Ikea marks 25th anniversary milestone
Hundreds of people today packed into Wednesbury's Ikea store for celebrations to mark 25 years since the furniture giant first came to the UK.
The landmark store on the Gallagher Retail Park, off junction 9 of the M6, held a morning of Swedish-themed celebrations to make the milestone, 25 years since the first UK Ikea opened in Warrington.
The Wednesbury store, opened four years later, opted to honour the genius of Abba in tribute to Ikea's Swedish roots. While tribute band Bjorn Again turned back the clock with classic numbers from the foursome, customers piled into the store in their hundreds.
In homage to a Swedish tradition whenever a new business opens, staff cut a log at the front of the store as a symbol of teamwork with two people pushing and pulling an axe.
Workers also donned Viking hats in a tongue-in-cheek joke about the history of bygone Swedish conquests.
Store marketing manager Nadeem Yousaf said: "It was fantastic to see so many families and children turn out. We're delighted with how many came. Marking 25 years will be a tremendous celebration for us. This is for our customers, co-workers, charities we work with and business too."
Mayor of Walsall, Councillor Dennis Anson attended the event with principal of Walsall College Jatinder Sharma and representatives of Walsall Breast Cancer Support Group.
The celebrations will now run until November 4 – 25 days in total – with prizes available in store.
Loyalty card holders today took advantage of free breakfasts to mark the milestone.
