Sleepy shoppers in China have had a rude awakening – after being banned from napping in furniture store IKEA . The Swedish retailer has been forced to take action to stop visitors kicking off their shoes and going to sleep on their beds and sofas . The problem has got so bad that nappers had taken over more than half of beds and sofas in the Xihongmen IKEA shop in Beijing , The People ’ s Daily reported – with some even getting under the covers for a snooze . Scroll down for video . Managers at Swedish furniture store IKEA have now banned shoppers from sleeping in their beds and sofas . Sleepy shoppers have taken to kicking off their shoes and catching forty winks on the display furniture . The practice has become widespread in IKEA stores - with shoppers coming in especially to take a nap . One weary woman said she had come into IKEA especially to grab a quick forty winks in one of their ‘ comfy ’ beds . She said she didn ’ t think it was a big issue , saying : ‘ Yes it may affect customers who were shopping in the store but it shouldn ’ t be too much of a problem. ’ Another customer said : ‘ Sleeping on the furniture will definitely affect other customers . I can understand the need to take a rest however if you are really having a sleep then that ’ s not very appropriate. ’ One shopper said : 'Yes it may affect customers ... but it should n't be too much of a problem ' . Ikea disagree . IKEA employees said the problem is difficult to manage , because so many Chinese shoppers do it . But long-suffering staff at IKEA said the problem has become widespread across China – with management vowing to clamp down on the practice . Under the new rules customers will still be allowed to try out the sofas and beds , but the removal of shoes to sleep in the beds is banned . One anonymous IKEA assistant warned , however , it will be difficult to enforce the rules . ‘ There are old people sleeping and many others are children , what can we say ? ’ they said . Another employee explained that they currently wake up shoppers if they have been sleeping for an extended period of time – but when they move them on , another quickly fills their place . By banning people from taking off their shoes , IKEA hope to stop Chinese shoppers falling asleep in the stores . Workers at IKEA shops regularly wake up exhausted shoppers - but another napper quickly takes their place . They added : ‘ There are too many people doing this , it ’ s not possible to stop it. ’ The MailOnline previously reported on the trend , which commentators saying their Beijing store is particularly popular for a nap because of its air-conditioning during the sweltering summers . It is not the first time IKEA has had to deal with over-familiar customers in China . One Shanghai Xuhui store was inundated with pensioners who would spend their time drinking the free coffee – and on the prowl for a new partner for their children . The practice became so popular that telling people you were going to IKEA became a euphemism in China for ‘ going to a matchmaking event ’ . Genuine shoppers have been unable to see the furniture on sales because of the sleeping people on top of it . IKEA opened up their first shop in China in 1999 and the country is now home to three of the top five largest IKEA stores in the world , only beaten by one in Stockholm . After the first shop opened in Beijing , pictures emerged of shoppers camping out on the sofas with their families , reading newspapers and eating biscuits . The flat-pack chain was founded by 87-year-old Ingvar Kamprad in 1943 and it is now the world ’ s largest furniture retailer . IKEA first opened in Beijing in 1998 , and shoppers were pictured camping out on their sofas with newspapers .
Exhausted shoppers regularly fall asleep in IKEA stores across China . Cheeky nappers kick off their shoes and get under the covers of displays . The Chinese government has been cracking down on these types of crimes for years, but it is still a relatively new phenomenon to see them happen at an Ikea.