Ikea - West Berkshire

We love visiting IKEA, as we are big fans of the special events they offer for children. This weekend, they had balloon making and face painting. The store is always clean, well-stocked, and never feels overcrowded. It is one of our favorite places to go.

The restaurant has a decently sized storage space. It can get busy at times and slightly crowded. However, the team was very helpful during my recent visits. We had an issue with the delivery setup, but Adrian assisted us and after some confusion and a wait, the delivery was successful. It is worth mentioning that they offer a delivery service for customers who are unable to transport their items themselves, which is convenient and reasonably priced.

Plenty of interesting choices and stock; sales supported by knowledgeable staff. Good value restaurant, but it can have significant queues at key times. There no such thing as a quick visit, the layout does have shortcuts but still have to traverse several other area to reach one of choice.

This IKEA store is located on Pincents Lane by M4 Junction 12. Multi level parking with plenty of spaces when you get there. When you cross the road and enter the store you get the guided shopping experience typical of every IKEA store. Here, enter and turn left and go up the stairs. You then enter ‘the maze’ … Really it’s a directed shopping experience designed to take you through a number of sections containing different themes of products. You also get a lot (and I mean a lot) of mockup rooms and homes. I find these truly inspirational as they showcase the products and decor and provide suggestions of what can be done. You can pick up products along the way and then exit the room demos. Next you are into the sections of raw products throughout the entire range, broken down into logical sections. You also have the furniture warehouse where you pick up all the flat packed kit and other large items. You end up at the checkout where there is self serve for smaller number of items or assisted checkouts with staff. Once paid up you then have the option of going into the cafeteria which has a decent selection of food. Who is not going to order the meatballs except vegetarians and there are options for plant based lifestyles. Once finished you are off to the car park. Now here is the one slight flaw in the whole setup. The road you cross to get to the car park is lined both sides by cobble stones. So as you roll your trolley over them be careful the trolley rattles like crazy meaning your products rattle like crazy and jump up and down in the trolley enough to shake your dental fillings out of your head I kid you not. I guess there is some kind of safety reason for the cobbles but it’s an experience you won’t forget when equipped with a product laden trolley. Bizarre. Overall it’s a thoroughly pleasant shopping experience. There are some great products for sure. Sometimes it is a case of you get what you pay for so shop wisely to avoid disappointment. Personal favourites are the glass 1 litre food containers and plastic lids for meal prep and the Alex drawers (pretty solid drawers and all over YouTube in desk setup videos). Love the mock up demo rooms. Take the kids and half way through the demo rooms baffle them by saying ‘right, where is the way out?’ Recommended.

Went for shelving and ended up buying so much more..... brilliant ideas and displays we were spoilt for choice. Will definitely be returning