The history of IKEA: how Ingvar Kamprad built one of the largest retail chains in the world. Brand history: ikea

It is believed that in the apartment of every Western European family there is at least one thing with the IKEA logo. This is not necessarily furniture. Some accessory, toy, underwear - something from IKEA. Even if you yourself didn’t buy anything at all from a chain store, you were sure to inherit something from relatives or end up in your apartment as a gift.

At one time, the spread of IKEA across Europe was called an epidemic. Since the opening of the first stores in Russia, the IKEA epidemic has taken over our country. IKEA is loved for its democratic originality (the company's findings in the field of design are recognized as outstanding by all design schools in the world) and despised for its mass appeal and universality (no matter where you look, there are identical floor lamps and sofas). A global brand in all its contradictions. The founder, 80-year-old Ingvard Kamprad, has been creating it since he was 20 years old. IKEA started out selling coffee tables and is now the largest furniture company in the world.

History of IKEA

Ingvar Kamprad was born in the small Swedish town of Elmhult (now a real tourist Mecca: thousands of people flock there to see the billionaire’s homeland; Kamprad’s first store is also located there) in 1926. Kamprad's biographers believe that Ingvar's passion for trade was inherited. In 1897, the company, owned by the grandfather of the future billionaire, was on the verge of bankruptcy. The head of the family was unable to pay his mortgage and committed suicide. But Ingvar’s grandmother manages to save the matter.

Kamprad himself started making money by selling matches. This is how he himself recalls his childhood activity: “My aunt helped me buy the first hundred boxes of matches at the so-called “88 era” sale (something like our “Everything for 10” - ed.), and my aunt didn’t even charged me for postage. After that, I sold matches for two or three øre per box, and some even for 5 øre. I still remember the pleasant feeling I felt when I made my first profit. At that time I was no more than five years old. Later I started selling Christmas cards and wall art. I caught fish, and then rode around on my bike and sold it around. I collected lingonberries and sent them by bus to a buyer in another city. At eleven, my main business was selling seeds. It was my first big deal, and I made enough money to trade in my mother's old bike for a new racing model." But the greatest demand was for fountain pens: in the early forties they were a novelty even in Sweden. Kamprad ordered 500 of these pens from Paris, taking out a loan of 500 crowns (at that time $63) from the district bank for purchase. According to Kamprad, this was the first and last loan he took out in his life. Fashion goods were supplied by a French company. She then demanded that their distributor register his own enterprise. Kamprad persuaded his father to help him complete the paperwork, and soon IKEA was born (“Ingvard Kamprad, Elmtaryd in Agunaryd” - the first letters of the first and last name, the name of his father’s farm and the church parish where the head of the future corporation grew up). This happened in 1943. At that time, its creator was 17 years old. At this time, Kamprad had already gotten off his bike and switched to distributing goods by mail. And to pens and matches he added the most simple little things, such as stationery, wallets, nylon stockings and mosquito repellents.

The first entrepreneurial steps of IKEA founder Ingvard Kamprad, his early, as he himself calls it, “craving for profit” are apparently one of the most important subjective conditions for success. The desire to earn money is at the genetic level. The Swedish billionaire never studied at university (at school, teachers for a long time could not teach him to read), but the business strategy that he applied at IKEA is studied in many higher educational institutions in Europe.

Finally, in 1948, Kamprad came up with the idea to switch to furniture. Kamprad negotiates with small furniture manufacturers and begins selling two models - an armchair without armrests and a coffee table. Kamprad named the chair “Ruth” (he always believed that it was difficult to remember the names of inventory items). Since then, IKEA has decided to give furniture names. At the same time, several more of Kamprad’s business principles were born. First, he began sending out a small brochure to his customers called “IKEA News” - it became the prototype of the company’s famous catalog. Secondly, the young entrepreneur immediately began to focus on buyers with average incomes. Therefore, he orders the most inexpensive models from nearby furniture factories. Even then he came to his famous formula: “Rather than sell 60 chairs at a high price, it is better to reduce the price and sell 600 chairs.”

