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Hiroko Suzuki from Japan in the queue as the first IKEA in Ireland opened in Ballymun, Dublin in July 2009. PA Archive/Press Association Images

IKEA: Stop playing hide -and-seek in our shops, seriously

They are not amused.

Updated: 12.08pm

IKEA is sick of people playing hide-and-seek in its shops, and has called on customers to stop the practice.

More than 32,000 people had signed up on Facebook to play hide-and-seek at Ikea’s Eindhoven store in the Netherlands, while 19,000 people registered to play in Amsterdam, and 12,000 people signed up for a game in Utrecht.

An IKEA UK and Ireland spokesperson told TheJournal.ie: “While we appreciate playing hide and seek in one of our stores may be appealing to some, offering a fun, relaxed and safe shopping experience for our customers is our highest priority. We would not facilitate this kind of activity taking place in any of our stores.”

According to Time, IKEA Group spokeswoman Martina Smedberg told Bloomberg that the games are “hard to control”, adding: “We need to make sure people are safe in our stores and that’s hard to do if we don’t even know where they are.”

Last summer, hundreds of people played the game in IKEA stores in Belgium.

Originally published: 10.18am

Read: This new IKEA furniture will charge your phone for you*

Read: This guy tried to destroy a €7 IKEA table but failed spectacularly

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25 Comments
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    Mute Patrick Bateman
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    Mar 17th 2015, 10:28 AM

    Sounds like fun. Might sign up for the next one, thanks for letting us know about the game IKEA.

    511
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    Mute yorkie robinson
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    Mar 17th 2015, 10:22 AM

    Decomposed body found in ikea wardrobe ,mystery of missing world hide and go seek champion 1987 solved .

    341
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    Mute Life in no motion
    Favourite Life in no motion
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    Mar 17th 2015, 10:29 AM

    Stockholm syndrome!

    304
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    Mute Hardly Normal
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    Mar 17th 2015, 12:46 PM

    Between the name and comment i believe that’s one of the cleverest comments on here in ages..

    41
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    Mute Shane Freeney
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    Mar 17th 2015, 10:44 AM

    That’s hilarious ! If i was 20 years younger no wait I’d still do it
    Love it

    110
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    Mute LittleBlackPetal
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    Mar 17th 2015, 10:51 AM

    They’re just asking for more games of it now! Definitely more fun when you’re not allowed to do something

    106
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    Mute Jason Bourne
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    Mar 17th 2015, 12:47 PM

    Ever been to IKEA? Its so bloody big that you play hide and seek whether you like it or not!

    91
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    Mute Jonathan McKee
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    Mar 17th 2015, 11:01 AM

    Maybe stop changing the floor layout and people might not get lost :-)

    86
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    Mute Glen
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    Mar 17th 2015, 10:25 AM

    Follow the arrows folks!

    64
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    Mute Bill Rooney
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    Mar 17th 2015, 1:02 PM

    seriously….

    8
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    Mute Anthony Lang
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    Mar 17th 2015, 10:38 AM

    Hilarious!

    People are so creative in subverting the consumerism of IKEA.

    IKEA therefore I am.

    63
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    Mute Eoin Cepeda
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    Mar 17th 2015, 10:53 AM

    In 4th and good couple of friends and I played it in the Dublin store. It actually lasted a good while!

    57
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    Mute Eoin Cepeda
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    Mar 17th 2015, 11:17 AM

    In 4th year a*

    23
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    Mute Huey
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    Mar 17th 2015, 10:40 AM

    PR stunt. Make your shops easier to navigate

    54
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    Mute potty o shea
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    Mar 17th 2015, 10:44 AM

    Agree Huey! Went to IKEA 3 weeks ago for some picture frames and I still can’t find my way out !!!

    156
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    Mute Foxtrot Hotel
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    Mar 17th 2015, 12:29 PM

    Ever been to Eindhoven? Probably the most exciting thing to ever happen there.

    39
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    Mute Denis O Donovan
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    Mar 17th 2015, 11:57 AM

    There was one organised for the dublin store last year. I don’t know how successful it was though!

    15
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    Mute Philip Kenna
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    Mar 17th 2015, 12:05 PM

    I went to that one last year but no one turned up, that or I couldn’t find them!

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    Mute Matt Dempsey
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    Mar 17th 2015, 12:33 PM

    Never been to Any of their stores

    10
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    Mute Fiona McCormack
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    Mar 17th 2015, 1:00 PM

    As if it doesn’t take long enough to get around an IKEA store already!

    13
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    Mute Mike Clinton
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    Mar 17th 2015, 12:22 PM

    I so gotta have a go at this.

    12
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    Mute John Ward
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    Mar 17th 2015, 11:58 AM

    A crap advertising campaign but it seems to be working!

    12
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