Netherlands Ikea Stores Ban Hide And Seek

Ikea has banned hide-and-seek events at Dutch stores for safety reasons.

15:50 18 March 2015

Ikea has banned hide-and-seek events at Dutch stores after thousands took part in the children’s game at a store in Belgium last summer. 

 

Ikea Group spokeswoman Martina Smedberg is quoted by the news organisation as saying: "It's hard to control.

 

"We need to make sure people are safe in our stores and that's hard to do if we don't even know where they are."

 

The organisers have begun looking for alternate venues following Ikea’s decision. 

 

Elise De Rijck, who organised the event, told Bloomberg people were hiding in fridges, under stuffed toys, under blue Ikea shopping bags and in the storage space beneath beds.

 

She said: "Sometimes it's fun just to do some childish things. Ikea is like an extremely large living room.

 

"We played hide-and-seek the whole day.

 

"It was really exhausting, but so much fun."