Red Hook IKEA Opens Wednesday, Line Forms Monday

Starting Monday morning at 9 a.m., excited consumers will begin camping out in the parking lot under the Red Hook IKEA in anticipation of the new store’s ribbon cutting – or rather, log cutting, which is how Swedes open something according to Curbed. Now why would anyone be crazy enough to camp out for days just to shop at a store that anyone will be able visit to whenever they want? Besides walking away with a great story for the grandkids, there are the fabulous prizes to consider.

The first 35 adults to cross the threshold into the 35th IKEA in America will receive a free EKTORP three-seat sofa.
The next 100 adults get a free POANG armchair.
And the first 2,500 people will be handed a random prize envelope with IKEA Gift Cards ranging from $10 to $250, or vouchers for a free cinnamon bun, hotdog or frozen yogurt.
The first 100 children (under 18) will receive a Fanning, a soft toy in the shape of a heart.

But even amidst of all this, um, excitement about the grand opening, some naysayers are still predicting a traffic holocaust when thousands of IKEA-bound drivers clog Red Hook’s quiet little streets. So as an alternative to driving, IKEA has arranged free New York Water Taxi service back and forth from Manhattan, and will deliver any unwieldy purchases for a price.

The beauty of the free Water Taxi is that you can step off of it in Red Hook and walk right past IKEA to enjoy the backyard patio at La Bouillabaisse and Anabelle’s across the street, or get some Latin American grub from the ballfield vendors – whenever they return.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By John Del Signore in News on June 13, 2008 4:27 PM

Comments [rss]

babyhitler

#8 - Nice!

tsol

Like Obama on Hillary?!?

babyhitler

i'll be all over Ikea like a black guy on a frail old white lady.

sonyactivision

Good. Now I can hurl my fucked-up Tizio Lamp back at them.

woodendesigner

I'm not whining about traffic and bitching about crowding. I don't own a home and I am far from a trust fund. I care about a neighborhood and it's history, the quality of it's buildings and it's wonderful lack of strip mall life. I'm just tired of big businesses coming into a neighborhood and building their big cheap box structures. Fairway is nice and big, hires locals, has great prices and quality and USED THE EXISTING STRUCTURES!

Nuff said.

JacqueMehoff

it's gonna be tacky paradise, just like the Ikea in Elisabeth. Asians and their first homes, hispanics and their first homes looking for the Lark bookcase.

but you get what you pay for.

jenchungsgrammar

thank you, bongo boy. damn nimby's.

BongoBoy

Enough goddamn whiners will bitch about traffic and other crowding ... which of course will happen for a little bit as Ikea becomes a new shopping novelty ... then will lighten up as the days, weeks and months progress.

Maybe some of your gripers with access to your trust funds could have bought the land and ceded it to the city, a la Rockefeller. In the meantime, commerce reigns, locals have jobs, and you have cheap furniture.

woodendesigner

Such gifts from the company that ruined Red Hooks skyline...... not to mention tore down some really nice old civil war era warehouses. Anyone that stands in line for two days is an idiot.