Find a record collector anywhere in this world and chances are that his/hers beloved collection lies comfortably in an IKEA Expedit shelf. For years and years, KEA’s bookshelf has been the storage unit of choice for vinyl enthusiasts because it’s sturdy and each unit is the perfect height and depth for a 12″ record.
Even though last year IKEA embraced the vinyl community with the makeover of Harry Love’s record room, featuring the ubiquitous Expedit, now the Swedish home store has announced that they will be discontinuing their Expedit shelving range.
The bold move started in Gemany ( but we assume it will extend worldwide ) despite the massive protest IKEA received from vinyl enthusiasts who also created a Facebook page that gathered almost 10,000 members.
With the Expedit out of their offerings, IKEA unveiled the ‘Kallax’ a substitute with similar features as the Expedit. However, it might not be embraced by the vinyl community because the sides of the Kallax are a lot thinner therefore it may not be able to support the considerable weight of a vinyl collection. Even worse, the Kallax has no 5×5 version, which Expedit does offer.
All things are temporary in this life, including mass-produced bookshelf lines. As the Sufi poets of medieval Persia once said, “This too shall pass.” But those guys didn’t collect vinyl.
Here’s a useful guide to the Expedit line for record collectors:
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