Ikea Grand Opening (East Palo Alto, August 27, 2003)

Yes, folks, there really were this many people waiting in line. Ikea_grand_opening_108_0861.JPG You thought I was kidding? Ikea_grand_opening_108_0862.JPG You can't see the rest of the people... and there were more later! Ikea_grand_opening_108_0863.JPG Free UNICEF teddy bears for all the kids! Ikea_grand_opening_108_0864.JPG A day of magic... Ikea_grand_opening_108_0865.JPG ...in fact, you might say magic was "in the air." Ikea_grand_opening_108_0866.JPG The Ikea was finished, but the parking garage and stoplights weren't!  I wonder how long they'll be directing traffic out there! Ikea_grand_opening_108_0867.JPG The wizard's secret to being tall: Platform heels! Ikea_grand_opening_108_0868.JPG At last we neared entering the store! Ikea_grand_opening_108_0869.JPG I like reflective walls. Ikea_grand_opening_108_0870.JPG Leslie wants one of each. Leslie_at_Ikea_grand_opening_108_0871.JPG

This place was crammed full of people waiting in line.  I don't know whether we were even in the first thousand to get there...apparently the first 100 got free chairs, and the first 500 got "special offers".  It was kind of spontaneous thing...Ikea did a great job with their marketing though...somehow they found me and sent a catalog 2 weeks before it opened.  Very clever.  We looked at the cribs and saw one we really liked, the Diktad Crib.  Eager to have the crib-buying over, we went on opening day, waited through the long line (with a crazy seven-month pregnant woman next to me--oh wait, that would be the wife), and went in.  While waiting we saw the cutest little boy (a 2 year old?) in front of us, whose mother did a superhuman job of entertaining him with food and playful antics.

We got fitted sheets, a mattress pad, a mattress protector, and a bumper (with purple dragons--so cute!).  I discovered that the crib was "full serve," meaning you order it downstairs, and then pay for it and wait in line to pick it up.  It takes awhile.  Well, we were getting in line when I realized I forgot to order the mattress in addition to the crib.  I went back to order the mattress as well.  There was a couple talking to the people at the service desk, and they were considering the same thing.  Well, I did my good deed for the day and made sure they knew to order a mattress if they got a crib, and informed them that the crib is bigger than a standard crib (it converts into a junior bed, not a toddler bed).  Ikea worker:  "See, that's what I like, customers helping each other."  It was a good day, for a shopping day, even if we spent over an hour in line and over four hours at the store total.  Better than driving to Emeryville!

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