An Ikea store in Sydney, Australia, has either set retail shopping forward by three decades or set gender equality back by three decades—you decide: they're testing out Manland, which is, as one local newscaster describes it, "basically a creche for husbands and boyfriends with short retail attention spans, a place to hang out while their wives and girlfriends run the aisles of Ikea." Think ultimate man-cave stuff such as video games, foosball tables, free hot dogs, and pinball machines. (Apparently reading books is not encouraged in Manland!) As with Ikea's childcare creche, women dropping off their husbands and boyfriends are given a buzzer. "After 30 minutes, the buzzer goes off, it reminds you that you have to come pick up your man or else, you know, we may have to all the authorities," explains one Ikea sales associate. Clearly there are a number of loopholes in this whole program, not the least being the fact that it overlooks gay couples—for whatever reason, the news segment makes Manland look like a place of refuge only for women with bored boyfriends/husbands. (What about men who have bored boyfriends/husbands, or women with bored girlfriends/wives? Can they not enjoy the bounty of Manland, as well?) And secondly, when is 30 minutes ever enough time to navigate an Ikea?

The video:

VIDEO: Welcome to Manland

· IKEA introduces MANLAND, the creche for retail-weary men [News.Com.Au via Jezebel]

· Ikea's BILLY Bookcase Disputes Rumors That Books Are Dead [Curbed National]

· Ikea Stores Designed to Look Like a Maze So People Buy More Stuff [Curbed National]