Why I Get Giddy When I Get the IKEA Catalog

The IKEA Catalog. Did you get it recently in your Sunday paper too? Mine came wrapped in plastic to protect it from the rainstorm we got that day.

IKEA sends out copies of its catalog every year in major metropolitan areas through the local paper. I’ve gotten copies of it when I lived in San Francisco (and got the Chronicle) and this year’s copy came with the Chicago Tribune.

Why do I get so excited when I see the free IKEA catalog pop out of my Sunday newspaper? I don’t really go to IKEA that often (although I do go there.) If I wanted to look at their products, I could go on their website at any time.

But there’s something special about holding the catalog in my hands. It’s not small (as I’m sure the newspaper delivery people were cursing its weight.) This year’s catalog is 370 pages.

It has, however, shrunk in size in recent years. It used to be the size of a magazine and now it’s a slightly larger version of the old TV Guide. (Even IKEA likes to save money and trees.)

Maybe I love it because of the way they layout the pictures and the “ideas” I get from flipping through its pages.

Either way, their marketing does its magic on me.

And they are, as far as I know, the only major furniture or department store company that is still putting out a yearly catalog (kind of like the old Sears one.) Remember getting the Sears Catalog with the Christmas Wishbook?

As a child, it was a dream come true.

Apparently, I’ve replaced Sears and the Barbie townhouse with IKEA and the adjustable shelf bookcase.

IKEA has figured out that there is still joy in these catalogs. The feeling it invokes can’t be replicated with on-line browsing.

Come on, admit it. You gasped with delight too, and a smile crept over your face, when you saw the IKEA catalog with your Sunday paper.

It’s okay. I understand.