Ikea is officially open
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Ikea Huntsville opened its doors to a flood of waiting customers Wednesday morning.
The big picture: Roughly 600 people were lined up outside the store, with the switchbacked line stretching all the way to 88 Buffet.
- First in line were Levi Moore and Alix Daly, who got in line just after 4am.
- Making the trip from Knoxville, Tennessee, they told Axios it was easier to just stay up all night rather than try to wake up early.
What they're saying: "Less than a year ago, we had a dream to open a new kind of IKEA store," Brad Ellis, store manager, said before cutting the ribbon, referring to this smaller-format Ikea. "We're here and proud to be in Huntsville."
- Ikea raffled thousands of dollars in gift cards before opening the doors, and Ellis presented a $10,000 check to Crisis Services of North Alabama.
Zoom in: Customers flooded the store and quickly spread out, with many grabbing up a stuffed orangutan toy that recently went viral thanks to a monkey in a Japanese zoo.
- The restaurant filled up straightaway, too, and folks were welcomed by cheering Ikea staff waving Alabama and Swedish flags.
Zoom out: Now that it's open, Ikea Huntsville's regular hours are 11am-7pm, seven days a week.
More from Axios: Inside Huntsville's new smaller-format Ikea