Swedish furniture maker Ikea has long been happy to look the other way when visitors to its China stores have taken naps in display beds, gone back for one too many refills at the cafeteria soda fountain and otherwise taken advantage of its hospitality. Raking in revenues of 4.9 billion yuan ($766.5 million), as Ikea did in China in 2010, makes it easy to overlook customers' foibles.

But one group of middle-aged singles in Shanghai has begun to test even Ikea's legendary patience.

Every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon for the past half a year, the cafeteria inside the company's store in the Shanghai district of Xuhui has been taken over by a swarm of locals between the ages of 45 and 65 who come to seek out new love over free cups of coffee -- a perk offered to holders of the Ikea Family membership card -- and boxed lunches brought from home.

So large is the crowd of lonely-hearted Family members that store employees were recently forced to cordon off a special zone for them inside the cafeteria.

'Before we did this, they occupied almost 80% of the seats, causing other customers to complain they couldn't find a place to sit,' Yin Lifang, public relations manager at the store, told China Real Time in response to questions about the zone. 'Every Tuesday, our restaurant business goes down by about 20% and we are consuming 6 boxes of coffee cream and sugar compared to 2 boxes during peak hours on weekends and holidays.'

More than 70 members of the blind date group were seen sitting in the 'free coffee zone' around 1pm on a recent Tuesday afternoon, where a staff member, Zhou Hong, was standing by the entrance swiping membership cards and handing out white coffee cups to singles participating in the meet-up. Mr. Zhou said he hands out an average of 500 coffee cups every time the group meets.

The peak usually comes after 2.30pm, according to store security guards, who say the crowd can grow to as many as 700 people.

'Guarding the zone is a tough job,' 24-year-old security guard Li Ya said as he tried to convince a woman to stay behind the barrier lines. 'They are my parents' or even grandparents' age. It's hard for me to be strict with them. '

It can also be dangerous, as Mr. Li discovered when one member of the group splashed coffee on him. 'I tried to stop him from talking too loudly,' Mr. Li said.

To keep order, the store assigns an additional six security guards to the cafeteria every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon on top of the usual two guards it posts there on weekdays.

Besides creating the special zone, Ikea has also set up a notice board at the entrance to the cafeteria informing other customers of the group's existence and pleading with it to disband. 'Ikea would hereby like to inform this group and its organizers: Your behavior is affecting the normal operations of the Ikea cafeteria,' the notice says, going on to list the store's grievances. 'Frequent fights and arguments do serious harm to the image both of Shanghai residents and Ikea. Bringing in outside food and tea violates the cafeteria's regulations...If you are a member of this group, we feel we have warned you, do not use the resources of Ikea to organize events of this kind.'

Members of the dating group appear unbowed by the company's efforts to chase them off.

'I think it's legitimate for us to sit here and chat with friends,' said one woman who was sitting inside the zone peeling a home-made Chinese tea egg. 'We have membership cards and it is Ikea that promises free coffee for members from Monday to Friday. ' The woman, who refused to give her name, said she had paid 30 yuan ($4.6) as membership fee to a certain match-making organizer and pays an added 5 yuan for every Ikea event she attends though other members of the group denied the meetings are organized.

Ms. Yin, the store's public relations manger, said Ikea had not been able to identify any organizers behind the events but was hopeful it would soon. In the meantime, she said, the store would continue to maintain the special zone. 'We really can't think of any other way to deal with this situation,' she said.

Ikea has nine stores in China with two in Shanghai. The company has already begun construction on a third Shanghai store and aims to have a total of 17 stores in the country by 2015.