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Riot at Ikea Store Opening
CHAOS AT NEW IKEA OPENING
Feb 10 2005
By TOM PARRY
Bargain hunters caused chaos last night when they stampeded as Ikea's newest store opened.
Several shoppers were hospitalised after the carnage which came as people fought to bag huge discounts on goods.
Witnesses told how customers were knocked to the floor in the crush when the branch in Edmonton, North London, opened at midnight.
The new store, which is the biggest Ikea in England, had been due to trade for a full 24 hours, but was forced to close within around half an hour after an "unforeseen volume of customers".
An Ikea spokesperson said the company had expected 2,000 customers, but around 6,000 people turned up for the grand opening.
Some abandoned their cars on the nearby A406 north circular, causing traffic chaos.
Nine ambulances were called to to the scene with one person sustaining crush injuries, while four others sustained minor injuries. At least 20 other people were also treated for heat exhaustion. No-one was seriously hurt and no arrests were made by police.
Eyewitness Sol Sheikh had hoped to pick up some bargains for his new Edmonton home, before he became involved in the stampede.
"At the beginning it was nice and calm, lots of staff hovering around," he told GMTV. "Then at around 10pm the staff disappeared and slowly but steadily madness descended on the crowd.
"A lot of people turned up just before midnight. They pushed their way into the crowd and started queuing at different parts. The staff just could not handle it."
Apologising to customers who had been involved in the stampede, Ikea UK deputy country manager John Olie explained the trouble flared after people began to queue jump just before the store opened its doors.
"There was a queue that came in but other people started coming in from other areas," he said.
"They just came in and pushed and there was a crush.
"Those that got in were fine, it was the big pressure outside that was the problem."
He added: "We didn't predict this at all. We've opened 12 stores in the UK and we've had opening offers before.
"We purposefully stretched this over 24 hours so we didn't have too much pressure and we took advice from the emergency services."
A spokesperson said the store would remain closed until further notice and that all advertised opening offers had been withdrawn.
Police said the stabbing of a man in his 20s in a nearby car park at about 1.30am was unrelated.
The man, who is recovering in a nearby hospital, is said to be in a stable condition.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnew...-name_page.html
OH Man...that's crazy 
...Ikea is crazy...
I hate the Ikea stores these days simply because going there is a hassle. There's almost never enough parking and they're located miles apart. When you get to the line where you have to pay it's always MASSIVE!!! But other than that...it's not so bad...you get what you pay for basically 
I love IKEAs. You can easily spend a day walking around....nothing better to kill time
watsup with dat??
I'm up for a good sale once n a while but...How good a sale can it be to abandon your cars?
Just the thought of being in a stampede of ppl in our own ttc scares me... 
so I doubt I'd be up for this kinda brutal punishment.
They'd have to give me a big ticket item for free b4 I go to this extreme... sheesh 
| quote: |
| Originally posted by starsearcher OH Man...that's crazy ...Ikea is crazy... I hate the Ikea stores these days simply because going there is a hassle. There's almost never enough parking and they're located miles apart. When you get to the line where you have to pay it's always MASSIVE!!! But other than that...it's not so bad...you get what you pay for basically |
| quote: |
| Originally posted by dallastar here's a suggestion - "pretend" you are expecting a baby and park in the "expecting a child parking " available right in fron tof the store! that's what i always do! i totally agree that ikea is CRazy! which totally reminds me i got some gift certificates for x-mas from a "special" individual, I must use soon! xx |
| quote: |
| Originally posted by DarkAngel LOL Riot...at a FURNITURE store?! Ummmmmm....okay! |
| quote: |
| Originally posted by dallastar i know! ikea - swedish - for not makin' sence! |
| quote: |
| Originally posted by che I love IKEAs. You can easily spend a day walking around....nothing better to kill time |
| quote: |
| Originally posted by Crazy Serb that's the worst possible way to spend your time... walking around the store all day long. - "So, Bob, what did you do on the weekend?" - "I went to IKEA, and walked around the store all day long..." - "That's it?!" - "Yep..." |
| quote: |
| Originally posted by dallastar here's a suggestion - "pretend" you are expecting a baby and park in the "expecting a child parking " available right in fron tof the store! that's what i always do! i totally agree that ikea is CRazy! which totally reminds me i got some gift certificates for x-mas from a "special" individual, I must use soon! xx |
| quote: |
| Originally posted by Orko dude, i know lots of girls who go together and do this! i get dragged along every now and then(but usually im tricked into going) i will admit they do have some cool/nice stuff, but i usually dont have the money to go, so i try not to |
| quote: |
| Originally posted by Orko dude, i know lots of girls who go together and do this! i get dragged along every now and then(but usually im tricked into going) i will admit they do have some cool/nice stuff, but i usually dont have the money to go, so i try not to |
LMAO...One expects ppl to be a lil more civilized in this day and age but apparently isn't the case...
check this out!!
http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/...3298556,00.html
i LOVE ikea. seriously. if you haven't been there, you have to see what it's like, atleast.
i think the biggest one in canada is around where i live... coquitlam, bc. you see a lot of young couples there.
and you CAN spend the whole day there.
and they have the best priced hotdogs too... like 50 cents
kinda reminds me of the queue to get onto the shuttle bus to leave Stratford Upon Avon at GodskitchenGlobalGathering2004.. cept the crowd numbered in the tens of thousands, u could imagine.. utter madness
Police said the stabbing of a man in his 20s in a nearby car park at about 1.30am was unrelated.
The man, who is recovering in a nearby hospital, is said to be in a stable condition.
Kinda funny that they put this at the end of the article....
| quote: |
| Originally posted by Crazy Serb that's the worst possible way to spend your time... walking around the store all day long. - "So, Bob, what did you do on the weekend?" - "I went to IKEA, and walked around the store all day long..." - "That's it?!" - "Yep..." |
IKEA is the only store i can do that at. I hate malls and such but i love IKEA for some reason......must be all those hotties running around the store all the time
| quote: |
| Originally posted by dallastar here's a suggestion - "pretend" you are expecting a baby and park in the "expecting a child parking " available right in fron tof the store! that's what i always do! i totally agree that ikea is CRazy! which totally reminds me i got some gift certificates for x-mas from a "special" individual, I must use soon! xx |
| quote: |
| Originally posted by fiya and they have the best priced hotdogs too... like 50 cents |
| quote: |
| Originally posted by Crazy Serb so? what's your point? I know a lot of girls that do that as well, and I've gone once or twice with them... and those were the most boring shopping days ever. not to mention that on top of being bored to death by these girls, they usually end up buying like $30 worth of stuff and some small accessories... |
| quote: |
| Originally posted by fiya and they have the best priced hotdogs too... like 50 cents |
lol, that is hillarious!
gotta take a swedish store to get that big of a crowd 
Those crazy Brits, always rioting.
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