Discriminatory to foreign residents without a PESEL? Maybe. Irritating? Yes.
What's a PESEL ?
Mh I'm a foreigner and I bought a 3-months travelcard with a photo, I didn't have problems getting it...
I think what ppl like about IKEA is that :
1) it's like a big supermarket for the house and you can buy many things and you don't need to go in several places to do your shopping ; so instead of spending months furnishing and decorating your flat you just spend an afternoon ;)
2) for many kitchen, bathrooms and decoration stuff, it's cheaper than in any other shops and the quality is the same, e.g basic lamps, frames, curtains...
3) The furniture and the other items are really practical and facilitates the everyday life because they're cleverly designed - and that's something Swedish ppl are good at.
I'm personnally not a big fan of a whole IKEA-furnished flat but as a student I was very happy fo furnish my own flat by myself at a cheap price and with stuff which looks like design furniture :)