4,000 customers line up for Ikea Halifax grand opening

Thousands of people lined up early Wednesday, hours beforethe opening of the new Ikea store in Dartmouth, N.S. despite criticism the Sweden-founded retailer could take business away from local furniture stores.

Among those looking to get into Ikea Halifax (the name of the store even though it's in Dartmouth)after the 9 a.m. AT opening were hundreds who had camped out the night before.

Some of the 300 new employees bangedthunder sticks and cheered as4,000 customers wandered through the330,000-square-foot store.

Wooing customers withgift card incentive

The store is the 13th Ikea store inCanada and the first of 12 new stores the company plansto open in Canadabetween now and 2025.

Ikea enticed thousands of people to camp out overnight in cool, drizzly weatherwith gift card and coupon giveaways.

The first 300 people in line received a gift card for $50 andthe next 700 people in line got a coupon for $50 off a $150 purchase.

But everyone in the line between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. was eligible to win a $1,000 giftcard. The store held a draw every 15 minutes between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. for that prize.

Dartmouth was home to the first Ikea in North America, but it closed in 1988 because of sluggish sales.The newly opened store is nowthe retailer'sonly location east of Quebec.

Gabriela Lopez Vuran arrived in the lineup at 8 p.m. on Tuesday and, even though she's 32 weeks into her pregnancy, she spent the night on the ground in front of the store.

"I love camping so this is more or less I brought my sleeping bag, my maternity pillow, blankets so I am feeling good," she said.

Lopez Vuran, originally from Mexico, moved to Canada in 2011 and recently to Halifax. She said she misses going to the retailer in Toronto.

"I love Ikea. I love the food, I love the furniture everything," she said.

Less than 30 minutes after it opened, the store was at capacity, with many more people waiting to get in.

Among those criticizing the retailer's entry into the Dartmouth retail scene was resident Sandy Hiltz.

"I personally will not be shopping there. I like to support small business," Hiltzsaid on CBC's weekly call-in show Maritime Connection.

However, Jim Cormier, director of the Atlantic Canada branch of the Retail Council of Canada, said retailers who offer similar products to Ikea's have already been competing for years.

Cormier, whose council represents both small and large businesses, also argues that Ikea Halifaxis a "destination retailer."

He said people who will be driving from four or five hours away will be staying in hotels and spending money at local businesses, and will likely even go shopping at local retailers if they don't find what they're looking for at Ikea.

Margaret Taylor, from Hammonds Plains, and her friends lined up at 2 a.m. Wednesday and dressed in Ikea garb.

Taylor said she even made a trip to Ikea in Ottawa to buy the store's signature bags to make some elements of her costume.

"It is a big deal," she said.

Rosalind Downey drove about an hour from Debert, N.S., to be in Dartmouth Crossing for the opening. Hermessage to naysayers is: "Don't knock it till you try it."