Just Browsing

Yesterday, just two days before my scheduled departure, we finally signed the papers, and Alejandro and I are now the owners of the apartment that I have been renting for the past six years!

On the way back to his family's house, we stopped someplace that we were always talking about visiting... Mexico City's new IKEA store.

(photo taken from the internet)

After a delay due to the pandemic, the Swedish furniture retailer opened the doors of its first store in Mexico in April of 2021.  It is located in a shopping mall called Encuentro Oceania that is not too far from the airport.  When it first opened, COVID restrictions were still in place, and, in order to maintain a healthy distance between customers, reservations were required to visit the store.  Those restrictions, of course, were lifted quite a while ago.

I had only been in an IKEA once before.  That was with one of my cousins in Switzerland.  This store seemed even bigger.  It took us several hours to go through the entire store.  Although we didn't buy anything, we did see a number of items that we would consider buying for the apartment.  The merchandise is very international.  We saw items from India, Vietnam, France, Italy, Bulgaria, Indonesia, Poland and other countries.  At first, I was impressed that I didn't see anything made in China.  But when we got to the home accessories section, there were quite a few items from China.  I wonder if, now that IKEA has a presence in Mexico, some of their products will be produced here. 

On the top floor there is cafeteria style restaurant that features Swedish dishes.  We stopped for a snack there before leaving.  Alejandro took a photo looking out from the restaurant window.  The store is located near a freeway and a Metro station.  In the distance, you can see the skyscrapers of downtown Mexico City.

We had fun browsing through the store, and I am sure that we will return in the future and perhaps make some purchases.