Ikea we go! (From Bournemouth Echo)

Ikea we go!

6:45pm Thursday 12th February 2009

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IT is known as the home of stylish yet affordable furniture, its bright yellow and blue branding is recognisable the world over and meatballs are always high on the menu.

Thousands of people – including hundreds from Dorset – descended on Southampton for the eagerly awaited grand opening of the city's new Ikea store.

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Among them was Daily Echo competition winner Ali Sharpe, of Winton, who became a VIP for the day.

She had been nominated by Mark Bruce, chairman of Body Positive Bournemouth, after her choir, Bournemouth Community Gospel choir, raised funds for the charity.

Ali took along Mark as her guest and donated part of her prize, a £100 Ikea gift card, to Body Positive, but took home a giant goodie bag.

“We had a lovely time,” she said.

What started off at 7am as a small gathering outside the store had by 9.30am escalated into a huge crowd with queues snaking down the escalators and into the 900-space car park.

The usual ribbon-cutting ceremony was ditched.

Instead, the Mayor of Southampton and store manager Allesandra Taffe sawed a log in half, a Swedish tradition.

Goodies were dished out to the first bunch of shoppers while children wearing blue and yellow clothes were also given surprise gifts.

Following entertainment from radio DJ Steve Power, a jazz band struck up and a safety barrier that had been placed outside was removed to allow waiting customers inside.

Dressed in their iconic blue and yellow uniforms, dozens of staff lined the entrance of the grand store on West Quay Road to welcome its first visitors through the doors.

At the front of the line was teenager Ben Moore, from Fareham, who had waited since 10pm on Wednesday night to be the first person to step inside.

The unemployed 17-year-old said: “I’m a bit of a crazy person and I really wanted to be the first person in the queue for Ikea.

“It’s a big historic thing for Southampton which I wanted to be part of.”

Store bosses rewarded Ben, of Butser Walk, for his loyalty and determination with a £1,000 store voucher.

The first four days of opening are being classed as a “special event” by the council and the police, who will be on patrol around the store and will be monitoring traffic.

Ikea has estimated that its £80m store – its 18th in the country –- will attract two million customers a year and generate an annual turnover of £55m.

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