April 05, 2020, 02:44 PM
Days before non-essential businesses are set to shut on Apr. 7, Singaporeans have been flocking to supermarkets, clearing shelves of groceries and household items.
Somewhat surprisingly, another establishment to have seemingly drawn a sizable crowd is Ikea.
A photo posted by Twitter user Edward Yong on Apr. 4 showed the Alexandra warehouse experiencing a massive winding queue.
this was the scene outside Ikea SG today. what could the emergency be? meatballs? it’s not like Ikea sells coffins (which this crowd may well need soon).
— Edward C. Yong ن (@infernoxv) April 4, 2020
100am donki+ntuc were like end of the world.
massive queues outside nespresso and bubble tea shops too. #firstworldproblems pic.twitter.com/4NQ59fFeKs
Safe distancing measures
One of the reasons for the queue could be the safe distancing measures that shopping malls are obligated to put in place.
Ikea Tampines had previously seen large queues and hour-long waiting times due to precautionary measures limiting the number of customers allowed into the store at a time.An Apr. 4 notice posted on the Ikea Singapore's Facebook page acknowledged the "extremely high visitor volume" and urged customers to avoid visiting the store during peak hours.
Last-minute purchases
However, another reason could be customers rushing to make furniture purchases that they've previously put off or desperately need.
With schools moving to a full home-based learning program and many more set to work from home, there could also have been an increased need for more home office or study furniture, as illustrated by this Instagram post:
Of course, there may also be people who are queuing up for one last chance to have some meatballs.
Top image from @infernoxv's Twitter page and location-tagged Ikea Tampines Instagram stories
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