HUNDREDS of shoppers have been up early at Ikea in Warrington.

More than 200 were in the queue before doors opened for the furniture giant this morning, Monday.

The line stretched across the car park.

It was reopening along with all non-essential retail, hairdressers, gyms and beer gardens as part of the next step of lockdown restrictions in England.

Ikea has been open for click and collect during lockdown but the Gemini store reopened at 10am for keen shoppers to browse in person.

They did though have to join the 35-minute queue.

On top of the additional safety measures in place, IKEA restaurants will remain closed until May 17 in line with government guidelines. However, Bistros, which operate a contact-free takeaway service will remain open to help sustain hungry shoppers – as will Swedish Food Markets, so that much-loved food items can still be made at home.

Warrington Guardian:

Other measures include:

  • On-site temperature checks for co-workers
  • Enhanced social distance guidance and signage throughout
  • A staggered entry system and limited numbers of customers granted entry in store at any one time.
  • Social distance wardens to help customers and ensure everyone is following social distancing measures.
  • Additional hand sanitiser facilities and more frequent deep cleaning routines for bags, trolleys, bathrooms, rest areas, equipment and touchscreens
  • Face coverings for co-workers and customers  
  • Screens at key areas such as checkouts, service points and customer returns, to enable social distancing
  • In-store planning services to resume with screens and social distancing
  • Cashless payments, by card and contactless, preferred
  • All play areas and the customer restaurant to remain closed