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Podcasts Take Two
Largest IKEA in US opens in Burbank
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Feb 8, 2017
Largest IKEA in US opens in Burbank
People waited for hours Wednesday outside the 456,000 square-foot store that's almost double the size of the previous Burbank IKEA. Check out the scene inside and outside.
Shoppers lined outside of the new IKEA opening in Burbank.
Shoppers lined outside of the new IKEA opening in Burbank.
(
Leo Duran/KPCC
)
The warehouse section of the new IKEA in Burbank.
The warehouse section of the new IKEA in Burbank.
(
Leo Duran/KPCC
)
IKEA staffers welcome shoppers to the new store in Burbank with cheers and boomsticks.
IKEA staffers welcome shoppers to the new store in Burbank with cheers and boomsticks.
(
Leo Duran/KPCC
)
People gather outside a new Ikea store in Burbank, Calif., Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2017. The opening of the store has drawn a large crowd despite damp weather. The retailer offered free sofas to the first 26 people through the doors and armchairs and other items to other shoppers attending the debut of the massive store in suburban Los Angeles. The 456,000-square-foot store with 1,700 parking spaces and a 600-seat restaurant sprawls across 22 acres less than a mile from the store it replaces. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
People gather outside a new Ikea store in Burbank, Calif., Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2017. The opening of the store has drawn a large crowd despite damp weather. The retailer offered free sofas to the first 26 people through the doors and armchairs and other items to other shoppers attending the debut of the massive store in suburban Los Angeles. The 456,000-square-foot store with 1,700 parking spaces and a 600-seat restaurant sprawls across 22 acres less than a mile from the store it replaces. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
(
Nick Ut/AP
)
KPCC's Leo Duran was able to get to the end of the new Burbank IKEA in just 30 minutes.
KPCC's Leo Duran was able to get to the end of the new Burbank IKEA in just 30 minutes.
(
Leo Duran/KPCC
)

People waited for hours Wednesday outside the 456,000 square-foot store that's almost double the size of the previous Burbank IKEA. Check out the scene inside and outside.

The largest IKEA in the U.S. opened with a crowd of thousands, face-painting and a sawed log (more on that) Wednesday morning in Burbank.

The old IKEA down the road was built in 1990 and was the company's first store on the West Coast, but lately it had been bursting out of its box.

So the retailer wanted to stretch its legs by expanding into a new space that's nearly double the original's size at 456,000 square feet.

Burbank Mayor Jess Talamantes and IKEA store manager Jeff O’Shaughnessy welcomed shoppers not with a ribbon-cutting, but with a traditional Swedish welcome by sawing a log in half.

IKEA is a big money-maker for Burbank as one of the top five sources of tax revenue for the city.

The Mayor says he hopes that a bigger store will attract more customers and more sales tax.

More showrooms and wider aisles are two improvements the new store has over the former one. Plus, the restaurant can now seat 600 people and the parking lot has 1,700 spaces.

The warehouse section of the new IKEA in Burbank.
The warehouse section of the new IKEA in Burbank.
(
Leo Duran/KPCC
)

It still takes a long time to saunter from the front door to the check-out. Here's a timelapse video taken while walking through the second floor of the new store.

But if you've just got a few things to buy, KPCC's Leo Duran was in and out within 30 minutes, and still had enough time for a coffee and cinnamon roll.

KPCC's Leo Duran was able to get to the end of the new Burbank IKEA in just 30 minutes.
KPCC's Leo Duran was able to get to the end of the new Burbank IKEA in just 30 minutes.
(
Leo Duran/KPCC
)