Sofa, So Good

”’6,000 IN IKEA CHAVAVANCHE” shouts the Star, which reports on the extraordinary goings-on in Edmonton, north London.

”This is better than the Courts brawl”

For reasons best known to itself, the Swedish furniture giant (that’s Ikea by the way, not a mythical Norse monster) decided to open its new store at midnight, and offer hundreds of items at knock-down prices.

Some punters then took the knock-down part literally, and instigated scenes described by the papers as a ”battle” (Sun), ”stampede” (Express, Mirror), and ”invasion” (Mail – possibly in the hope of triggering subliminal associations with asylum-seekers).

The general tone is of disapproval, but there’s no reason to suppose that the majority of customers didn’t enjoy themselves.

It appears, for instance, that small children were passed over people’s shoulders to avoid the crush, in the style of old-fashioned football crowds.

And once you have taken the kiddie factor away, even the most politically correct killjoys can hardly complain if a few thousand adults want to enjoy a bit of argy-bargy in their spare time.

Perhaps one or two took it a bit far, but that’s hardly a reason to dismiss the whole idea of mass brawls as entertainment.

We at Anorak are more concerned by the millions of people who spend their Sundays trudging around the store like zombies without even thinking of rioting.

To quote the late Philip Larkin, why aren’t they screaming?’

Posted: 11th, February 2005 | In: Tabloids Comment | TrackBack | Permalink