In 1951, Kamprad acquired an old factory where he began producing cheap, simple furniture. Gradually, his company, thanks to its affordable prices, gained fame in Sweden. However, such a trade policy became the reason for the boycott that the Swedish government declared on Kamprad in the late 50s. national association furniture sellers, outraged by the low prices of IKEA products. Under pressure from the association, leading loggers began to refuse to cooperate with Kamprad. As a result, the entrepreneur had to take a step that was unusual for a Swedish business at that time: he began purchasing some of the components necessary for assembling furniture “cheaply” from Polish suppliers. Thus, the founder of IKEA laid down the company’s future strategy - to place orders for goods in those countries where it costs less.

In the early 60s, Kamprad made an educational trip to America. There he first saw stores selling using the Cash&Carry system. He liked the trading scheme itself: huge stores are located outside the city, and customers serve themselves - they put goods in a cart and take them to their car.

When IKEA opened a large store near Stockholm in 1963, much of the design was based on the American experience, albeit creatively reworked. Firstly, it was a suburb: land prices there are much lower, and there is a place to park a car. Secondly, in order to reduce transportation costs, the company ordered dismountable furniture, where each piece was placed in a flat package. This made it easier and cheaper to transport them. The buyers themselves had to assemble the furniture. Kamprad has long noticed that people actually like to assemble their own cabinets and sofas. Especially if you make the assembly procedure simple with detailed instructions.

In 1969, the company opened a store in Denmark and built a distribution center in Älmhult. The last step, from a common sense point of view, is not uncontroversial. Where can there be so many buyers in the outback? But Ingvar knew that a car boom had begun in Sweden. And I realized that for serious purchases people are ready to travel even to distant lands. To encourage customers, the IKEA store began selling roof racks for cars. Of course, at a bargain price. Thanks to this policy, the company's turnover doubled in one year. The store itself, called Kungens Kurva, in appearance resembled the New York Guggenheim Museum, which Kamprad really liked. During the grand opening of the store, a huge scandal almost broke out. Nobody expected that so many people would come on the first day. Thirty thousand Swedes certainly wanted to buy furniture at low prices. The store, although so large, did not have so many goods. And the crowd, sweeping away everything in its path, somewhat contradicted the principle preached by IKEA. Here it was customary to have a leisurely discussion about which bookcase would suit the soft chair, accompanied by a cup of delicious coffee.

Kamprad made the only right decision in this situation - to let customers into the warehouse. This is how IKEA accidentally came up with its signature formula: a store-warehouse. It was with Kungens Kurva that the company's operating style was finally and forever determined. Now every IKEA furniture store is a kind of exhibition center. Where not only sofas and wardrobes are displayed, but also any small household items: tablecloths, curtains, bedspreads, towels and candlesticks. Moreover, all this is placed as it should be in real life. Thus, a store visitor can first examine ten children's rooms in a row, and then twenty-five dining rooms or living rooms, and so on. Having figured out how this or that model looks in a real interior, and having chosen the appropriate one, the buyer must go to the warehouse to get it. In convenient packaging, he transports the piece of furniture to his home and assembles it there himself, reading clear and understandable instructions.

After such success in its homeland, IKEA had no choice but to develop foreign markets. Decisions were made spontaneously. For example, the head of the company hesitated for a long time: should he open a store in Switzerland? The country was known for its conservative tastes, and two local chains of furniture stores were well established there. But one day, Kamprad, while walking around Zurich, overheard a conversation between a young couple. “Beautiful chair!” - said the young woman, looking at the display case. “But it’s not affordable for us yet. Let’s buy it next year,” her husband answered. This episode decided the whole matter. And soon IKEA appeared in Switzerland (in 1973). And then in Germany, Austria, Great Britain, USA. In fact, apart from Africa and Asia, IKEA is now present everywhere, including in China. But it is the European market that provides it with the most sales.

In 1976, the development of the New World began - the IKEA store appeared in Canada. In 1981, the company opened its first store in Paris. There are now 10 IKEA stores in France, and it has overtaken Sweden in terms of sales share. True, cheap Swedish furniture has a specific reputation in France. The French apologize to the guests: “We bought furniture from IKEA - we are tight on money right now.”

