The newly opened Ikea store in Bengaluru had huge crowds on its first weekend. The visitors waited in queues for more than three hours. Twitter trends with memes on the same.
The Swedish furniture company, Ikea opened its third store in India on June 22. The store was inaugurated by Karnataka’s Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai. This was the first weekend after the store opened and was flooded with visitors. The store opened its gates at 10 am and was open officially till 10 pm. Visitors had lined up at the stores three hours before its opening. Throughout Saturday and Sunday, the store had thousands of visitors. The waiting line outside the stores was around three hours.
The in-house parking for the store was filled up and vehicles were diverted to BIEC ground and took a shuttle to reach the store. There was a traffic jam on the roads surrounding Ikea. It was managed by police as well as the store’s security staff. Vehicles parked on the roadside were towed but no fine was imposed. A police official has stated that there are announcements and direction boards towards the store to reduce congestion on roads. Memes on Twitter mentioned the struggle to reach the store. The store tweeted appreciating the overwhelming response and requested the visitors to have patience or choose to shop online.
https://twitter.com/IKEAIndia/status/1540677723525238784?s=20&t=Z65kKci9KVkmBsq1qtKi9A
Moreover, the Nagasandra station, which is the nearest metro station, experienced an unusual rush. It was noticed that the crowd started from the station and extended to the store. According to Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (BMRCL), the crowd on June 21 was approximately 14,000 people whereas the number of metro users recorded on Saturday was close to 30,000 and 20,000 passengers were recorded on Sunday till 6 pm. The store plans to build a bridge to connect directly from the station to the store in the future.
People on Twitter have compared the crowd in the Ikea store to the pilgrims at Tirupati. People have also shared their concerns regarding their management system. On Saturday the store had to be shut down at 6 pm because of the unbearable crowds. Though this is the largest Ikea store in India so far, it could not bear the capacity.
https://twitter.com/hvgoenka/status/1540991174118604801?s=20&t=ssCAGVU1JURverA_ZMDZlg
Ikea plans to invest ₹3000 crores in Karnataka. The Bengaluru store targets to serve 50 lakh customers by the end of this year. They have built a cafeteria with a capacity of one thousand people. Surely, this is one of the most visited Ikea stores in India but is causing concerns for visitors.
