IKEA, home furnishings retailer that was the worldâs largest seller of furniture in the early 21st century, operating more than 300 stores around the world. IKEA specializes in low-priced goods, sold whenever possible in compact âflat-packâ form for in-home assembly by the customer. IKEA was founded (1943) in Sweden and still flaunts its originsâstore exteriors are decorated in the colours of the Swedish flag (blue and yellow), in-store restaurants serve Swedish food, and the companyâs products carry Swedish namesâbut its headquarters are now in the Netherlands.
Swedish entrepreneur Ingvar Kamprad, 2010.
Haparanda Midnight Ministerial June 2010
IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad, whose paternal grandparents were German-speaking immigrants to the SmĂ„land province of southern Sweden, was a precocious trader. In 1943, at age 17, he started the company, putting together its name from his own initials and the initial letters of his familyâs farm (Elmtaryd) and his home village (Agunnaryd). At first he sold miscellaneous small articles such as pens and lighters. In 1948 he began selling furniture, and in 1951 he published the first annual IKEA catalogue. In 1953, in the town of Ălmhult, he opened a showroom where customers looked at displays and placed orders. The first retail store opened in Ălmhult in 1958.
Flat-packing of furniture, introduced in 1956, was a key factor in reducing the companyâs costs and enabling it to cut prices. During the late 1950s, IKEAâs unhappy competitors pressured Swedish manufacturers to cut off supplies to the company. IKEA responded by undertaking its own design work and by contracting with foreign suppliers, at first in Denmark and Poland. Later the company set up a manufacturing subsidiary, called Swedwood.
IKEA became an international retailer when the first store in Norway opened in 1963. The company expanded beyond the Nordic countries in 1973, when a store was established in Switzerland. Thereafter, stores opened in many countries, including Germany (1974), Australia (1975), France (1981), the United States (1985), the United Kingdom (1987), China (1998), and Russia (2000). The typical IKEA store is extremely large, generally covering an area of 186,000 square feet (17,280 square metres).
IKEA is not owned by shareholders. Instead, it is controlled through a number of operating companies, holding companies, and nonprofit foundations. The complex corporate structure was created partly in response to high Swedish taxation.
Robert Lewis