Since the early 90s, the company has been actively working in Eastern Europe. The Swedes came to Russia at the invitation of Nikolai Ryzhkov. While on an official visit to Sweden in 1990, the then chairman of the USSR government expressed the wish that IKEA purchase products from Russian furniture makers. Representatives of the company visited the then Soviet country and decided that the idea was quite sound. Today the company works with approximately 30 Russian factories scattered throughout the country.

IKEA Business Principles

The IKEA business concept was formed over almost ten years, from the late fifties to the late sixties of the last century. All this time, the company's founder, Ingvar Kamprad, turned IKEA's difficulties into its advantages. For example, we were the first to place our orders abroad. For what? It so happened that in the sixties all Swedish furniture manufacturers declared a boycott of Kamprad. He was literally hated for selling sofas and armchairs at the lowest prices in the country. To get out of this situation, furniture had to be produced in Poland. It turned out that it was much cheaper and more effective than doing the same thing in Sweden. Prices at IKEA have become even lower.

There were difficulties with delivery. Traditionally, furniture was assembled directly in factories, and while it was being transported to the buyer, it often broke: legs fell off, glass doors broke, and the surface was scratched. In order not to lose money on this, Kamprad decided to sell furniture in disassembled form. This again led to savings and allowed prices to be lowered even further. Another example. In Europe in the middle of the last century, furniture was sold only in small showrooms. But because of the cheapness, too many people began to come to us, and we could not cope. I had to build a large store outside the city. There we could serve more customers and save on land rent. As soon as the first large country store opened, it turned out that it was very profitable. (Anders Dahlvig, CEO of IKEA). The Swedish company offered the buyer a holistic concept for home improvement (furniture and all kinds of accessories plus design advice), and this idea turned out to be brilliant.

In addition, in large country stores, along with furniture, they sell everything that is necessary to create a complete interior: flowers in pots, photo frames, dishes, candles, chandeliers, curtains, bed linen and children's toys. When the UK authorities recommended that IKEA open small “theme” stores in the city, instead of building giant suburban hangars, the indignant response was: “This will never happen! “Everything under one roof” is our sacred concept.”

All IKEA stores outside Sweden are painted yellow and blue to emphasize the company's Swedishness. The style of the goods also speaks about nationality - the assortment is the same everywhere. Near the cash registers in all the company's stores there are departments of a non-core area for IKEA: they sell Swedish national food.

Inattention to the characteristics, habits and tastes of the local consumer sometimes leads to oddities. At the first IKEA store in the United States, opened in 1976, demand for medium-sized vases outpaced supply. It turned out that Americans were buying them up because the mugs and glasses offered at IKEA were not large enough by American standards. Now IKEA has specialists who study regional specifics by visiting consumers' homes. It turned out that Americans prefer to store clothes folded, while Italians prefer to store them on hangers; Spaniards, unlike Scandinavians, love to decorate their home with framed pictures, prefer bright colors in the interior, love large dining tables and wide sofas. “It’s very easy to forget about the reality that people live in,” says Mats Nilsson, design director.

One Harvard Business School study argues that IKEA uses subtle coercion to subtly force customers to spend more time in its stores (which increases the amount of money they spend there). This will also be supported by a planning solution. trading floors- it’s easy to enter the complex; it takes a long time to get out. IKEA turns ordinary shopping into a pleasant pastime. Children can be left in the play area, elegant displays inspire and stimulate the buyer, and wide aisles eliminate crowding. You can rest and refresh yourself in cozy cafes offering various bonuses and unique Swedish meatballs. It is also important that sellers do not pounce on buyers like vultures, so they can relax and look around. If necessary, it is not difficult to find a consultant in a bright yellow and blue uniform. IKEA's "soft coercion" reaches its apogee in its ability to anticipate consumer needs that he is unaware of. The main thing is to “promote” a new fetish, and it will bring in money. For example, the company released a medium-sized metal clothespin with a rubber ring so that you can hang a magazine on a towel hook. We don't know how many shoppers have agonized over reading a magazine in the bathroom, but the humble clothespin quickly became a bestseller. Two factors worked: visibility (neatly hung clothespins with magazines in the exhibition bathroom act magically, convincing of the need for a purchase), as well as price (clothespins are so cheap that you can buy them just “just in case”). Such products at IKEA are informally called “hot dogs” - they are cheaper than sausages in the cafeteria.

