Guests line up outside IKEA ahead of Wednesday’s grand opening — PHOTOS

With the grand opening of IKEA’s first location in Southern Nevada now only two days away, people from all walks of life are eagerly waiting for the Swedish home store to officially open its doors.

As if people weren’t excited enough for IKEA’s Las Vegas debut, the retailer upped the ante — err, excitement — by announcing that it would be holding special giveaways in honor of the opening day celebration.

Although guests could not officially line up outside IKEA until 9 a.m. this morning, there was a common trend among everyone we chatted with — they all tried to be there before 9 a.m., with the earliest that we found having arrived at 4 a.m.

Unlike most lines for Black Friday sales, IKEA’s grand opening festivities were not only very well organized, but the store was very courteous to its waiting guests, even providing several refreshments throughout the day. To help guests pass the time, IKEA staff planned games throughout the evening and handed out goody bags filled with a pair of sunglasses, a water bottle, a fan and a key chain with measuring tape.

Meet some of the eager guests waiting outside of IKEA:

After arriving at 6:30 a.m. and being told they couldn’t line up yet, the first two people in line at IKEA, Junie Zhu and Guanxia Shen, said they arrived early this morning because Junie needs a sofa and they were unsure how many people would be in line already.

On the contrary, Mary Macioce, a retired teacher who has been to several IKEA locations in various states and Sweden, arrived bright and early this morning even though she’s not technically waiting for anything in particular — except the chicken Swedish meatballs. Macioce posted on her Facebook page hoping to find someone to come wait in line with her. Although no one offered to wait with her, Macioce’s husband said he would bring her dinner.

For Alex Kramer, waiting in line outside IKEA isn’t necessarily about receiving a free sofa. Kramer does need the sofa, as he moved to Las Vegas from Brooklyn and sold all his furniture before traveling the world and settling down here. More importantly, camping outside of IKEA crosses off a bucket list item for Kramer.

Not only did Lilly Murrin and Sabrina Lutz travel the furthest of anyone we talked with — from Pahrump — they also arrived earlier than anyone else, at 4 a.m. Because the line didn’t officially form until 9 a.m., Murrin and Lutz waited at the convenience store down the street before returning to IKEA five hours later.

Contact Caitlin Lilly at cilly@reviewjournal.com. Find her on Twitter: @caitielilly_