IKEA enthusiasts camp out to be among first to go in

Published: Wednesday, May 23, 2007 12:47 a.m. MDT
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DRAPER — Call it the IKEA fever.

Jaime Condie was camping out Tuesday with her 2- and 5-year-old daughters to get them new bedroom furniture. Lisa Criswell, who calls herself an "IKEA virgin," showed up on Monday at 6 a.m. to be the first to see the store. And Chelsea Malcom wants that free chair.

Utahns have been lining up for days now to set foot inside the new IKEA store today in Draper, the first in Utah and 30th in the United States.

Dozens of people set up tents outside the popular Swedish home furnishings store Tuesday morning. That number is expected to increase to the hundreds by this morning, the day of the grand opening.

The campers want to be among the first 100 in line, because the store has promised that those people will receive a POANG chair, which retails for $79. Colette Condie already has plans for her chair when she brings it home.

"No one's sitting in that chair but me," she said, her 5-year-old boys Caden and Caleb playing with Play-Doh by her side. "I camped out for two days for that chair."

Malcom, 21, brought in her overnight gear early Tuesday for the Scandinavian-style furniture.

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"I'm here for all I can get and to get acquainted with IKEA," she said. "To say you were one of the first 100 people to go into the new IKEA, I'll tell my grandkids that."

IKEA has been monitoring the crowd and having them sign an acknowledgment of rules that includes no cutting in or saving spots for people in line. The document also prohibits leaving the premises, except for 10-minute bathroom breaks, or people will forfeit their place in line.

Matt Juillerat, proudly the first person in line, was having his fiancee, Jessica, drive supplies to him. Juillerat, a California native, has much of his Murray home outfitted in IKEA gear and hopes to find a new bedroom set and kitchen appliances.

The big crowds are usual at a grand opening, said IKEA spokesman Joseph Roth. The store has planned for several hundred to several thousand customers today.

"We're very proud that everyone seems to recognize the significance of IKEA coming to Utah," he said, adding that several government officials will join in the pomp and circumstance at 9 a.m. today.

Draper has been preparing for nine months for this day and will reroute traffic for the first six days of the store's opening.

Through Memorial Day, customers will only have one way in and out of the store, from the I-15 Bangerter Highway exit to 200 West. Other freeway exits and surface streets will be off-limits for IKEA customers.

Draper will devote 38 police officers to the traffic enforcement, said Draper Police Sgt. Scott Peck.

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August Miller, Deseret Morning News

Taia Condie, 2, gets a snuggle from sister Bailey as their mom, Jaime Condie, Pleasant Grove, waits to be one of the first people to enter IKEA.

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