IKEA --- The Most Successful Furniture Store Of The World

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Ikea in Saudi Arabia? Yes, since 1983, the store in Jeddah is one of the 403 stores (in 49 countries/territories either owned by Ikea or run by franchisees). The customers there - as the ones in, say, Cairo, Beijing or Moscow - may not know of Ikea‘s Swedish roots. It‘s a source of endless mirth to Germans that English speaking people pronounce the name Ay-kee-a. The rest of Europe (I can‘t speak for the other continents) says Ee-kea as it should be. Why should it be like this? Well: I and K are the initials of the founder Ingvar Kamprad, E stands for his parental home Elmtaryd and A for Agunnaryd, the village where he grew up. If you‘re looking for a success story, here you‘ve got one. Ingvar Kamprad started his business career by buying large quantities of matches in Stockholm and selling them to his neighbours afterwards for a higher price. He founded his first real business in 1943 at the age of 17 selling nearly everything he could stock from pens to nylon stockings. Soon he made a catalogue and introduced a mail order system. From 1951 onwards he concentrated on furniture. In 2017, 936 million customers visited the Ikea stores all around the globe. The idea of packing everything in flat packages and letting the customers assemble the furniture themselves was born by chance. To transport a table more easily in the car an employee just took off the legs: a simple idea that has become the basis of the Ikea ‘philosophy‘. Why is Ikea so attractive worldwide? Most people are attracted by the prices, but can that be all? Other furniture shops also have cheap offers. There must be more to it. If only the competitors knew what it was! Is it the children‘s playground near the entrance, the meatballs in the restaurants, the knickknack offered in the shops, the feel-good, family-like atmosphere permeating the shops and the catalogues? Doesn‘t everyone have to smile about the funny names of the products? Two employees do nothing else but find names! The crowded shops, the long queues, the stress to get the packages into the car may sound revolting to some, but seem attractive to others. A sociologist sees shopping at Ikea as a test for couples (it should be made obligatory before the wedding!). In case the two partners survive shopping, getting the packages safely home and assembling them without a quarrel, their marriage has a good chance to survive! Do I have first hand experience as well? Of course I have. It‘s difficult to find a German household without anything from Ikea. A German culture academic talks of the ‘Ikeanisation of the living culture‘. Ikea stands for naturalness, mobility, youth, trendiness. I live in a more than 100-year-old house, the rooms are a bit more than 3m high. Ikea furniture is not made for rooms like this. Unfortunately, I must say. I would have bought more pieces but then our flat would look like a doll house. So I‘ve got only an armchair, several BILLY book cases (in 2009 41 million were sold [I can‘t find a later figure. It's probably the most sold piece of furniture on the planet], some picture frames, lamps, knick-knack. If you‘re afraid of the supermarket atmosphere in the Ikea stores, you can also order from the catalogue. Then the furniture will be sent to you. You can either assemble it yourself or pay for having it assembled in your home. Any IKEA-nists on this site?