Karnataka

Bengaluru’s Nagasandra metro station sees major crowd, thanks to IKEA

Written by : Samrah Attar

Ever heard that a furniture store would lead to massive traffic jams and a wait time of over three hours just to get an entry? Well, the opening of IKEA in Bengaluru did just that and much more. The first weekend since the opening of IKEA at Nagasandra saw thousands of people flock to the store. The crowd was so much that the store had to close its gates till the security could manage the situation. At one point, IKEA said that the wait time to get inside their store was a staggering three hours, and asked its customers to plan their visit accordingly.

Despite waiting for several hours, many customers returned empty handed, without even getting the chance to enter the store. The Nagasandra metro station that sees an average of 13,000 riders (on the Green Line) and 16,000 boardership (People who switched from Purple Line to Green Line) everyday on June 25, saw a whopping 23,878 riders and 30,067 boarders.

BMRCL managing director Anjum Parwez said the train frequency was eight minutes on Saturday since there is usually no rush on weekends. "We will improve the frequency of services between Majestic and Nagasandra based on the traffic demand/footfall. We want to check whether this crowd is an initial euphoria or a regular phenomenon. We will analyse the situation for a few more weeks and take a decision," he told the Times of India.

Netizens were quick to comment on the crowds and memes too, began doing the rounds on Twitter.

The IKEA store was inaugurated by Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on June 22. The store at Nagasandra is the Swedish furniture conglomerate’s third and largest store yet in India. The other two stores are located at Hyderabad and Navi Mumbai.

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