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richmondreview.com
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ESTABLISHED 1932
FRIDAY, APRIL 27, 2012
44 PAGES
New IKEA draws massive crowds Many waited for hours to get into parking lot
Best of Richmond voting ends Monday
by Martin van den Hemel and Matthew Hoekstra Staff Reporter Some lined up overnight, others travelled all the way from Comox on Vancouver Island, and one woman agreed to live inside a glass box for a few days, just for the Grand Opening of the new IKEA megastore in Richmond on Wednesday. For visitors from Vancouver, the Knight Street off-ramp leading to the popular Swedish furniture store was backed up all the way to 49th Street in Vancouver at one point. And for visitors coming from West Richmond, they waited in line for several hours to get a glimpse of the inside of the new store. “There’s lots of washrooms,” one shopper said Wednesday morning with a smile. “Not bad,” said another when asked her opinion about the store. One family packed their sub-compact car’s back seat all the way to the roofline with IKEA-labelled boxes. A woman visiting with her elderly mother said they came all the way from Comox to make a day-trip to Richmond to take part in the store’s opening. Theresa Visintin wanted to be the first inside the new IKEA store—so she spent five days inside a glass box for the privilege. The 41-year-old mother of three won a contest hosted by Virgin Radio to temporarily live in a transparent, 10-by-10-foot box outside the Swedish retailer’s new store on Jacombs Way, in exchange for a $10,000 shopping spree. Visintin, a Vancouver resident, was released Wednesday morning in time for the store’s 9 a.m. grand opening. “Admittedly, the first thing that got
This is the final weekend of voting for all the things you love about Richmond, in The Review’s fifth annual Best of Richmond. For one lucky participant, their vote will earn them a $250 gift certificate to a Richmond restaurant of their choice. Voting will remain open until midnight on Monday, April 30. To participate, see richmondreview.com or go to tinyurl. com/RichmondBest. Register your votes in at least 10 categories, and you’re eligible to win. The winners in each category will be announced in the Wednesday, May 30 edition of The Richmond Review.
Matthew Hoekstra photo ABOVE: Theresa Visintin at her IKEA custom home Monday night: 100 square feet of furnished sidewalk. RIGHT: Huge crowds were at Wednesday’s opening.
me was the $10,000 gift card,” she explained, adding it was the prospect of living in a very public glass house that strangely appealed to her. “I thought how fun. I love all that quirky stuff,” she said. “Now that my kids are a little bit older, I’ve given myself permission to have fun.” After Visintin was allowed in, other queuing customers filed into the new 334,000-square-foot store at 3320 Jacombs Rd. The location replaces its three-decade-old Sweden Way site. The first 1,000 customers were handed envelopes containing anything from a hot dog voucher to a $250 gift card. Richmond East MLA Linda Reid was
Man stabbed during dispute
on hand for Wednesday’s opening. She said the store brings 100 new jobs to her riding. Many police officers were stationed
around the site, directing traffic at the entrances and exits, while Richmond Fire-Rescue had a visible presence, as did the B.C. Ambulance Service.
A 54-year-old Burnaby man suffered several stab wounds to his upper body following a dispute at the Brighouse station of the Canada Line last Thursday. An argument occurred around 7 a.m. and the suspect fled the scene. Charged with attempted murder is Jason Grossman.
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