IKEA is a privately-held, international home products retailer that sells flat pack furniture, accessories, and bathroom and kitchen items in their retail stores around the world. The company, which pioneered flat-pack design furniture at affordable prices, is now the world's largest furniture retailer.
IKEA was founded in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad in Sweden and it is owned by a Dutch-registered foundation controlled by the Kamprad family. IKEA is an acronym comprising the initials of the founder's name ( I ngvar K amprad), the farm where he grew up ( E lmtaryd), and his home parish ( A gunnaryd, in Småland, South Sweden).
INGKA Holding B.V. is the parent company for all IKEA Group companies, including the industrial group Swedwood, which commissions the manufacturing of IKEA furniture coming from any manufacturer worldwide (outsourcing), the sales companies that run IKEA stores, as well as purchasing and supply functions, and IKEA of Sweden, which is responsible for the design and development of products in the IKEA range. INGKA Holding B.V. is wholly owned by Stichting INGKA Foundation, which is a non-profit foundation registered in Leiden in the Netherlands.
Inter IKEA Systems B.V. in Delft, also in the Netherlands, owns the IKEA concept and trademark, and there is a franchising agreement with every IKEA store in the world. The IKEA Group is the biggest franchisee of Inter IKEA Systems B.V. Inter IKEA Systems B.V. is not owned by INGKA Holding B.V., but by Inter IKEA Holding S.A. registered in Luxembourg, which in turn is part of Inter IKEA Holding registered in the Netherlands Antilles. The ownership of the holding companies has not been disclosed.
General overview
The company which was originated in Småland, Sweden, distributes its products through its retail outlets. As of August 2009, the chain has 301 stores in 37 countries, most of them in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia. 2006 saw the opening of 16 new stores. A total of at least 12 openings or relocations are planned for 2009. IKEA is one of the few chains to have locations both in Israel and in other Middle Eastern nations.
In most languages, "IKEA" is pronounced something like , but in English it is /aɪˈkiː.ə/ , similar to the word "idea." As such, IKEA brought action in the Supreme Court of British Columbia successfully preventing a competitor in Victoria from using the name "Idea." Its Chinese name is " 宜家 " (yíjiā), which literally means "fit for home" in written Chinese and sounds like the phrase "right now" in Cantonese pronunciation.
The IKEA Website contains about 12,000 products and is the closest representation of the entire IKEA range. There were over 470 million visitors to the IKEA websites in the year from Sep. 2007-Sep. 2008.
IKEA is keen to show leadership in adopting more environmentally friendly measures in its manufacturing processes. In 1990, IKEA adopted The Natural Step framework as the basis for its environmental plan ( see "Environmental performance," below).
The IKEA Concept is based on offering 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. Rather than selling expensive home furnishings that only a few can buy, the IKEA Concept makes it possible to serve the many by providing low-priced products that contribute to helping more people live a better life at home.
The IKEA Concept guides the way IKEA products are designed, manufactured, transported, sold and assembled. All of these factors contribute to transforming the IKEA Concept into a reality.
IKEA stores
Main article: List of IKEA storesThe first IKEA store was opened in Sweden in 1958. The first stores outside Sweden were opened in Norway (1963) and Denmark (1969). The 1970s saw the spread of stores to other parts of Europe, with the first store outside Scandinavia opening in Switzerland (1973), followed by Germany (1974). During the same decade, stores were opened in other parts of the world, including Japan (1974), Australia and Hong Kong (1975), Canada (1976), and Singapore (1978). Ikea has expanded further in the 1980s, opening stores in such locations as France (1981), the Canary Islands (1981), Belgium (1984), the United States of America (1985), the United Kingdom (1987), and Italy (1989). Ikea has continued expansion into more countries in the 1990s and 2000s. Germany, with 44 stores, is IKEA's biggest market, followed by the United States, with 36. IKEA now has 301 stores in 37 countries. The first IKEA store in Latin America is set to open in early 2010 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. However, the company has thus far not shown much of a presence in the developing countries.
In September 2009 it was reported that the largest IKEA branch will open in Abu Dhabi.
Store format
Newer IKEA stores are usually very large blue buildings with few windows and yellow accents (the company's colors are also the national colors of Sweden). They are often designed around a "one-way" layout which leads customers along "the long natural way.". This layout is designed to encourage the customer to see the store in its entirety (as opposed to a traditional retail store, which allows a consumer to go right to the section where the goods and services needed are displayed) although there are often shortcuts to other parts of the showroom. The sequence first involves going through furniture showrooms making note of selected items.
Then the customer collects a shopping cart and proceeds to an open-shelf warehouse for smaller items (Market Hall). Then the customer visits the furniture warehouse (Self Serve) where they collect previously noted showroom products in flat pack form. Sometimes they are directed to collect products from an external warehouse on the same site or at a site nearby. Finally they take their products to the cashier's station to make payment.
Newer IKEA stores, like the one in Koblenz, Germany, make more use of glass, both for aesthetic and functional reasons. Skylights are also now common in the Self-serve warehouses. More natural light reduces energy costs, improves worker morale and gives a better impression of the product.
Whilst the original design involved the warehouse on the lower level and the showroom and marketplace on the upper, today most stores globally have the Showroom upstairs with the marketplace and warehouse downstairs. Additionally, some stores are single level. Some stores maintain separate warehouses to allow more stock to be kept on-site at any given time, although this occasionally results in challenges in finding the items, as well as a perception of having to queue in line twice. Single-level stores are found predominantly in areas where the cost of land would be less than the cost of building a 2-level store – examples include the store in Saarlouis, Germany and Haparanda, Sweden. Some stores also have dual level warehouses and machine controlled silos which allow large quantities of stock to be accessed throughout the selling day.
Most IKEA stores offer an "as-is" area at the end of the warehouse just prior to the cashiers. Returned, damaged and formerly showcased products which are not in new condition or taken out of the IKEA product range are displayed here, and sold with a significant discount, but also with a "no-returns" policy. Most IKEA stores communicate the IKEA policy on environmental issues in the "as-is." In the United Kingdom, this is referred to as "Bargain Corner."
In Hong Kong, where shop space is limited and costly, IKEA has opened three outlets across the city, which are actually part of shopping malls. They are tiny compared to common "large blue box" store design, but are huge by Hong Kong standard. Most of the outlets still have a "one-way" layout. An exception is the newest outlet in Telford Plaza, where the three independent floors can be accessed freely from each. However, following IKEA tradition, the cashiers are only located on the lowest floor.
The vast majority of IKEA stores are located outside of city centres, primarily because of land cost and traffic access. Several smaller store formats have been unsuccessfully tested in the past (the "midi" concept in the early 90s, which was tested in Ottawa and Heerlen with 9,300 m 2 , or a "boutique" shop in Manhattan). A new format for a full-size, city centre store was introduced with the opening of the Coventry (UK) store in December 2007. This is in response to UK government restrictions blocking retail establishment outside city centres, and the format is expected to be used for future IKEA stores in the UK. The Coventry store has 7 levels and therefore has a flow different from other IKEA stores.
Another feature of many stores are their long opening hours. Many IKEA stores are in operati
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