Corky

Battle of Ikea: 20 hurt as frenzied mob fights over £49 sofas on opening night
By Richard Alleyne
(Filed: 11/02/2005)

Britain's biggest Ikea store opened at midnight yesterday - but closed just 40 minutes later as 6,000 frenzied shoppers stampeded for bargains, leaving 20 in need of hospital treatment.

One woman was said to have been threatened by a man with a mallet, and another waiting in the checkout queue was "mugged" for her cut-price sofa. Security guards were reported to have fled the scene.


Ikea Edmonton will be closed until further noticed
Police were called and a fleet of nine ambulances ferried people to hospital with heat exhaustion and crush injuries.

A huge crowd had gathered for the opening of the Swedish furniture store in Edmonton, north London, entertained by fire eaters, stilt walkers and music. They stood patiently as Tom Williams, the store manager, chopped a log - the Swedish equivalent of cutting the ribbon.

But as his axe struck its final blow at midnight and the doors swung open, the crowd - three times the size expected - surged forward.

Mr Williams and his 750 "co-workers" could only watch helplessly as thousands of bargain-hunters raced for the soft furnishing department, determined to get their hands on one of 350 sofas, usually on sale for £325, for just £49 each.

Mayhem erupted in the warehouse where the sofas were stored.

Karyn Christian, 38, a civil servant, was seventh in the line when the doors opened, having started queuing at noon.

She said: "Throughout the day we had been treated so well. The staff had handed out tea and coffee as well as food and everybody was in a good mood.

"But when they opened the door everybody just charged. I was pushed over and twisted my ankle and my cousin was thrown to the floor.

"Luckily we were given vouchers guaranteeing that we would get a sofa but for everybody else it was total chaos. My friend had grabbed a leather sofa only to have to give it up to a man who threatened her with a wooden mallet.

"There were people diving on sofas and lying on them and others pulling them off with their feet. There were people tugging at two different sides of the same sofa and shouting 'mine, mine'. It was just horrible. People were going crazy."

A 50-year-old woman, who did not want to be named, said she had managed to get a sofa into a trolley and was waiting in the check-out line when three younger women wrestled her for it.

"I couldn't believe it," she said. "They manhandled it off me and then took it through the check-out and paid for it."

Merrison Gittens, 48, described the scenes of "mayhem" as female customers were pushed out of the way by male shoppers.

"There was a large gathering of people who weren't in the queue," he said. "A manager came out to the car park and told them, 'Those of you who have come to get a settee, there isn't a hope in hell's chance.'

"Then everybody decided to dash for the store. There was a massive surge forward."

The store, which was due to remain open for 24 hours on its first day with a succession of offers, was in such chaos that the police were called and just 40 minutes later it was closed.

A man in his 20s was stabbed near the car park but it was unclear whether the incident was connected to the opening.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said police intervened quickly to make sure everybody was safe. No one was arrested.

William Bird, of the London Fire Service, described the situation as "extraordinary". He said: "I have certainly not attended anything like this before."

John Olie, Ikea's UK deputy country manager, appeared yesterday at the front of the store, which will remain closed until further notice, to apologise for the chaos.

He said: "This is all a total shock. I am overwhelmed by what happened. We could not have predicted the numbers.

"We are really, really sorry. We are very concerned about what happened. I can't stress that enough and I can't apologise enough.

"This was meant to be a very special day for our customers and it's turned out to be a very sad day."

What a bunch of animals!

Corky

Gee I never knew there was an Edmonton London....gosh you learn something new everyday.

canucker

Didn't know about the Edmonton London either.

I like Ikea, but some of their furniture isn't that sturdy and durable. We have two here now, and they are always pretty busy.

jerry brewer

Hi,
The story should help anyone with doubts about if they are doing the right thing and leaving the UK.
Sums all it up, todays current UK attitudes.
Cheers
Jerry

Mystic Kazza

Bunch of animals ?

- No , just everyday life in the UK , this ` everyone out for themselves ` attitude .
As for the poor sod who got stabbed , well I guess he is just another statistic .

Phil

pusky123

I agree.... unfortunately its got to the stage in the UK (at least in London) where you dare not say boo to a goose for fear of becoming another crime statistic :scared:

Biiiiink

Yeh, this got big coverage here. Mob mentality at its worst.

Did you know three people were crushed to death at an Ikea opening in Saudi Arabia too? It's not just Brits... http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/mid...st/3618190.stm

Crispie

No, not just Brits but human nature. We are selfish and nest builders by nature.
Ikea should have learnt their lesson from previous openings. What a very stupid idea running a first through the door promotion given past problems. They don't need to for God's sake. You can hardly get through the doors when there isn't a promotion.
The cynical among us can only assume they like the publicity such commotions create.
I'm a fan of their designs and very much doubt that such problems will occur in Dartmouth.
Grrrrrr!
Thankyou.....now back into my corner

Corky

There used to be an Ikea in Dartmouth at one time a few years back now. they closed up, not really sure why, but they were never THAT busy...Saturdays were busier...not sure what the new one will be like.

beckington

Hold on a sec, I've obviously missed something here - Ikea is opening up a store in Dartmouth? Really? When? Don't worry, I won't be one of the mob (live about 15 minutes from the Edmonton one now and have no plans of visiting it!) but I'm just surprised. Best not tell my husband though - one of the reasons I used to convince my hubbie that moving to NS was a good idea was that there are no Ikeas there!

What he doesn't know won't hurt him...

Charmaine

Corky

Hi Beckington
Well the new Ikea is being built in the Burnside Industrail Park along with a Costco (yipeee), they are building a large shopping area in Burnside and Ikea and Costco are to be anchor stores.Where abouts are you going to be settling?

mrs. liftman

At the risk of being very un'PC, have you seen the photo's of the scene, I only counted two white faces in the mob, the rest were all black.

beckington

Yeah for Burnside!

Will probably be moving to Halifax area - I went to high school and university there and I still have family/friends there. My parents live in Bridgewater (where my dad grew up). Where abouts are you?

Charmaine

hot wasabi peas

I was just looking a picture of a group of people too - all black people except two! Gee what does that tell ya!

dingbat

I think Ikea should be ashamed of themselves - personally - Edmonton is a very poor area these days and if you offer stuff that cheap...you are going to get a lot of takers willing to fight to get it. Ikea sell a lot of tat, they know that, which is why the open in areas with a middle to low income demographic. Don't tell me that the Ikea dummies did not know they would be swamped. People behave badly in all types of situations. When you have nothing, you have nothing to lose. No excuse mind, especially the idiots who brought babies with them at that time of night. What were they thinking?