I went the other day just to look at a dining table. It was only in the 3rd or 4th showroom. Of course, to get out I had to wander through the majority of like 13 or 14 other showrooms because you pretty much can only take the linear path to get to an exit.
You need to know the name of what you're looking for and then use their kiosks to find where the thing is in the warehouse and just pick it up directly.
This trick turns 1 hour trips through Ikea into 5 minute trips.
The value proposition of the long Ikea walks is the set up rooms showing how the products look in use, allowing you to visualise before you buy. I take a friend and a coffee and take my time at Ikea.
So I went up to a couple salespeople and asked why. They couldn't say why, just that they did have it in stock at this warehouse and they themselves could ship it for X fee.
I don't really get it. They said maybe they were out of stock at the factory or online order fulfillment center. But the pages said they were available.
I doubt it. They are even marked on in store navigation. Example, https://miro.medium.com/max/1400/1*ZSJ1cE-FjFzNjIVz8l0a4Q.jp...