IKEA Pricing

According to Ingvar Kamprad, IKEA prices should take your breath away. The company is not shy about stating that its prices are competitors' prices divided by two. There is also a “second-tier tactic”: if a competitor launches a cheaper similar product, IKEA immediately develops the next version of this product at a price that can’t be beat.

“It’s easy to create beautiful and expensive things, but try to create a beautiful, functional thing that will be cheap,” Josephine Rydberg-Dumont voices the company’s pricing philosophy. When developing the next product, IKEA first sets a limit above which the price should not rise, and only then the designers (there are more than 90 of them) puzzle over how to fit into these limits. No product will go into production unless there is a way to make it affordable. The creation of products sometimes takes several years. For example, the creation of the PS Ellan dining table ($39.99) with flexible but stable legs took more than a year and a half, during which time it was possible to invent an inexpensive material (a mixture of rubber and sawdust), allowing you to achieve the desired properties.

IKEA's international success also apparently lies in the fact that middle class in most countries of the world it is more or less identical. If not in income, then in outlook on life and ideas about style. The system-forming style of IKEA is functionality, simplicity, ingenuity and declared individuality. According to the company, main idea, promoted by this style, is that the vast majority of people, in principle, have everything they need to be happy - they just forget about it or don’t pay attention. And in order to bring them to this simple conclusion, you need very little - suggest changing the decor in the kitchen, installing a convenient shelving unit in the office, or purchasing some funny little thing that will enliven the interior of the living room. This is precisely the “HISTORICAL OPTIMISM” preached by IKEA, which is the basis of the company’s marketing strategy.

IKEA personality

In particular, IKEA fundamentally refuses to divide things into beautiful and ugly. The style of a home can include very different, sometimes very basic, unpretentious and unexpected objects and materials - from great-grandmother's boxes to ultra-modern lamps, and the degree of their aesthetics depends on a whole set of conditions that shape a specific human environment. Therefore, the company’s products are usually demonstrated in specific interiors: the technique is almost a win-win, since an item that is completely nondescript at first glance and seems absolutely unnecessary to the buyer often attracts his attention precisely due to the surrounding environment and forces him to purchase it.

IKEA, like any other global brand, has a controversial consumer reputation. For example, the company has long been deservedly reproached for the imposed standardization of the environment - there is no talk of any individuality, which the company likes to talk about. Of course, this irritates many people. The company, however, has enough self-irony to joke about this topic. Before opening a store in new country The company always does a little research. They ask if customers like their furniture. And they always get the same result - absolutely no one likes IKEA furniture. This happened in Italy, and in Germany, and in Russia, and in other countries. The company gets acquainted with these results and opens a store. As soon as it opens, the boom begins.

Overall, IKEA recognizes that the company has room to move. The company thinks like this: a person buys furniture not only for himself, but also for his neighbors. He chooses inexpensive and functional furniture from IKEA. Places it in bedrooms, kitchens and children's rooms. Where he spends most of his time, and where it is not customary for outsiders to be allowed. But in the living room, in order to puff out their cheeks in front of their neighbors, they buy mahogany sets and leather sofas. We have conquered kitchens and bedrooms, they say at IKEA, now our task is to conquer the living rooms of our customers.

Ingvar Kamprad

The phenomenal success of IKEA is inextricably linked with the personality of its founder. Some even argue that IKEA rests solely on Kamprad and the loyal “old guard”, bearers of IKEA culture. And although his adult children take part in management, without the main “pastor” the company will lose its charm. It seems that Kamprad himself is aware of this, which is why he so carefully creates a cult of traditions, tying IKEA to its notorious roots. Kamprad is now in his ninth decade, officially retired a long time ago, but still accepts active participation in IKEA activities. “Papa Ingvar” is present at openings, inspects existing stores, asking about everything from the organization of trade to the cost of lunch for employees.

