The cult of IKEA has come to our landlocked shores, opening its latest blue and yellow incarnation in West Chester, Ohio, on Wednesday, March 12.

The home-furnishings giant is more than a set of stores, aficionados say: IKEA is a state of mind. If you're one of the converted — it's possible to sleep on an IKEA bed between IKEA sheets and wash yourself with IKEA soap — we're still betting there are a few things even you don't know, and we're here to change all that.

THE NAMES: There's a method to the madness that is the given names of IKEA stuff, and here's the key (according to Wikipedia):

Upholstered furniture, coffee tables, rattan furniture, bookshelves, media storage, doorknobs: Swedish place names.

Beds, wardrobes, hall furniture: Norwegian place names.

Dining tables and chairs: Finnish place names.

Bookcase ranges: Occupations.

Bathroom articles: Scandinavian lakes, rivers and bays.

Kitchens: Grammatical terms.

Chairs, desks: Men's names.

Materials, curtains: Women's names.

Garden furniture: Swedish islands.

Carpets: Danish place names.

Lighting: Terms from music, chemistry, meteorology, measures, weights, seasons, months, days, boats, nautical terms.

Bed linen, bed covers, pillows/cushions: Flowers, plants, precious stones, words related to sleep, comfort, and cuddling.

Children's items: Mammals, birds, adjectives.

Curtain accessories: Mathematical and geometrical terms.

Kitchen utensils: Foreign words, spices, herbs, fish, mushrooms, fruits or berries, functional descriptions.

Boxes, wall decoration, pictures and frames, clocks: Colloquial expressions, also Swedish place names.

THE CONSUMER: The average consumer spends the equivalent of $85 per IKEA visit, no matter where in the world they are.

THE STUFF: IKEA stores replace a third of their inventory every year.

THE JOKE: IKEA is Swedish for particle board.

THE TRUTH: IKEA is an acronym comprising the initials of the founder's name (Ingvar Kamprad), farm where he grew up (Elmtaryd) and home village (Agunnaryd).

THE PHILOSOPHY: IKEA employees model for the company's catalogs; IKEA regularly holds "antibureaucracy weeks," during which executives work the floor and the registers; the company's top executives (including its founder) fly economy.

THE DIFFERENCES: IKEA adapts to the country, sussing out lifestyle tidbits such as the fact that Americans like to store more of their clothes folded while Italians opt for hangers.

THE FAME: IKEA has become enough of a household name that its mention in television and movies doesn't require an explanation. IKEA has been mentioned, or slyly referred to, in episodes of "The Simpsons," "Futurama," "The Wire" and "Friends." It was a Detour stop on Season 6 of "The Amazing Race," designers in Season 1 of "Project Runway" included IKEA products in some of their designs; Edward Norton was a card-carrying member of the IKEA lifestyle in "Fight Club."

how to go

WHAT: New IKEA store

WHERE: 9500 Ikea Way, West Chester

PHONE: (513) 779-7100

HOURS: 10 a.m.-9 p.m. daily; restaurant open 9:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. daily; closed Thanksgiving and Christmas Day

DIRECTIONS: Take Interstate 75 south to exit 19 for Union Centre Blvd., toward Fairfield. Turn right at Union Center Blvd., turn left at Mulhauser Road to IKEA Way.