Danish shoppers had a sleepover in an IKEA store and it’s very ‘500 Days of Summer’

Characters getting locked in shops overnight is something we see on TV and in the movies quite regularly. Joey and Pacey spent the night in K-Mart on an episode of Dawson’s Creek. Brad and Ange had their famous Mr & Mrs Smith fight scene in an empty furniture warehouse. Harry and Marv camped out in Duncan’s Toy Chest on Christmas Eve. 

For something that happens so often on film, it’s a wonder it’s not a more common occurrence in real life… but as we all know, it’s actually quite a rare phenomenon IRL. Rare but not impossible and shoppers over in Denmark recently got to live out their childhood dreams and have a sleepover in IKEA.

According to reports, at least 25 staff and customers were left stranded at an IKEA store in Aalborg, Denmark after 30cm (or 12 inches) of snow fell. Unable to leave or get home, the group decided to make the most of the situation and really leaned into the experience – sleeping in the shop’s pre-made beds, dining on their famous meatballs and pastries, and whiling the hours away enjoying some in-house entertainment on one of the store’s many flatscreens. An unplanned, but not unwelcome turn of events, I think you’d agree. 

“We slept in the furniture exhibitions and our showroom on the first floor, where we have beds, mattresses, and sofa beds,” store manager Peter Elmose told a Danish tabloid called the Ekstra Bladet. A great opportunity for people to “pick the exact bed they have always wanted to try”, as he pointed out, later adding that the whole thing went “super well” and was a successful experience overall. “It’s been a good night. All fun.”

Staff at a neighbouring toy shop also ventured over for shelter too, with one worker commenting that it was “much better than sleeping in one’s car”. “It has been nice and warm and we are just happy that they would let us in,” Michelle Barrett told Denmark’s public broadcaster DR. “We just laughed at the situation, because we will probably not experience it again.

Sharing a couple of photos from the spur-of-the-moment slumber party over on Instagram, the team captioned it, “This is what it looks like when you have to spend the night in IKEA Aalborg during a snowstorm! Thanks to our wonderful customers and staff for the personal snow camp! Should we do it again?” Another Instagram user called Anders Søby Hemmingsen also shared his own clip from inside the hallowed walls, and we have to say, it looks like it was a hoot and a half. 

Elsewhere in the city, many others were left far from home too with close to 300 people spending the night in the Aalborg airport. The BBC notes that police had advised locals against driving in the region due to the weather conditions. 

Tom and Summer (500 Days of Summer) went on one of their first dates to IKEA – granted, they did leave well before closing – but the fact remains; IKEA is always a fun time… even in a snowstorm.