Scottish police have been called to an IKEA in Glasgow after thousands of people clicked ‘attending’ on a Facebook event planning a huge game of hide-and-seek in the store.
IKEA staff realised just before the big day that thousands of youths were threatening to turn up and quickly called in more security and contacted the police.
IKEA Glasgow store manager Rob Cooper told The Scotsman the company did not allow “this kind of activity” in its stores, which sort of makes sense.
“The safety of our customers and co-workers is always our highest priority,” he said.
We were aware of an unofficial hide-and-seek Facebook event being organised to take place at our store today and have been working with the local police for support. While we appreciate playing games in one of our stores may be appealing to some, we do not allow this kind of activity to take place to ensure we are offering a safe environment and relaxed shopping experience for our customers.
Five Scottish police officers were on the scene but realised there wasn’t much they could do that IKEA’s no doubt absolutely jacked Swedish security guards couldn’t.
IKEA has previously been forced to shut down potential hide-and-seek games in its European stores. In 2015, 32,000 people signed up for games in multiple Dutch storefronts. The spontaneous games have been an issue for the DIY furniture chain ever since one of their Belgium stores allowed a woman to organise a game back in 2014.
About 500 people turned up for that one, but given the roll-on effects its probably on the “do not discuss” list at IKEA’s corporate HQ.
