An old man surnamed Zhang who bought seven chairs on special offer said he hadn't imagined finding so many customers. "It is almost like fighting," he said.

　　Like Zhang, consumers with packages of furniture waited in long lines at the cash desk. A woman said she even waited for half an hour for payment.

　　This store is the Swedish home furnishing producer's biggest store in Shanghai and in Asia. Its opening is seen as the most significant event since IKEA arrived in China five years ago.

　　Covering 33,000 square metres of business area, the two-storey store, which is four times bigger than the old one, is expected to also bring sales at least four times greater than the previous store, according to the manager.

　　IKEA's aggressive plan also includes another 10-plus stores in Guangdong and Shanghai Pudong by the end of 2010, according to Garth Collins, store manager with IKEA Shanghai.

　　But,IKEA realized, some shrewd people, who love IKEA's design but have less money, bring carpenters to the store and copy their style. Then the carpenter makes pirated IKEA furniture at their home.

　　To counteract such poaching and attract more customers, IKEA is taking a familiar approach - lower prices. For some items, the price cuts amount to 60 per cent when comparing the prices in 2003 to those in 1998.