Ikea Through the Ages

 More than you ever wanted to know about... 

IKEA = 

 Ingvar Kamprad (founder) Elmtaryd (farm where he grew up) Agunnaryd 

(his hometown)

IKEA has been an innovative business in design and efficiency from the very beginning.  Following is a snapshot of this company's incredible history (Dan and I became even bigger fans after our trip to IKEA's hometown!)

IKEA by numbers -

• uses 1% of the world's wood supply, only Home Depot and Lowe's use more
• Roughly 332 giant stores in 41 countries
• employs 150,000 people
• 690 million visitors in 2012 (more than double the USA population)
• Due to increased efficiency. IKEA has lowered it's prices by an average of 2% each year since 2000
• $2 billion annually in food sales
• 150 million meatballs sold annually
• One BILLY bookshelf sold every 10 seconds
• 85% of IKEA's products are in all stores world wide
• 60 million hinges used annually
• There are more copies of the IKEA catalog than copies of the Bible

IKEA Timeline -

• 1943 - 17 year old Ingvar Kamprad buys bulk items in Stockholm, sells them at a discount (ball point pens, cigarette lighters, nylons, etc.)
  

  

  original IKEA logo

• 1948 - furniture added to IKEA's offerings
• 1951 - first catalog
• 1953 - first furniture showroom opened in Älmhult

  

  IKEA Business Idea - We shall offer a wide range of well-designed functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them.

• 1956 - flat pack/self assembly concept created (easier to transport), IKEA starts to design its own furniture 

1956 - the Lovet table is the first flat-packed piece of IKEA furniture, reintroduced two years ago

• 1960 - first IKEA restaurant opened after Mr. Kamprad noticed people would shop but leave without buying anything because they were hungry, good call! 
• 1965 - long lines because warehouse employees could not fill customer orders fast enough so the self-serve furniture warehouse is introduced in order to supply items to customers more quickly - immediate success!
• 1973 - first IKEA store opens outside Scandinavia in Switzerland

  

  1970's IKEA logo - played off the Swedish elk/moose and viking heritage

  

  1970's IKEA logos - Bullwinkle anyone?!

• 1985 - first USA IKEA opens in Philadelphia
• 1994 - aired the first major national TV ad to portray a gay relationship
• 1997 - childrens IKEA products introduced
• 2010 - IKEA Tillsammans (Through the Ages) opens
  
  

1950's IKEA furniture

IKEA - 1960 MANHATTAN cocktail cabinet

1960's IKEA - in stores currently as a powder coated metal outdoor chair

1964 IKEA chair

1967 - design brought back and currently in stores

1960's IKEA furniture

late 1960's IKEA

1970's IKEA

1970's IKEA

1980's IKEA

1980's IKEA

1990's IKEA

2000's IKEA

2000's IKEA

Miscellaneous IKEA trivia -

• Because Mr. Kamprad is dyslexic he thought it was easier to keep track of products with names rather than numbers - beds - Norwegian places names, sofas - Swedish towns, kitchen tables - Finnish names, chairs - male first names, rugs - Danish locations, etc.
• IKEA is building its own town near London - shops, schools, theaters, hotel and flat pack housing for 6,000 people
• IKEA is owned by a non-profit foundation founded by Mr. Kamprad in 1982 making it, technically, a charity, which means none of it's profits are taxed.... hmm. For a more extensive/complicated (and not so flattering explanation) of IKEA's corporate arrangement check out this Mental Floss article.