Why am I all hating on the Brooklyn Ikea before it’s even open? Two reasons.

1. Big box stores, even good ones, fall to pieces in Brooklyn. (Exhibit A: The Atlantic Terminal Target.)

2. There’s no way to get to it. Every Ikea I have ever seen sits next to an Interstate ramp. Not this one. It’s built on an old shipping pier. The F train is a 20-minute walk away. Cars (and delivery trucks and buses) will have to negotiate a labyrinth of four-way stops on the Red Hook street grid. The photo above – no kidding – shows the main road in. Can you picture this street the day after Thanksgiving?

More photos:

What will likely happen is that the Ikea will run some sort of shuttle from the F train to the store, similar to what the Ikea in Elizabeth, NJ does from the Port Authority.