The Saudi IKEA Experience

Many people are surprised to hear there is an IKEA in Saudi-Arabia. Here is the IKEA sign in Arabic.

Saudis love shopping at IKEA! It's often very crowded on weekends. Everyone shops there, the young and the old, the traditional and the more "modern" families. In Scandinavia IKEA is a place people go for cheap "ordinary" furniture, but in Saudi it's more for the exotic design and because it's different.

One of the reasons many people around the world enjoy visiting IKEA is their foodcourt. In Saudi the food court is separated into family and bachelor's sections. Family section tables can be further closed off with curtains.

Salmon, meatballs and mashed potatoes are on the menu here as well as some additional Arabic foods like Umm Ali.

Taking away your own tray would be considered a self clear act in most western countries, but in Saudi there needs to be an explanation why people should do it themselves. Despite these signs most people leave the trays laying around and the tables trashed.

The large IKEA bags, catalogs and names for furniture are all the same worldwide.

Some "Christmas Star" flowers for sale. This would mostly be appreciated by the expats who also love to shop at IKEA.

It's a good idea for expats to know the Arabic numbers, most of the shelves and prices are in Arabic only.

If the rare occasion of rain occurs in Riyadh the roof at IKEA will start leaking. Solution to the problem: Placing buckets on the floors to collect the water. No need to fix the roof of course. There is also a stray cat living in the ceiling of the food court!

IKEA has not escaped the infamous Saudi censorship. Religious police (muttawa) have seen to the blurring out of haram things such as women's eyes and faces.

Ironically, a woman's face on the entrance to the "bachelor pad". Single, never married Saudi women are not allowed to live alone in their own flat without a male guardian.

On the weekends you can spot bunnies and clowns at the entrance. Kids (and some adults) like to have their picture taken with them.

There are two mosques inside the IKEA.

Saudis are known to jump the lines whenever they can.

One of the main reasons for Scandinavian expats to visit IKEA is the foodstore where plenty of familiar foods from home can be found. Gingerbread, rye crackers, pickled cucumbers, herring, apple cider, licorice, craw fish and the famous meatballs and sauce are available.

For the record: Dumle chocolate and Panda licorice are NOT Swedish, how ever much the Swedes would like them to pass as such. The best candies come from Finland :)