A woman has proven that she will do just about anything for IKEA—including walking across a highway in Italy.
“POV: ur tryna reach IKEA by foot,” text overlay reads on the video posted by TikTok user Monika (@monika.koch). The video was posted on Saturday, and by Monday afternoon, it had reached 3.8 million views.
@monika.koch @Milica Dimitrievska ♬ original sound – CCJT Studios
Inspiring music with the lyrics “Never back down never what? Never give up,” plays as she walks through a grassy area, dangerously close to a highway of cars.
Monika eventually makes it to her destination, but the journey it took brought up a fair point in the comments: why is IKEA often located by highways, and inaccessibly by foot?
“BRO BUT WHY IS IT LIKE THIS AT EVERY IKEA,” one user wrote.
“Ikea is always in the highway locations,” another added.
The answer to this lies in the typical size of the Swedish company’s stores. Since a standard IKEA store is around 300,000 square feet (about the size of five football fields), the giant big-box retail store is best located outside of city centers, typically near highways.
The largest IKEA store in North America, located in Burbank, California, is 456,000 square feet. Its massive size houses over 50 room settings and a 600-seat restaurant.
But for many people, traveling by foot to the big blue-and-yellow store is worth the trek. Several commenters shared that they enjoy going there for the tasty food, such as the company’s famous Swedish meatballs.
“Things we do for ikea meatballs,” user @tangofalafel wrote.
According to the Daily Mail, the company sells more than one billion meatballs globally every year.
People also love going to IKEA for the great prices on furniture and home accessories. But since carrying heavy items isn’t easy, this has left some wondering how walkers manage.
“What are you even getting at Ikea to walk there???” a man asked.
One woman who has walked to IKEA gave her perspective. “I’ve done this. the real challenge is the way back with 1000 tea light candles, curtains and all the champagne flutes.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Monika via TikTok comment.
