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Camping Out at IKEA
November 03 , 2004 by Kathleen Gorden
On October 27th, IKEA announced promotional grand opening events in their press release. One such event was Become a “Cover Girl” or “Guy” – The very first person in line for the IKEA Tempe grand opening on November 10 will win all of the IKEA furnishings and accessories featured on the 2005 IKEA Catalog cover worth an estimated value of $1,500.
On November 2, 2004, Ahwatukee resident Scott Cesen, became the very first person in line, showing up eight days before the Grand Opening of IKEA’s first Arizona store, and will win the IKEA furnishings and accessories featured on the cover of the 2005 catalog – a $1500 value.
“This is the first time anyone has showed up this early to camp out in line at a US store grand opening,” said Diane Kokoska, of IKEA’s Corporate Public Relations.
Scott heard about IKEA’s ‘first in line’ event from his mother who read about it in the local newspaper. He decided it would be worth a try since he camped out and won the Garage Sale event at REI over the weekend, which gave him 75% off merchandise for being first in line.
“I arose as usual this morning, and voted first, then I brought my camping gear over here and got it set up at IKEA’s doors by 9:00 a.m.” Scott is a recent graduate of a college in Boston and works for Aidells Saugage Company. His boss is supportive of his efforts and is even arranging his schedule to help out in Scott’s absence. The fact that Scott has been an exemplary employee and seldom took time off worked in his favor.
East Valley Living’s Operation Manager, Kathleen Gorden, presented Scott with an IKEA brand plastic watering can filled with Halloween candy to help him survive the 8-day wait until IKEA’s grand opening on November 10th.
EVLiving.com encourages the East Valley community to welcome IKEA to Arizona and support their grand opening.
About IKEA:
Since its 1943 founding in Sweden, IKEA has offered a wide range of home furnishings and accessories of good design and function, at low prices so the majority of people can afford them. For two consecutive years, IKEA has been named in Working Mother magazine’s annual list of the “100 Best Companies for Working Mothers” and was honored with the magazine’s “Family Champion” award for family friendly programs in 2003. IKEA has more than 200 stores in 32 countries with 22 U.S. stores (including IKEA Tempe which opens on November 10). IKEA is recognized as a socially responsible company, and supports initiatives that benefit causes such as children and the environment. For directions to IKEA Tempe or additional information, please go to http://www.IKEA-usa.com.
