Furniture Store Customers Forced To Sleep In Showroom's Beds And Sofas After Being Snowed In

Dec 04, 2021

Sleeping overnight in a department store is something that kids love to imagine. No one really expects something like this to happen outside of a movie, but 25 people from Aalborg, Denmark, found themselves in this very situation. After a foot of snow dropped on the city, officials decided it was safest to close down the roads. This left the remaining staff and customers at the Danish IKEA stranded and in need of a place to sleep in December 2021.

Some of the staff from the toy store next to the IKEA also sought shelter in the display beds and sofas. Peter Elmrose is the manager of the store, and when news of the road closing broke around 8 p.m., he made the call that his staff and the remaining customers would not be forced out. Instead, they got to enjoy food from the canteen and even watched television together while they waited out the storm. Elmrose said they watched soccer and Christmas shows. 

The group of people slept in the store’s showroom, which is full of beds, mattresses and sofas. Some said it felt like a big slumber party, and the staff and customers had a safe and warm place to rest while they waited for the snowstorm to subside. In another part of Aalborg, 300 people were forced to sleep at the airport, as no vehicles were allowed on the road to escort guests and staff to hotels. Airport employees handed out blankets and did their best to keep everyone comfortable.

Keep reading to hear more details about this story.

It’s not every day you have to spend the night inside a store. If you had to pick any place to be stuck, a furniture store is not a bad option. The IKEA staff managed the situation wonderfully despite never experiencing something like this before. 

"This is certainly a new situation for us,” Elmrose told a local newspaper in Danish, according to the BBC.

Doing everything in their power to keep everyone warm and content in the dire situation, Elmrose and his staff opened up the store’s canteen so the group could be more comfortable. "We gathered in the canteen, where we got food and drink, and there was television," said Erik Bangsgaard, one of the customers who was stuck in the store. 

Grateful for a safe place to stay, customers and staff did their best to soldier through the event. 

According to Bangsgaard, "There was nothing we could do about the situation. We were just really happy to get shelter." 

Elmrose also said that the beds would be ready with clean sheets before they opened again for business, and the group got to have cinnamon rolls for breakfast the next morning.

IKEA specializes in ready-to-build furniture and also sells kitchen appliances and home goods. The business was founded in Sweden in 1943 by a 17-year-old named Ingvar Kamprad. The store has grown to become the top furniture retailer since 2008. They offer modernist designs and interior designs that are associated with being eco-friendly. The store is also known for having large showrooms that feature much of the store’s catalog. 

Do you shop at IKEA? Have you ever been stuck somewhere in a snowstorm? Tell us your stories, and feel free to pass this along to your friends and loved ones.