muji is not ikea. muji is just muji.

From the website:
"MUJI has stores throughout Japan, the United Kingdom and in France, with plans to improve and open more. Immerse yourself in the MUJI shopping experience! If your plans find you near one of our stores, please stop by! You can locate them in advance of your visit."


Yes, if one of my plans find me one near me, I will try to locate it *before* my visit. Thank you.

hehe

I swear by Muji's jersey cotton pillow cases - they're so soft and schnoogly. In merle grey, if you please...

Along similar lines is Uniqlo, which, I guess, is the Japanese version of Gap. Except with no logos. And dirt cheap. Unlike Muji, however, it doesn't stock homewares. I swear by their 3-packs of white t-shirts. Muji's been in London for a while, but Uniqlo's only been here a year or two.

Yay for those whacky Japanese!

i loved muji when i first found it, but everything i got there fell apart in record time.

Uniqlo: http://www.uniqlo.co.uk/

"UNIQLO is not a conventional clothing brand. We won't tell you what to wear or how to wear it. We believe that as individuals, we all have our own sense of style. By offering a wide range of well-made, logo-free basics, we aim to give you the choice to create yours."

Edited by author 06-30-2003 05:31 PM
*looks around flat - lots of Muji up to and including a bed*

Isn't Muji well known in the US? I thought that Gibson name-checking it meant it was common, although there is also a certain irony in name-checking Muji at all!

There's a store beside me in London; it's great for storage boxes, and a lot of the stuff is ideal for small flats. Quite a different selection than Ikea, a lot more small items, and only a few bits of furniture. Nice.

Hah -- Muji laughs in a casually dismissive fashion at Ikea!

Yes Ikea can furnish your apartment, but does Ikea provide you with school, office, and art supplies?

Will Ikea offer to sell you clothing, beauty supplies, and fishing rods?

Can Ikea sell you Ikea food to eat in your Ikea tent at the Ikea campground while waiting to take a Kyack lesson from Ikea?

No. Ikea does not. Ikea can not.

Mmmmm...Muji...

If you're in London, one of the Muji shops is definitely worth a stop. Inexpensive cool little gifts and things. I bought a semi-circular screwdriver there that's about the size of a half-dollar. You swing it open and there are eight different bits you can slide into the handle. The quality isn't always the highest - but it's still better than Ikea's. The shoppes offer quite a bit more than shown on their website.

So whit (/m7) are you saying Muji is like Ikea design with
Sears, Roebuck & Co (not the new plain Sears) coverage and a
miniturization twist thrown in?

yeah but you've all overlooked the prime muji feature - you can now buy muji boxer shorts (which rock!) in family mart convenience stores all over japan. So goodbye to those morning after, kill-a-viking-with-the-smell-of-these-goddamn-undies days. Just drop in a Family Mart, drop your trousers behind the pork bun warmer, and snuggle into a crisp new pair fresh out of the pack. And why not pick up some muji socks & pencils on the way out ?

Edited by author 07-01-2003 06:14 PM
Can Ikea rent you shopping shoes which manicure your toenails and kill fungal infections as you browse?

Do the ball pits in Ikea kid-sitting areas scan your tots for colds and administer specially tailored homeopathic cures on the spot?

Does Ikea furniture drag itself to a recycling center when it senses that it is irrepairably broken, leaving behind a thank-you note and touching haiku tribute for its masters?

Can Ikea genetically engineer you a semi-sapient pet keyed to treat everyone in your family as a superior being due absolute fealty?

Do Ikea's allen wrenches activate nanotech cultures in the furniture, causing them to adjust themselves for optimal Feng Shui and eliminate anthrax spores from the environment?