Ikea Mania Grips Southeast Michigan

Where anybody ever got the idea that there were a lot of yuppies in the Detroit suburbs and Ann Arbor is beyond me. (Please note the sarcasm). Anyway, you know you've officially arrived when you get your own Ikea.

Ours, incidentally, will be the largest big box store in Michigan, at 311,000 square feet. That's 100,000 square feet bigger than the Cabela's store, for those who are counting.

And Ikea mania has officially set in. This from Thursday's Free Press: "The store opens Wednesday at 9 a.m., but people can start lining up on Monday."

That says two extraordinary things to me. First, people will line up two days in advance to buy meatballs, soft serve ice cream, candles and cheap furniture. And second, people would line up even earlier if Ikea wasn't prohibiting it. Why you ask? If you haven't been, you can't understand. But maybe this article on Ikea Virgins will help.

"Watch out, it'll suck you in

You're starting to understand how, even after 25 years, the thrill of Ikea (20 percent of the merchandise changes annually) remains. You spy the bistro glasses, made in Italy, for 50 cents each, or the 100 tea candles for $2.99, or the cute kids' room for $399, including bed and shelving and colorful bins, and put down your pen.

It's not the simple distinctiveness of the furniture nor the low prices but a strange alchemy: the combination of style and frugality -- those pillows rolled for easy-shipping, the pallets on a motorized conveyer, the system of it -- that's irresistible.

That's when you realize that you are now one of them."