Ikea Greenwich store opens with huge queues waiting to get in

Situated just off Bugsby Way on the Millennium Way Retail Park, we all arrived early to see the UK's first "fully sustainable" Ikea.

At least 50 people turned up at 6am just to get to the front of the queue and be the lucky ones that got to enter first.

Customers were greeted by at least 500 Ikea workers, waving flags and dancing along to music. They were everywhere, lining the stairs and fanned around the foyer space.

It is a beast of a building, which covers 32,000 square metres, and has become the first full-size Ikea to open in London in 14 years.

Store manager Helen Aylett said: "Today's opening was better than any of us could have dreamed of. Customers and team members all seem very happy and excited to welcome us to Greenwich."

Community is one of the biggest goals for the new Ikea team, with their tagline being 'meet, share, learn and shop'.

Helen made it very clear that 'shop' comes last because they are creating an environment to teach as well as providing the Ikea experience.

READ MORE: Ikea Greenwich: People urged to use public transport or cycle

In addition to the rooftop garden and pavilion, the new store features a Learning Lab, which is a dedicated space for customers, partners and the local community to explore prolonging the life of products, upcycling, reducing waste and growing their own food.

The store also incorporates a number of renewable construction materials and green technologies including solar panels, rainwater harvesting, geothermal heating and 100 per cent LED lighting.

On the controversial subject of travel and increase in traffic, Helen told News Shopper that they have all worked very hard to guarantee everyone is catered for.

She said: "We are here for a reason, because we want to be more accessible to people, especially being so close to the city centre.

"Not a lot of people around here actually own a car so we chose this site to make it as easy as possible for them to travel."

Helen made it clear that none of the Ikea workers will be travelling to work by car, which is what is great about so many of the workers living so close.

The doors officially opened to the public at 10am following a ribbon-cutting ceremony by Helen, Hege Sæbjørnsen, country sustainability manager for Ikea UK & Ireland, and Claire Pritchard, chief executive at the store’s local partner Greenwich Cooperative Development Agency (GCDA).

READ MORE: Ikea Greenwich opens in a month - here is what we know so far

Adults, children, babies and the odd dog were greeted with hoots and cheers from the very colourfully dressed staff, and even after 30 minutes people were still filtering through.

In addition to Ikea Greenwich and existing full-sized stores in or near London at Wembley, Tottenham, Croydon and Lakeside, Ikea opened its first ever planning studio in Tottenham Court Road in October and will open a further one in Bromley High Street in spring this year.