IKEA Bengaluru sees 3-hour wait as store witnesses huge weekend rush

A huge crowd was witnessed at IKEA on Saturday, the Swedish furniture conglomerate, which opened its first outlet at Nagasandra in Bengaluru on June 22. People had to wait around three hours at the Nagasandra store and it became difficult for the security guards to manage the crowd. Similar scenes are expected on Sunday as well.

IKEA tweeted on Saturday, “Bengaluru, we are overwhelmed by your response. Current wait time at Nagasandra store is 3 hours. Please plan accordingly or shop online. For latest wait time updates.” (sic)

Bengaluru, we are overwhelmed by your response Current wait time at Nagasandra store is 3 hours. Please plan accordingly or shop online. For latest wait time updates, visit: https://t.co/XF0WzAZPFE

— IKEAIndia (@IKEAIndia) June 25, 2022

While it took around three hours for many customers to enter the store, many were forced to return home without even getting an entry. When IKEA opened its third store in India in Bengaluru, large crowds thronged the place to get the first glimpse of the store.

Crowd @ #IKEA #IKEABANGALORE Stay home stay safe pic.twitter.com/Ka5k08Zkuq

— srinivasa rengan (@srinivasforyou) June 25, 2022

Terrific Response For #ikeabangalore
Over 20K People Visited On Saturday
Due to the OverCrowd The Management Called Closed At 6:00 @IKEA #Ikea #ikeabengaluru #Bengaluru pic.twitter.com/JH3wdzBVqO

— Yashwanth Rao (@YRS2tweets) June 25, 2022

Mad rush during first weekend of #IKEA @Bengaluru opening. Staff announcing 2 to 3 hours of waiting time to enter@BangaloreMirror @Ananthaforu pic.twitter.com/wzoU2bpyFk

— Shatrunjay Sharan (@MoveWellBLR) June 25, 2022

HUGE FOOTFALL AT NAGASANDRA METRO STATION

The Nagasandra Metro station recorded a footfall of 30,067 against normal ridership of around 13,000 on Saturday as people thronged IKEA.

People also posted pictures of large crowds outside the Nagasandra Metro station on social media and one of the Twitter users wrote, “Perhaps, the biggest footfall Nagasandra metro station has ever seen in its lifetime has been seen today.” (sic)

Perhaps, the biggest footfall nagasandra metro station has ever seen in its lifetime has been seen today courtesy of ikea # #ikeablr #ikea pic.twitter.com/Q27sQG5x0G

— Prasanna | (@terminalfix) June 25, 2022

On June 22, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai inaugurated IKEA’s largest store in India and said that the company has decided to invest about Rs 3,000 crore in the state.

The IKEA store in Nagasandra is spread over 12.2 acres, 4,60,000 sq. ft and features more than 7,000 well-designed home furnishing products along with over 65 beautifully designed room sets for ideas and inspirations at home.