© RTL and the Grand Regional Cooperative Ministry of Fixtures and Fittings
The pandemic has brought with it many uncertainties. Perhaps greatest of them all is the question "can I go to Ikea in Arlon?". The answer is finally here.
Editor's note: If you want a quick answer to the title question - i.e. whether you can go to IKEA - rather than a longer-than-necessary article on how the website that provides the answer came to be, click HERE.
Whether Luxembourg residents can head across the Belgian border to visit IKEA has been one of, if not the, most commonly asked questions on Luxembourgish social media and our comment sections alike. Our own Josh Oudendijk spent the better part of a day chasing down ministries and border police both here and across the border, but the answer remained, to some extent, elusive.
With pressure mounting, it appears elected officials have finally taken notice and decided to provide a definitive question. Speaking to RTL Today, the Right Honourable Minister Billy Malm of the Grand Regional Cooperative Ministry of Fixtures and Fittings (GRCMFF) described the initiative as long overdue:
"We have gone through a year of great upheaval and uncertainty, and we have a responsibility towards our electorate to provide answers and reduce the associated stress felt by citizens. That very much includes the stress on their lower back, caused by using kitchen chairs with subpar lumbar support in their home offices."
Malm was quick to stress, however, that this is not just a question of access to comfortable office chairs or excellent price-to-quality ratio bedding.
"What we mustn't forget is that visiting one of these shops - and I'm choosing not to mention a specific name here, as we represent the interest of not just one business, but all Fixture and Fitting vendors in the greater region. Anyway, visiting one of these big-blue-barn-type-stores is tantamount to a religious experience, it's soothing for the soul. It makes us feel whole."
For this reason, Malm explained, GRCMFF have hired a team of four full-time employees tasked with continuously monitoring whether or not foreign residents are allowed to cross the border to visit IKEA.