Kamprad is easy to talk to, he likes to appear unexpectedly among employees, exchange a few phrases, or even give a lecture, which is usually listened to with bated breath. This man manages to convey his grief to his listeners. According to Christopher Bartlett, a professor at Harvard Business School, “When Kamprad speaks, everyone around him is electrified.”

He is a workaholic. He worked from morning to evening both in his youth and in his mature years. And even today, having been a man of retirement age for ten years now, and - partly - having stepped aside from business, he keeps the ever-expanding empire under strict and vigilant control. Constantly traveling from Lausanne to Sweden and other countries of the world, Kamprad inspects about 20 department stores a year one after another. However, such inspections are perceived by department store employees with joy rather than fear. In general, the “IKEA family,” as Kamprad himself calls his huge staff, generally loves “Papa Ingvar,” a stingy but caring man. He is keenly interested in everything - from the cost of lunch in the employee canteen to the organization of personnel work at each work site. As a good leader, he knows that “personnel decide everything.”

Being, first of all, a businessman, and then a father, he “excommunicated” his three sons from the throne. Each of them works at the IKEA concern, each will receive a huge sum from their father's legacy. But Kamprad does not allow them to lead his empire. “You can’t run a concern with three people,” he explains. “Having given preference to one, I will destroy my brainchild with the internecine struggle of my sons.” Such certainty - on the verge of cruelty - in individual decisions made by Kamprad, causes some comparisons with a sect. An IKEA sect in which everyone submits to the will of their father and patron.

IKEA - problems, rumors, gossip, reputation

Not everything is perfect in the IKEA saga. Critics grumble about poor service, queues and crowding, while unclear assembly instructions and sometimes missing screws and nuts are called a blatant mockery of the buyer. There are also those who contemptuously call IKEA’s mass design “consumer goods” in which individuality is lost. More “toothed” critics say that IKEA has an aggressive business style, that the company puts pressure on suppliers, forcing them to change the product line, “pacifies” the recalcitrant... The company is criticized for the quality of individual products, and afforestation defenders accuse them of all mortal sins. But, according to customer reviews, IKEA remains a symbol of global unity, a sweet word for millions of its fans, no matter what critics say.

During the existence of the concern, its reputation was repeatedly under threat. In the mid-80s, a big scandal broke out related to the use of toxic substance- formaldehyde. For the first time, the company managed to get out of the situation quite in a non-standard way: IKEA has allocated approximately $3 million to GREENPEACE research programs. After this, similar scandals took place until the end of the 90s, but they did not cause serious damage to the company’s image, thanks to the already described know-how in communicating with environmentalists.

IKEA: Economy should be economical

There are legends about Kamprad's miserliness. When he goes on business trips - and he has to go often - he lives in a three-star hotel, and at breakfast (if it is included in the price of the stay) he eats to his fill, so as not to open his wallet until the evening. When he has to pay for food out of his own pocket, our millionaire goes to second-rate restaurants, not hesitating to kill the worm with a hamburger. He never rides in a taxi unless absolutely necessary. In public transport, he says, it is much cheaper to travel, and there is an opportunity to communicate with people, whose tastes and needs a good businessman needs to know. When going on business, he books tickets exclusively in second class, and numerous photographs of Kamprad indicate that he dresses cheaply and often sloppily (which a real billionaire can easily afford). “At my age, it’s stupid to waste money,” Ingvar explains to journalists, who have been persistently asking for decades what explains his greed, and advises them to get to know his eldest son Peter, who has outdone his father with his stinginess.

“How can I demand frugality from the people who work for me if I spend my time in luxury and comfort” Ingvar Kamprad.

Strict principles of economy apply within the corporation itself. IKEA maintains prices thanks to a clearly structured strategy. The Swedish company orders its furniture only from places where it is produced cheaply. The company produces 10% of its ten thousand product range itself, and buys the rest. Moreover, he literally buys in parts: tabletops - in one country, table legs - in another. This is done in order to reduce costs.

