Maybe last Wednesday was a slow news day in Orlando, Florida. Could that be why the grand opening of a new IKEA store dominated the headlines of OrlandoSentinel.com? Or was it newsworthy that IKEA’s combination of merchandise and design attract assemble-it-yourself furniture groupies? I think it was the latter.

I’ve always thought the Swedish home-furniture retailer did a fantastic job of drawing shoppers in and keeping them moving through the huge stores. I didn’t know there were so many IKEA fanatics, like the ones in the article who camped out for the grand opening.

“Adventure shopping” is what a marketing-strategy expert calls IKEA’s successful formula. What a great description. We hear all the time about “destination shopping,” but IKEA’s takes it a few steps further. You can drop your kids off in day care, stroll through the store to see what’s new, enjoy a delicious meal in the café, pick up your kids, and drive away satisfied.

I visit the IKEA in San Diego a few times a year and am glad to see that there’s always a decent merchandise churn. The old standbys like freezer-bag clips are still there, but so are the latest TV stands. Yet I get vacuumed in like everyone else and usually walk the entire showroom floor—on both floors. (There are some well-disguised shortcuts that let you get out faster, but I’ll let you find them yourself.)

Shopping should be an adventure. You can make your retail store more adventurous just by changing the aisle configurations every once in a while. Try a new paint color on the walls. Replace carpet in high-traffic areas. Hang signage from the ceiling to eye level. None of this is on the scale of an IKEA, but it just might keep your store on your customers’ “adventure list.”