Ikea is a place where people easily lose themselves and each other, a labyrinth of cheap furniture that can swallow whole afternoons. Knowing that, it's almost weird it took this long for a few thousand internet people to get together for a mega-sized game of hide-and-seek.
Police were called in to break up a 3,000-strong game of hide-and-seek at a Glasgow Ikea after the staff came across chatter on Facebook that indicated many young people were planning to use the store as the setting of their game. The authorities turned away any young people who looked like they were gathering for the massive game.
On a Facebook post about the event, the participants made it clear that the store was tipped off by a call and shared that the police were on the scene. "To the person who said they phoned the store, this event is not organised by Ikea and they now won’t let people in," one user wrote.
The store's manager said they ended the game due to safety concerns.
“The safety of our customers and co-workers is always our highest priority. We were aware of an unofficial Hide and Seek Facebook event being organised to take place at our store today and have been working with the local police for support," said store manager Rob Cooper. “While we appreciate playing games in one of our stores may be appealing to some, we do not allow this kind of activity to take place to ensure we are offering a safe environment and relaxed shopping experience for our customers.”
