Ikea just announced that they want teenagers to stop hiding in their stores for hours and wait for the shops to close in order to sleepover illegally. They said that they hope the craze will stop because they do not see anything fun about what the teens are doing.
Independent reported that the trend of sleeping over illegally in Ikea started when two teenagers in Belgium, who are also YouTubers, successfully spent the night at an Ikea store. There have been 10 illegal sleepovers reported around the world only for this year.
The video, which lasted for 11 minutes, has been edited and showed the teenagers as they were seen jumping around the store's beds and even using the toilet displays. They were able to pull off their stunt by hiding in a wardrobe for three hours and walk out of the store the next day by doing the same technique. The video was popular as it has been seen over 1.7 million times.
The two Belgian teenagers were identified as Floria Van Hecke and Bram Geirnaert. The prank was titled, "Two Idiots at night in Ikea." The video was believed to have inspired many other teens attempting to do the same thing that the Belgian teens did.
Telegraph also reported that the most recent attempt was at Jonkoping, Sweden. Two 14-year-old female teens tried to sleep in Ikea but the spokesman in that area, Jakob Holmström, said in a statement that they did not charge the teenagers due to their age.
The company then made a police report and have spoken to the parents of the teenagers to resolve the matter. Homlstrom added, "We hope that this trend will slow. We do not see what it is fun about it." Two more teenagers were found in Malmo, Sweden. They are both 15-year-old female teens and were reported to police officials.
Another Ikea spokesperson from the United Kingdom said that they appreciate the people's interest in Ikea and that they understand that these people want to create fun experiences. However, the safety and security of their staff and their customers are their highest priority so they hope the craze will stop soon.
