Shoppers Flock to New York Ikea Store

A respectful silence descended on Brooklyn's industrial waterfront yesterday morning as an aging flaxen-haired folk singer with roses in her hair belted out the Swedish national anthem. The Big Apple is catching Ikea fever.

The Scandinavian affordable furniture chain has 35 stores in the US but, like many big-box retailers, it has had to go through years of planning battles and political footwork to build a superstore in New York City.

A queue of enthusiastic customers formed on Monday encouraged by Ikea's canny public relations department which offered a free Ektorp three-seat sofa to the first 35 people in line.

"It's a bonding experience for me and my father," said Brandis Sanchez, an event host from New York's Park Slope neighborhood who was first in the queue with her dad, clutching a complimentary plate of meatballs. The assembly kept busy by playing baseball with an empty water bottle and by hurling blue and yellow beach balls around. Several succumbed to face painters and had Swedish flags on their cheeks.

"I've been waiting for this day," said Brandi Turner, a support worker for disadvantaged adults who was 27th in line. "The prices are low, everything's good quality and it's easy to put together."

New Yorkers are not complete Ikea virgins; they were able to shop online and an "Ikea bus" to a store across the river in New Jersey has been a popular weekend trip in recent years.

By opening a store in the city, Ikea has achieved something that America's largest retailer, Wal-Mart, has yet to manage. Brooklyn's borough president, Marty Markowitz, praised the furniture company's creation of 500 jobs in Red Hook, an industrial corner of the city which used to be a shipyards center. A donation of furniture worth $10,000 (£5,000) to local charities has helped win over the community.

"Ikea sells stylish furniture that average Brooklynites and New Yorkers can afford," said Markowitz, who added that the borough historically had one of the largest Swedish populations.

Ikea openings in London have been notoriously rowdy, once culminating in a mini-riot as shoppers stampeded for cut-price deals.

Peace prevailed in New York, policed by wary security guards who provided wristbands and numbered cards to those in line.

A children's choir sang "America the Beautiful" and after a brief Swedish wood-cutting ceremony, the doors were thrown open and New Yorkers dashed past an honor guard of cheering staff to get their first proper look at Glimma tealights, Poang chairs, Hedda Blom cushions and Tromsö bunk beds.