The IKEA store in Alam Sutera, Tangerang has been shut until further notice after local authorities deemed that it violated partial lockdown measures currently in place.
Viral footage taken over the weekend showed a dreadfully crammed store, including a full parking lot and shoppers queueing for temperature checks and for checkout.
https://twitter.com/IffahAlqadrie/status/1259245496532533248?s=20
Suasana antrean masuk IKEA Alam Sutera, Pinang, Kota Tangerang, yang ramai untuk pemeriksaan suhu tubuh pengunjung sebelum masuk gedung. Selama PSBB, IKEA Alam Sutera beroperasi dari pukul 11.00 hingga 20.00 WIB. pic.twitter.com/CWazIvbfL6
— About Tangerang (@AboutTNG) May 9, 2020
Entah ini IKEA mana (kalo liat harganya sih itu Indonesia ya)
dan masih ada yang berpikiran Indonesia akan baik-baik aja? Hahahaha.. pic.twitter.com/skGre4aCq9
— Shani Budi (@ShaniBudi) May 10, 2020
Tangerang’s Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) dispatched officers to IKEA yesterday evening and demanded the store’s immediate closure.
The Alam Sutera store, the first and one of only two IKEA stores in Indonesia, remained open with reduced hours during Tangerang’s Large-Scale Social Restrictions (PSBB) protocol to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The protocol, which is akin to a partial lockdown, prohibits non-essential businesses and services from operating while it’s in effect.
IKEA Indonesia spokesperson Ririn Basuki told Kumparan that the Alam Sutera store was technically listed as an essential business under PSBB and was therefore allowed to open.
“IKEA is part of PT HERO Group and is operating under a hypermarket license. Therefore IKEA is a business that is allowed to operate during PSBB,” she said, adding that social distancing and hygiene measures were observed by the store during PSBB.
The store management is set to meet with the Tangerang city administration to discuss the length of the closure.
In the meantime, say it with us: couch shopping and Swedish meatballs are not essential at this moment.
Also Read — Copyright vs Right to Copy: How Superman, IKEA, and other global brands lost trademark battles in Indonesia
