By Nicole Williams
THE grand opening of IKEA is expected to cause chaos in Springvale this morning (Thursday) as keen shoppers descend on the store.
It will be the largest IKEA store in the southern hemisphere and store manager David Brady said he was expecting more than 50,000 shoppers to take a peak during the opening weekend.
“We’ve expecting about 15,000 on opening day, it will be a bit quieter on Friday and about another 15,000 on both Saturday and Sunday,” Mr Brady said.
“I can’t wait for people to come see it because I think it’s fantastic.”
But with only 1800 carparks Greater Dandenong Highway Patrol Acting Senior Sergeant Scott Roberts said drivers should steer clear of the area if possible.
“It would be very, very wise for anyone that lives in the area to avoid it if they can,” he said.
“It could be full-on absolute mayhem or could be nothing at all so we’ll be monitoring it.”
The Highway Patrol will have members dedicated to monitoring the traffic and enough staff to step in if needed.
Greater Dandenong Council had also advised that anyone parking illegally would be booked.
Regulatory services manager Peter Shelton said it was important that reasonable standards of safety and accessibility are maintained.
“Staff will be patrolling the area around the IKEA site, to ensure those standards are met,” Mr Shelton said.
The store was preparing for a jam-packed morning with a live broadcast by MIX 101.1 from 6am, entertainment and flatpack building competitions.The Honorary Consul of Sweden will conduct a traditional Swedish log cutting ceremony and the giant IKEA tape measure ribbon cutting will mark the official opening at 10am.
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