Ok, just for the record I’ve come around to liking IKEA not because they have a corporate IKEA hijab for female Muslim employees but because I’ve come to appreciate the design of the store.
Showrooms on the second floor and the large furniture items warehoused in well marked aisles on the first floor. And just in case you forget what item you are looking for, they have a customer service desk and self-help computers available to help you find the location of your item.
And their furniture carts are fun to navigate through the aisles and are designed to carry large flat-packed boxes. And the “fun” (I recognize that it is only fun for some of us) does not end there. They have a nice loading area with parking spots right outside the door and friendly people to help you load up your vehicle. They even have pragmatic string dispensers so you can tie down your purchase even though official company policy prevents their workers from helping you tie items to your car.
Flat packing furniture may save space and reduce shipping costs but I’m not much for putting furniture together so I can appreciate having the furniture already put together for you. Thankfully, Zaynab is acutely skilled in the do-it-yourself business and came to my rescue in putting together my new 6 and 7 drawer Leksvik chests. I hear the drawers are the most annoying part of the whole process but I wouldn’t know because I didn’t help much except to provide a little moral support and holding of the baby.
And for those of you with a mind like mine, Leksvik is the name of a town in Norway known for its wooded forests (or at least it was before people began building the furniture we now buy at IKEA) but the dressers were manufactured in Poland.
Ify Okoye 
About 80% of the furniture (and a significant fraction of other stuff) in my flat was bought at Ikea. I don’t know how many thousands of dollars Milady and I have spent there. 🙂
BTW, the corporate hijab, such as you show above, is quite common in SE Asia, especially among American fast-food chains. For example, Burger King and Pizza Hut have them available for the Muslim teenagers who work there.
Acutely skilled in the do-it-yourself business? Masha’Allah, what a nice compliment. I’m not entirely sure of it’s accuracy, though.
Your moral support, company, and conversation made the dresser assembly quite enjoyable, even the drawers. It would have been much trickier without you, I imagine the baby eating the screws and getting in the drawers, etc.
Asalaamu alaikum. I LOVE Ikea! I didn’t know about the hijabs, but that makes me love them even more. If I could do it the entire house would be Ikea-furnished.
Most of my furniture comes from Ikea. When I moved to my current residence, I swear I was there at least twice a month for half a year browsing. The novelty has worn off a bit, but it’s perfect stuff for the first apartment.
I think im the only person who doesn’t like Ikea
Wow, corporate Hijabs!!! Sounds like a show topic…I have to take note of this. Thanks for provide this info. BTW, it must be a woman thing, because my wife is addicted to IKEA!!!
woah, woah, woah…I like the new look mashaAllah!
Sumera — I was going to say that not liking Ikea was UnAmerican, but then I thought “Hey, they’re not an American company!” — so feel free….(g)
The idea of corporate hijabs — and maybe organizational ones? — is interesting. I wonder if there are other garments that would be susceptable to that same treatment?
Event the Army now has hijabs…a Muslimah I know in the Army was issued one to wear with her uniform, it’s black, she can wrap her hair “traditionally” or wrap the scarp like a bun in the back, either way…hijab in the Army…imagine that!
I’m still undecided about IKEA. I do love going there and looking – they have great ideas and I just LOVE the storage stuff but I find the furniture of poor quality and quite expensive.
“…hijab in the Army…”
That’s offensive! What’s next … a Quran translated by the Bush Administration?
JDsg: I like the idea of employers responding to the needs of their employees. I used to work for the federal government and had to fight to wear hijab while at work.
Zaynab: Many thanks, for the great assembly work, I am hugely indebted to you.
Ruth: I think I need to go back to Ikea for some mirrors.
HijabiRunner: I can’t say I’ve been to Ikea that much, but definitely a lot more recently especially since it’s just about 2 minutes away from me.
Sumera: I used to say I didn’t like Ikea, too but you have good company with Tasmiya as well.
Amatullah: I’ve changed the look again, wasn’t really happy with either of the two previous themes.
Bill: If the company was flexible enough, I know some agencies allow Muslim and Jewish women to wear skirts instead of pants with a uniform.
Robert Salaam: I wonder if that was something particular to that sister. I know quite a few Muslim women in the military and they were not able to wear hijab.
Tasmiya: I agree that they have good storage solutions and some items are a bit pricey.
Abu Ameerah: I don’t think it’s that offensive, there are many Muslims in the military. Some went in as Muslims and other converted while in the service.
My problem is with military issued DoD (Department of Defense) approved Hijabs.
I find that strange. I guess I’m weird that way.
IKEA’s great for first time home/condo owners ! Cheap yet good … for the most part.
Yes, I’m still enjoying my Leksvik bookshelves and dressers but don’t move addresses too much or you’ll need to do a lot of tightening of the screws and bolts.