Ikea sleepovers discouraged by furniture giant

Home furnishings giant Ikea is attempting to crack down on a new irksome trend which sees groups of teens visiting its stores during the day, then hiding on the premises and staying there all night.

The first known illegal-Ikea-sleepover, The Daily Telegraph reports, was staged this past August by two pranksters from Belgium — Florian Van Hecke and Bram Geirnaert. The pair camped out in their local store, filmed themselves running around, jumping on furniture and sleeping in display beds, and later posted these exploits online.

“We just wanted to do something crazy, something a bit out of control,” Van Hecke, 19, told The Washington Post. The video went viral and picked up nearly two million views on YouTube.

According to The Associated Press, Ikea spokeswoman Johanna Iritz said the trespassers often hid in wardrobes when stores closed. She said Ikea takes the sleepovers “seriously” and that “we can’t guarantee safety.”

Iritz says the fun was “overrated,” adding a night at Ikea ends with “getting into trouble with the law.”

The Belgian incident, nonetheless, inspired numerous copycat Ikea sleepovers, including two 14-year-old girls who were caught attempting to spend the night in an Ikea shop in Jönköping, Sweden.

Iritz added that the company has recorded about 10 such incidents in 2016. On top of the Belgium and Sweden sleepovers, similar ones were staged in the United States, Canada, Britain, the Netherlands, Japan, Australia and Poland. The AP said it was unclear whether anyone had been prosecuted.