Doors officially opened to the first shoppers at 10am, preceded by two hours of formalities during which crowds gathered outside the store, eager to explore the thousands of DIY products displayed inside.
Covering almost 24,000 square metres over two levels, the new shop, the fifth Ikea store in the country, is the result of a €200 million investment and should create in the region of 250 jobs.
During the inauguration ceremony the dignitaries upheld an old Swedish tradition of ‘chopping the log’.
Ikea said it plans to double the number of its stores in Portugal, to 10, by 2025.
The long-awaited inauguration comes exactly a week to the day after the store suffered a brief turbulent spell following two consecutive incidents that threatened to cast a shadow over proceedings.
On Thursday a large banner reading ‘G. Couto Não Paga’ raised eyebrows after being hung from the walls of the nearly-finished store.
Speculation was that the incident was related to disgruntled workers, but a spokesperson for the Swedish DIY store explained it “was not directly related to Ikea” and therefore in no way affected its operations.
The following day, Friday (24 March), the development was again rocked by misfortune when a woman died on-site.
According to reports the 37-year-old from Loulé was killed after a stack of wooden pallets fell on top of her and crushed her.
It was the second death to occur at the site following a similar fatal accident in September last year.
The store will be open from 10am to 10pm most of the year, opening half an hour earlier and staying open half an hour later during the months of June, July and August.