IKEA is a massive furniture manufacturing company from Sweden. In Vietnam, IKEA only has factories and does not sell products, so some of you may not be familiar with them. In 2014, IKEA’s net profit reached 3.3 billion Euros. There were over 716 million customer visits to IKEA Group stores worldwide in 2014, and more than 1.5 billion visits to IKEA.com. Just that alone is enough to illustrate how “incredible” IKEA really is.
There are many “surprising” and “secret” things about this company that you might not know, and here are 10 of them.
1. The IKEA Company was Founded in 1943
Ingvar Kamprad – The Founder of IKEA.
Ingvar Kamprad founded IKEA in 1943 when he was just 17 years old. Initially, the company only sold small items like picture frames and offered mail-order services. Now, Ingvar is 89 years old and has a net worth of 3.4 billion USD.
A fun fact about Ingvar Kamprad is that he supported fascism when he was younger. However, he considers it “one of the biggest mistakes of his life” and even wrote a letter to his employees asking for their forgiveness.
2. The First Flat-Pack Furniture Was Not Sold Until 1956
IKEA’s packaging method is considered a historic innovation.
The method of packing wooden furniture into flat cardboard boxes was the brainchild of a designer named Gillis Lundgren. When he couldn’t fit a wooden table into the trunk of a car, he decided to remove the legs to pack it in. Since then, people have regarded IKEA’s packaging method as a historic innovation.
3. The Name IKEA is an Acronym
The name IKEA is formed from the initials of the company’s founder.
If you’re wondering, the name IKEA is made up of the initials of the company’s founder and the location of the first workshop in a town in Sweden. The ‘I’ and ‘K’ are from Ingvar Kamprad’s name; ‘E’ is from Elmtaryd, the location of IKEA’s first manufacturing site; and ‘A’ comes from Agunnaryd, a town in Sweden. Ingvar Kamprad seems to be quite sentimental.
4. Each Item is Named After Proper Nouns
IKEA products are named after proper nouns or names.
Because Ingvar Kamprad has dyslexia, he often names products after proper nouns or names to help him distinguish them more easily. For example, many living room products are named after geographical locations in Sweden, while bathroom items are named after rivers and lakes.
5. If You Live in Scandinavia or the UK, You Can Buy an IKEA House
Boklok House is the first “contribution house” produced by IKEA.
IKEA sells entire houses packaged in boxes; you just buy them and assemble them. The prices are comparable to regular homes. Boklok House was the first “contribution house” produced by IKEA and was sold in Sweden in 1996.
6. Every Year, the Number of IKEA Catalog Copies Distributed Exceeds That of the Bible
Each year, IKEA’s catalog is distributed to about 180 million people worldwide.
According to The Economist, about 100 million copies of the Bible are sold or given away each year. However, the fact is that this number is still lower than the annual distribution of IKEA catalogs. Each year, IKEA’s catalog is distributed to approximately 180 million people worldwide in 27 different languages. Above is a catalog issued in 1951.
7. It is Estimated That 1 in 10 Europeans Sleeps on an IKEA Bed
IKEA is extremely popular in Europe.
Just think a little, and you will realize how popular IKEA is in Europe.
8. The Average Size of an IKEA Store is About 27,800 Square Meters
The average size of an IKEA store is equivalent to 42 tennis courts.
This area is equivalent to about 42 tennis courts.
9. IKEA Consumes About 1% of the World’s Wood Supply
IKEA’s wooden products account for 1% of global wood consumption, which is significant.
You might think that 1% is not a large number, but think again. IKEA is simply one furniture company among millions of similar companies globally, not to mention other companies that use wood for non-furniture products.
10. IKEA is Mentioned in Three Different Episodes of the American TV Series “Friends”
IKEA appears three times in the American show “Friends.”
This may not be clear to many of you, but if you have watched the American TV series “Friends,” you will notice that IKEA appears a total of three times in the show.
In addition to the above, there are some quite “secret” and interesting stories about IKEA that not everyone knows:
- 11. The iconic blue IKEA bags with the straps bearing the IKEA name are produced in a factory in Vietnam.
- 12. In IKEA stores in China, many people come in to lie down and escape the heat in IKEA’s display rooms.
- 13. Knowing this idea, an IKEA store in Sydney, Australia opened its doors for a group of people to sleep overnight at IKEA on August 21, just like a scene from the movie “500 Days of Summer.”
- 14. Swedes use IKEA shopping bags the most to carry their laundry.
- 15. The best-selling item at IKEA is not the meatballs or the square-handled cups, but the simple Billy bookcase. A Billy bookcase is sold every 10 seconds worldwide.
Billy Bookcase.
- 16. The founder of IKEA, Ingvar Kamprad, was once denied entry to a gala where he received the Entrepreneur of the Year award because he arrived by bus.
- 17. IKEA products are labeled with codes because Ingvar has dyslexia.
- 18. IKEA was the first company to feature a gay couple in an advertising poster.
- 19. The cheapest place to buy IKEA is in Poland, and the most expensive is in Australia. The price comparison of the Billy bookcase, IKEA’s best-selling item, is referred to as the Billy Index. The price of an item at IKEA in Australia is 26% higher than the same item in Norway, while VAT in Norway is 15% higher than in Australia.
