Ikea started as a small company in Sweden.
Ikea is a Swedish company known for its modern and affordable furniture. The company specializes in compact styles, usually assembled by the home buyer. With nearly 300 stores worldwide, the store has gained a loyal following of budget-conscious shoppers and even entered pop culture.
By the 1940s the company was selling small home accessories and trinkets throughout Sweden. Over time, the business expanded into furniture manufacturing, originally sold by mail order. In 1963, the first store outside of Sweden was opened. The brand quickly spread throughout Scandinavia, with stores in Denmark and Norway. In the decades that followed, the store became popular throughout Europe, opening stores in the United States in 1985.
In 2008, the company had stores in 36 countries. Germany has the most locations, with 43 stores nationwide, while the United States is close behind with 34. With its flashy, blue and yellow megastores, Ikea has prospered for a variety of reasons, including price, the style and transparency of the volume of products. .
The typical layout of an Ikea store includes one or more showroom floors for large furniture and multi-bedroom sets. Small departments, such as lighting and textiles, are spread across all departments. The lower deck of most stores includes a large storage section where boxes of displayed furniture are available for customer selection. The lower deck also has checkout lines and a section of imported Swedish foods available for purchase.
One of the unique features of Ikea is its restaurants. Instead of supplying chain restaurants, the company markets its own food in counter-service areas. Many stores offer a variety of food selections, from full breakfasts to frozen treats and gourmet pastries. Food selections often include Swedish delicacies like Swedish meatballs and blueberry sodas. Following company protocol, the food on sale is usually very affordable.
Naming of private label products is a complicated system that can delight or confuse the customer. Many products are divided into special categories and named accordingly. For example, all the rugs are named after Danish places, while the chairs and tables are named after men. The Nordic naming structure has led to some interesting marketing problems in other countries, where words can have different meanings. When this discrepancy is discovered, the company often changes the name of the product.
Most Ikea locations are under the market control of the INGKA foundation, a Dutch charity. As such, the company is part of the world’s largest foundation with an estimated net worth of $36 billion US dollars (USD). The company also partners with UNICEF and American Forests on community projects.
In the United States, the store has become a common reference in popular culture. Due to the affordability of the company’s furniture and the relative poverty of college students, dorms are often said to be “decorated by Ikea”. Several books and songs make reference to the company, such as Jonathan Coulton’s popular song “Ikea” and Christopher Moore’s book The Stupidest Angel, in which a troop of zombies plan to eat brains and then visit the store to buy furniture. Starting in the 21st century, Ikea has carved out a place for itself in the global economy and community that seems to remain strong for many years to come.
