The Mystery of the Kampala IKEA Store
{ July 26th, 2008 }
When Sarah told me she had spotted an IKEA in Kampala, I was excited. After our first few attempts at shopping for furniture we were a bit daunted by the prices of things here. If there was an IKEA, surely we’d be able to stock up on furniture on the cheap.
Unfortunately things here aren’t always as good as they sound. First, no one in Kampala seems to know where the IKEA actually is. Even Googling for thirty minutes turned up no useful results. Eventually we got a tip from someone who mentioned it was either on 6th Street or 7th Street near Peacock Paint in the industrial district of town. So we set out, telling our cabbie the same information. After circling around for fifteen minutes, and stopping to ask for directions from other locals, he eventually found it on 6th Street near Peacock Paint. (Be warned: There’s also a Peacock Paint on 7th Street.)
Now that we had found it we went in to purchase some furnishings for our new house. It turns out the IKEA here in Kampala is not an IKEA at all. Although it has big blue and yellow IKEA signs and is called IKEA, it’s actually a store named Double Dutch that a guy named Jarl Ch. de Lange opened. He says that he approached IKEA about opening a franchise in Kampala but they told him the market in Kampala was unfavorable for osme reason. So instead, he acuired the rights to use their name and likeness and he builds original furniture based on IKEA designs. If you bring him a picture of anything IKEA sells (or any other furniture store for that matter) he will build an original duplicate.
Jarl is very friendly, knowledgeable and eager to serve his customers. Although some people may be disappointed that it’s not actually a real IKEA, I love the fact that he builds his own designs and is employing local Kampalans. The furniture in his store front is nice, but it’s no where near the cost of the IKEA we’ve all come to know and love. There are items there that cost over 2 million Ugandan Shillings (aproximately $1400), not exactly cheap. Still, it’s a nice shop and worth the trip if you want nice things but don’t even think about it if you’re on a budget.
