Buyer begin

May 29, 2003 12 AM PT

Paul Clinton

Early Wednesday morning, Dave Burnell sleepily pulled himself out of

bed and headed to the opening of the IKEA at Home Ranch.

It took him about three seconds.

The 32-year-old Burnell, a Costa Mesa resident, lives in an

apartment at Bristol Street and Paularino Avenue, already close to

the new IKEA. When he rolled out of a bed at 5 a.m. Wednesday,

though, he was only a few steps from the store.

Five hours earlier, IKEA staff had assembled one of their bed

frames for Burnell, the first customer in line. Burnell arrived at

the store at 11 a.m. Tuesday, a whole day early.

“I’ve lived here 23 years and thought, ‘How cool would it be to be

the first guy in line,’” Burnell said. “I can always drive by and say

I was the first guy through that door.”

IKEA Orange County Costa Mesa, as it is known, opened Wednesday to

a crush of shoppers. Some 2,000 thronged the store in the morning

hours after a few zingers from TV personality Joan Rivers. The

festivities also featured a traditional Swedish log sawing ceremony

and 25 couples renewing their wedding vows.

Shoppers came from across Southern California to buy tea lights,

Billy bookcases, Poang chairs and other popular IKEA items.

Rachel Rogers-Berry, 25, drove from her Silver Lake apartment to

pick up a few off-white dinner plates. A move from North Carolina

necessitated some home furnishings.

After wandering though the store’s crowded aisles, Rogers-Berry

decided she would come back another day. The Costa Mesa IKEA is

double the size of its now-closed Tustin counterpart and boasts 9,000

products in 308,000 square feet of space.

“It’s pretty overwhelming,” Rogers-Berry said. “It’s a lot to look

at.”

Others said they played hooky from work to pick up a coffee table

or another inexpensive item.

Dennis Cafiero, 27, drove up from his home in Aliso Viejo.

“I did have to take a day off,” Cafiero said. “I told them I was

working from home.”

The day, as well as the opening weekend, should bring in solid

sales, said Joseph Roth, the Swedish company’s director of public

affairs. Roth declined to release specific data.

“We’re expecting a very busy and successful weekend,” Roth said.

* PAUL CLINTON covers the environment, business and politics. He

may be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail at