Showing posts with label Ikea Israel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ikea Israel. Show all posts

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Ikea Store Destroyed


It's hard to imagine an entire IKEA store vanishing - but that is what happened in Israel early Saturday morning. A massive fire apparently started from the roof area at about 5:45 a.m. on Sat February 5, 2011. According to Israel's daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronot, 39 Israeli fire crews arrived at the blaze in an effort to save some of the premises - but the roof collapsed and the whole building was destroyed along with its contents. The damage is estimated at $150-$200 Million.

The store, located next to the coastal town of Netanya, about 15 minutes north of Ra'anana, was the first Ikea store to open in Israel in 2001 - and had traffic of some 7000 shoppers a day. It featured a fully kosher Ikea restaurant - serving things like Ikea's famous Swedesh meatballs and Swedish lox (smoked salmon). For the past few years, the store has been closed on Shabbat (Saturday). Since the fire occurred early Saturday morning - no one was inside the building and no injuries have been reported.

Fire marshalls are investigating the cause of the blaze. It seems amazing that a store of this size, containing such a tremendous amount of merchandise, would be so vulnerable and could be destroyed so quickly. One almost wonders if the building was simply put together like some Ikea shelves...

Store owners have indicated that they intend to have the premises rebuilt within six months - so tourists visiting Israel in the summer who are anxious to try some kosher Swedish meatballs will probably be okay. Likewise, the company intends to look after the hundreds of employees who will be out of work until the store reopens. As for Israelis who have ordered merchandise that is yet to be delivered...well...according to Yedioth, they are advised to make sure that they keep their receipts - just in case the orders have somehow gone missing...