In China, high temperatures persist in many areas. A netizen posted photos indicating that the IKEA store in Dalian, Liaoning has become a summer refuge, with many people bringing their families to chat, play on their phones, and even fall asleep. This behavior not only appears unsightly but also severely impacts the business operations and genuine customers’ experience. Netizens criticized the “excessive relaxation” and stated that “IKEA is not your aunt’s house.”
On August 6, a video of Dalian residents occupying IKEA went viral online. The video showed all the sofas and beds in the Dalian IKEA store being occupied by people “enjoying the air conditioning,” chatting, playing on their phones, and reading books as if they were at home, displaying an extreme sense of relaxation.
Some families were seen lying on the beds, even covering themselves with blankets and sound asleep, some even with shoes on, completely disregarding etiquette and potentially dirtying the store’s merchandise, seriously hindering the store’s operations.
The videographer stated that IKEA staff used loudspeakers to remind customers not to lie on the beds, but these individuals simply ignored the warnings and continued to lie down and even fell asleep.
Some netizens who went shopping commented, “The most ridiculous thing is when we went to see a bed, there was a mother and child lying on it, the mother said, ‘Can’t you go outside, the child is sleeping.’ Another one shared, “Last week, my husband and I went to IKEA to look at a lounge chair… But they were all taken, and when we asked them to move, they showed no intention of getting up.”
Netizens expressed their discontent, with comments such as: “This is too much, how can they sell if it continues like this? Who would want to buy a new furniture set that has been slept on and sat on by who knows how many people?” and “IKEA is turning into a wild hostel, with a group of people sitting on the sofa with shoes off, making you want to puke just by looking at it.”
Many users joked, “This is IKEA, not your grandma’s house,” and “Get a night shift job and sleep at IKEA during the day, no need to rent a room anymore.” Some even humorously mentioned, “Luckily the display bathrooms at IKEA don’t have water, otherwise, someone might just take a shower there.”
Some netizens questioned, “How can these people be so shameless? A regular person would not feel comfortable doing that.”
In addition to Dalian, according to netizens, IKEA stores in Shenzhen, Tianjin, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Anhui, and other places are facing the same situation, where everything is occupied and nothing can be properly viewed. Furthermore, coffee shops like Starbucks have also become a hotspot for “enjoying the air conditioning,” where some individuals use the facilities without making any purchases, greatly affecting the operations and service for actual paying customers.