Maximum savings everywhere and in everything is the general strategic line of the company from the first days and throughout its existence. Savings begin with the development of models of future branded products, which IKEA designers work in direct contact with manufacturers to avoid multiple adjustments. It continues as suppliers search for the most suitable options for raw materials and materials in terms of cost and quality, their wholesale purchase for the entire batch planned for production, includes all processes for manufacturing products - almost always serial and in-line, with maximum optimization and automation of technological operations. Finally, it ends in IKEA stores, where the practice of “self-service warehouses” is widespread, from which customers independently pick up furniture disassembled and packed in flat boxes.

Ingvar Kamprad himself revealed the pricing policy at IKEA in an interview. A family with an average or lower average income is taken into account. It is calculated how much she is able to spend on home improvement and on each pillow or floor lamp separately. In this way, the optimal cost of each item is determined. Next, the company’s specialists create its technical description and see which supplier can ensure its high-quality implementation within the budget. Sometimes company managers help the manufacturer master new technology. Perhaps today such a technique no longer surprises anyone, but when IKEA started, it seemed like a revolution.

IKEA, in a sense, is also a symbol of economic stability. Prices for goods approved and published in the seasonal catalog do not change throughout the year. The only thing that can change them is discounts as part of regular sales that the company holds.

Thrift is an element of the company's business strategy and the main quality of its founder. With the blessing of Ingvar Kamprad, the concept of luxury is absent at IKEA. Top managers fly to business meetings in economy class and stay in inexpensive hotels. Kamprad himself drinks expensive drinks from the hotel minibar, if only later he can replace them with cheaper ones bought in the nearest supermarket. The billionaire allegedly does not shun magazine coupons for free parking and often uses public transport. It is not surprising that the free models during the filming of the annual IKEA catalog are employees of the company.

The founder amazes those around him with his outward modesty and teaches: “Money spoils a person. They should be used as resources for investment, not as a means to satisfy whims." In 2006, the Swedish press named Kamprad the richest man on the planet, surpassing Bill Yates himself, but IKEA’s intricate ownership system does not allow an accurate calculation of the Swedish businessman’s assets, so the sensation is not documented.

Kamprad's economy is not coquetry, flirting with the people - they say, I'm no better than you. This is a life credo and at the same time part of the IKEA philosophy. “Every crown is a crown,” Kamprad likes to say, that is, “a penny saves a ruble.” In his opinion, many techniques of designers - super fashionable and modern - make furniture more expensive and, therefore, inaccessible to the general consumer. That is why IKEA designers must have an understanding of the entire furniture production chain - from the idea to the delivery of the finished product to the store and from there to the buyer. This helps the designer understand the pricing process, and prices in turn should be kept as low as possible. This is why IKEA furniture is sold as semi-finished products that are assembled by buyers at home. This reduces the cost of storage and transportation. For the same savings, design centers serve all IKEA markets. Orders for furniture production are placed all over the world - wherever it is cheaper.

“IKEA’s business philosophy is defined by one golden rule: treat every problem as a new opportunity. Challenges provide amazing opportunities. When we were forbidden to buy the same furniture that was produced for others, we began to invent own design, and we had our own style. When we lost suppliers in our country, the rest of the world opened up to us,” recalls Kamprad.

According to Ingvar Kamprad, any business should remain in touch with its roots. Therefore, every employee of the IKEA “family” of thousands scattered around the world knows by heart the saga of the birth of the company. Its headquarters are located not in fashionable Stockholm, but in the village of Elmhult, where the first furniture pavilion was opened in 1953. There is also a museum where you can learn about the milestones of her business journey. For IKEA, historical heritage is an integral component of success corporate culture and business philosophy, on which more than one generation of managers and ordinary workers has been brought up.

Researchers say teams and companies driven by a great idea are more productive, even if their ultimate goal is to make money. IKEA was initially guided by a high idea, encapsulated in the slogan “A better life for many.” Ingvar Kamprad wanted people all over the world to be able to buy beautiful furniture and home decor, and this desire turned into a mission. British magazine Icon wrote: “If it weren’t for IKEA, modern home design would be out of reach for most people.” And Icon called Kamprad himself “the person who had the most powerful influence on consumer tastes.”

