IKEA Is Hosting Raves Now?

When the average person thinks of IKEA, they’re much more likely to envision meatballs and reasonably priced furniture with intricate Swedish names. Midnight raves? Not so much.

However, parties might just be part of the beloved retailer’s future. According to Fast Company, IKEA teamed up with local DJs and held two raves at its Assembling the Future Together exhibition at Milan Design Week — one of which was even shut down by local police.

Marcus Engman, the creative director of IKEA parent company Ingka Group, told Fast Company that this is just the beginning. A few more raves will be held in Milan as a signal of IKEA’s future efforts to get customers back into stores.

“We’re trying to … [envision] new ways of doing retail and meeting people in new ways,” Engman told the publication. “From a creative point of view, that’s fun to work on. It’s a challenge.”

Speaking about the raves, Engman added, “They’re going to be crazy. I’m a little bit afraid of them!”

For now, IKEA’s out-of-the-box engagement strategy seems to be intriguing newcomers at the very least. Case in point: Parisian creative director Eva Losada commented on an Instagram video of one of the brand’s raves, writing, “This would be the only way I could put a foot in IKEA 🤭🤭🤣🤣❤️❤️.” 

Whether or not the average IKEA shopper will someday be able to party amid BILLY bookcases and KALLAX shelves remains to be seen. What is clear is that a whole lot of new IKEA locations are taking up shop in the United States.

Earlier this week, the brand announced that they are opening up 17 new locations across the nation over the next three years, as well as a whopping 900 pick-up locations, where customers can pick up online orders with less hassle.