Customers hop into Ikea beds and displays to nap - Beijing

[Liberal_in_LA]

:spray:

Beijing loves IKEA -- but not for shopping
Customers hop into display beds and nap, pose for snapshots with the decor and enjoy the air conditioning and free soda refills. They just don't buy much.



By David Pierson

August 25, 2009

Reporting from Beijing - With no plans one Saturday, Zhang Xin told his wife, son and mother to wear something smart and hop into the family sedan. He could have taken them to the Forbidden City or the Great Wall, but he decided on another popular destination -- IKEA.

Riding an escalator past a man lying on a display bed with a book opened on his belly, the clan sauntered into the crush of visitors squeezing onto the showroom path, bumping elbows and nicking ankles with their yellow shopping trolleys.

Zhang said the family needed a respite from the smog and a reliable lunch.

"We just came here for fun," said the 34-year-old office manager. "I suppose we could have gone somewhere else, but it wouldn't have been a complete experience."

Welcome to IKEA Beijing, where the atmosphere is more theme park than store.

When the Swedish furniture giant first opened here in 1999, it hoped locals would embrace its European brand of minimalism. A decade later, Beijingers have done just that. Perhaps too much.

Every weekend, thousands of looky-loos pour into the massive showroom to use the displays. Some hop into bed, slide under the covers and sneak a nap; others bring cameras and pose with the decor. Families while away the afternoon in the store for no other reason than to enjoy the air conditioning.

Visitors can't seem to resist novelties most Americans take for granted, such as free soda refills and ample seating. They also like the laid-back staffers who don't mind when a child jumps on a couch.

Purchasing anything at Yi Jia, as the store is called here, can seem like an afterthought.

"It's the only big store in Beijing where a security guard doesn't stop you from taking a picture," said Jing Bo, 30, who was looking for promising backdrops for a photograph of his girlfriend.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-china-ikea25-2009aug25,0,7736661.story

[Hannah Bell]

1. = overwork & crowded hot apartments.

[Kajsa]

3. You got that right!

They need the AC.

[Kajsa]

2. My son, who has worked in the

Costa Mesa, CA-IKEA for almost five years now
read this.

He laughed, knowing they won't get kicked out of
the store-
"testing" their furniture is a big thing there.

[Liberal_in_LA]

4. Seriously? Looks inviting but I'm to shy to climb into a bed in the middle of a store.

[Codeine]

5. I laid down on a bunch of mattresses

at the Covina, CA IKEA a few weeks ago. I like my beds to be just marginally less firm than a slab of marble so I always test them before buying. I also plop down on the couches 'cause I'm super-picky about lumbar support. The folks at IKEA are super-nice about it.

In fact I saw one guy with a book and his bare feet up on a coffee table relaxing.

[Kajsa]

7. Sure!

They encourage people to test out the furniture
and that includes the beds.

I saw one lady test out a bed by changing positions every
few minutes- she almost fell asleep on it!

:rofl:

[man4allcats]

6. Too funny!

I love it. Sounds like something I would do. :7