The Ikea Company
It is one of the most famous names in retailing, led by a man richer than Bill Gates, operating with a personal non-conformist style for furniture design and customer satisfaction. The company is called IKEA, the letters stemming from the owners name, Ingvar Kemprod and his Swedish farm, Elmtaryd, in his home village Agunnaryd, near Smalard in south-east Sweden. All IKEA stores are emblazoned with a “Swedish” blue and gold colors, reinforced by its 35 million colour catalogues, IKEA operates in 32 countries, with 220 outlets, with major expansion plans for Russia (its 250,000 sq. ft. store is one of the largest) and for major cities in China. As a private company, sales revenues are not disclosed, but estimates suggest annual sales in excess of US$13 billion. Around the world, it has become one of the best known brands; in Europe, the joke abounds that ten per cent of the population were conceived on IKEA beds.
Ingvar Kemprod, now 78, lives in Switzerland but operates IKEA from a distance through a complex web of companies and an umbrella foundation based in the Netherlands. His personality dominates the corporate culture of IKEA: his frugality and thrift (economy class travel), family values (open store layout, children’s play areas, buffet style restaurants with Swedish meatballs), and non-conformity (buying fabrics in bulk from textile mills, then distributing them to small manufacturers to get a wide selection of upholstery). Even the IKEA catalogue is a sales tool: stylishly colored pictures of alternative room designs – kitchens, bedrooms, offices, bathrooms, living rooms - to help customers choose furniture and home furnishings for their own space. The catalogues show product variations and combinations, ea ...