LOS ANGELES _ At least 1,000 people lined up before the nation's largest Ikea store opened for the first time Wednesday morning in Burbank, Calif.
Customers were allowed to line up starting at 6 a.m., three hours before the new store's official opening.
Store employees cheered and waved balloons at the early arrivals. The retailer offered free sofas to the first 26 shoppers who made it through the doors. The next 100 in line were offered a free armchair.
The new Ikea sprawls out across a 22-acre lot with 1,700 parking spots. The 456,000-square-foot store is less than a mile from an old store, which opened in 1990 and was the Swedish company's first Ikea store in California. That location closed Saturday night.
The new store has a play area and ball pit for children, as well as activity kiosks throughout the warehouse. The chain's in-store restaurant, known for its Swedish meatballs and lingonberry sauce, seats 600.
