movement. )

and also this ( Fair Go for Canberra Inc. gratefully acknowledges the in-kind support it receives from the Trades & Labour Council of the ACT (UnionsACT), 189 Flemington Rd, Mitchell ACT 2911 Australia.)

However if big companies are using tax minimisation ( as they call it ) to pay bugger all tax, then the Government needs to look at it. Perhaps the fair go people could have started 8 years ago, back in 2007 with Kevin from Qld; “here to help you”.