It opened april 12, 2000. It was an immediate it. Too much of a hit, infact. The lines just to get in stretched around the back of the 274,000 sq. ft building for months. They were sold out of everything. People drove in from as far away as santa cruz (100 miles south) to shop there, only to go home empty handed. They now expect the store to sell over 100 million dollars in merchandise this year.
So you can see why we waited until October to go. we let the crowds die down and the inventory build back up before making the trip. We weren't dissapointed.

it is a lot like the ikea in the seattle area, except when you sit in the cafe you can see the bay bridge and golden gate bridge! Its two floors, with the showroom up top and self-serve warehouse below.

once you finish binge shopping, you get to stand in one of these 30 long lines for about a half hour.

brian stocks up on candles. it's one of the great deals they have - they're always cheap at ikea.