Ikea: Please stop playing hide-and-seek in our stores
Store is forbidding mass games across Europe
![](https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/thumbnails/image/2015/03/16/14/ikea2.jpg)
Support truly
independent journalism
Our mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.
Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.
Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.
![Louise Thomas](https://static.independent.co.uk/static-assets/support-us/louise-thomas.png)
Louise Thomas
Editor
Ikea is clamping down on massive games of hide-and-seek in its stores, saying that the Facebook-organised events are getting out of control.
Starting at a Belgian outlet last summer, the craze has spread around Europe, and Ikea has now had to step in and forbid future games planned, including one in the Czech Republic and a couple in the Netherlands.
"It’s hard to control," Ikea Group spokeswoman Martina Smedberg told Bloomberg. "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."
![](https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/thumbnails/image/2015/03/16/14/ikea3.jpg)
5,500 Facebook attendees have been disappointed by the news in Breda, while another 1,100 would-be players are looking for a new venue in Prague.
A game planned in Amsterdam still looks to be on though, with 19,000 people listed as attending.
"Sometimes it’s fun just to do some childish things," an organiser of the Belgian leg previously said. "Ikea is like an extremely large living room."
This Ikea-sanctioned game apparently saw people hiding in fridges, under stuffed toys and beds and in the iconic blue shopping bags.
"We played hide and seek the whole day," they added. "It was really exhausting but so much fun."
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments