Dating ikea

From breaking couples up to creating them: IKEA is an unexpected paradise for first dates

Sad news for elderly lonely hearts in Shanghai: they can no longer look for love in Ikea. The Swedish furniture giant's Shanghai store has seen a strange phenomenon of senior citizens descending upon its famed cafeteria to socialise and even find partners. Locals said it occurs twice weekly, usually on Tuesdays and Thursdays. China's state broadcaster CCTV News reported that the elderly patrons would often buy a cup of coffee or some bread and "spend an entire day just chatting with others". They are believed to be part of a dating community, making use of their Ikea membership cards. This week, Ikea put a stop to it by imposing a strict "no food, no seating" rule to discourage senior citizens from occupying canteen seats for "extended periods". China cracks down on dating websites. Man waits 10 days in Chinese airport for 'lover'.

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Finding a seat is virtually impossible, with almost every table taken up with tea flasks, biscuits, melon seeds, and other snacks. Large numbers of middle-aged and elderly people converge on this spacious canteen around the same time every day — many of them in search of a hot date. Some seniors chat loudly in small groups; others sit alone, watching on as the crowds mingle around them. The dress code appears to be smart casual: The women almost universally wear flesh-colored stockings and black shoes while the men sport neatly pressed shirts buttoned to the neck. This Ikea store dating scene has been a fixture in Shanghai for more than a decade.

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Things you buy through our links may earn Vox Media a commission. A year or so before my boyfriend and I started dating, I moved from Manhattan to Brooklyn and asked him as a friend to come over and help me build my IKEA bed frame. After one failed attempt something was backward or upside down , we were able to finish the whole project without any bruised egos or perceptible tension. Yet not all experiences of flat-packed furniture are so happy. Walking through the kitchens brings up touchy subjects, like who does most of the cooking.

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Every Relationship’s Greatest Threat: IKEA

SHANGHAI — More than a decade after Ikea tried to kick them out, the raucous Shanghai pensioners' matchmaking group that gathers weekly in the furniture store's cafeteria is still very much alive and kicking. This photo taken on Dec 5, shows artist Li Shiqi left drawing a portrait of another person at the Ikea restaurant, where elderly people gather every Tuesday, in the Xuhui district in Shanghai. Every Tuesday, hundreds of elderly lovebirds take over most of the tables in the chain's spacious canteen, shunning the classic Swedish meatballs for their own tea, snacks and even booze brought from home. Faced with empty nests and changing social structures as China's population ages, they have taken matters into their own hands and turned the store into an unlikely dating site. It's not only young people who need love, elderly people also need love," an impeccably made-up retired nursing home director named Qingqing told AFP on a recent winter afternoon.

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