Ikea proves a boon for Oxfam

ITS AN ILL wind, etc, but Ikea'sopening in Dublin a month ago produced an unexpected windfall of donations for Oxfam's second-hand furniture emporium in Francis Street. According to Manager Paul Houlihan, it was also the week of their highest sales since opening, setting a record in 1930s art deco, 1940s sideboards, 1950s wardrobes – and those solid items of crafted furniture that plainly belong to another era.

Choice items donated – and promptly sold – included 1950s radiograms (remember?), solid oak chairs, and display cabinets with bevelled glass fronts to show off the best china/dusty tea-sets taken out to impress potential in-laws, monsignors and relatives believed to be making wills.

Apparently, the stuff came in by the van-load and was promptly dispersed. All-in-all, a veritable social record of another era, in another time, but the same place – a country discarding the class artefacts of its past. Along with obsolete mores, do I hear the sceptics say “and good riddance”?

For Oxfam Home, however, its all been a bit of a bonanza. Paul Houlihan speculates the massively publicised opening of the Swedish giant reminded people to dispose of the bulky browns and unwanted furniture, to make room for the new. “But then, another breed of customer who likes the old stuff came in and snapped up the vintage Habitat chairs and the three-piece suites. Not everybody is in thrall to the new.”