The future existence of IKEA cannot be called cloudless: the aging population of developed countries does not feel sufficient enthusiasm for “simple and modern” design, rivals with similar products are actively promoting on the market: the Italian Argos, the Danish Ilva. In addition, traditional trade is threatened by the boom in online shopping. However, IKEA is not afraid of this: its stores offer the buyer an irreplaceable visual and tactile experience and real pleasure from spending time. IKEA counters the other “threats” with an unprecedented emotional response in the hearts of millions of customers around the world....

Slogan: Home is the most important place in the world
Make a house a home
Improving everyday life for the majority
Affordable solutions for better living
Not for the rich but for the wise

A company that owns the largest retail chain selling furniture and various household goods. Products IKEA especially popular in Europe. It is believed that in the countries of Western Europe there is not a single house, not a single apartment, where it would not be possible to find something purchased in IKEA. And although it is believed that the furniture of this brand is not of very high quality, affordability determines its popularity.

The company was founded in 1943 when young entrepreneur Ingvar Kamprad founded the company IKEA, which sold writing instruments. He was 17 years old then. The name of the company is an abbreviation, which stands for the following: the initials of the creator ( I ngvar K amprad), to which Ingvar added the name of the farm on which he grew up ( E lmtaryd), located in the parish A gunnaryd (Agunnaryd), which is in southern Sweden. That is IKEA- This Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd.

To say that Ingvar was a talented businessman is to say nothing. It is no coincidence that he eventually became one of the richest people in the world with a multi-billion dollar fortune. With a lot of effort, he managed to promote his business. Nevertheless, the Second World War had little impact on Sweden, which was essentially an ally of both the Third Reich and its opponents. Military operations took place somewhere to the side, without interfering everyday life ordinary Swedes.

The range that the company sold was constantly expanding. Mainly due to all sorts of little things, like stationery, underwear and household chemicals. The idea to start making furniture came in 1948. And this furniture had to be inexpensive so that the average person with low income could afford it. Having thought about all this, Ingvar agreed with several small manufacturers who began to produce furniture to his order. Success came quickly; already in 1951, the businessman acquired a small factory, where he began to produce furniture on his own. At the same time, he began printing his first product catalogue.

And here we had to face the first problems. Furniture in those years was not a luxury, but a very expensive product. With his actions, Ingvar greatly interfered with other Swedish manufacturers. As a result, they managed to persuade logging companies to stop cooperating with IKEA. Anyone else would have given up. But not Ingvar! Having considered the current situation, he began to purchase the necessary components in Poland, while also benefiting in price. It was then that the idea was born to simplify the assembly and delivery of furniture as much as possible, making it a prefabricated unit, like a kind of construction set. And although this required some effort on the part of consumers, they were satisfied, since it became much easier to deliver the purchase home, and its price dropped even more.

By the end of the 50s, IKEA stores began to appear throughout the country, where you could not only buy furniture and other goods, but also have a cup of coffee. And the prices were simply pleasing to the eyes. All the stores were large in size and located outside the city - Ingvar “spotted” this system from an American retail chain Cash & Carry.

By the early 60s, Ingvar realized that his company was ripe to enter the world market. The conquest began first of the neighboring Scandinavian countries, and then of all of Europe.

To date IKEA is one of the largest corporations retail. Its retail outlets are located in dozens of countries around the world. Hundreds of thousands of people work for it. Product catalogs are published in hundreds of millions of copies in various languages. The prices printed in them traditionally do not change throughout the year, regardless of any circumstances. Many shops IKEA operate under a franchise system.

Ingvar himself is no longer the owner of the empire he created, which has belonged to the Netherlands since 1982. INGKA Holding B.V., which is the parent company of a charitable (according to the poisonous statement of some journalists and analysts, a pseudo-charitable) foundation Stichting Ingka Foundation. It is believed that the reason he took this step is that Swedish taxes are too high. The company's head office is located in the Dutch province of South Holland (Zuid Holland) in Delft, a town located near Rotterdam. But in general, the structure of the holding is incredibly complex and confusing, it includes dozens of companies of different types from different founders. There is an opinion that such difficulties are deliberately created in order to minimize taxes.

Interesting fact:

Ingvar Kamprad went down in history not only as a businessman and billionaire, but also as a terrible cheapskate who always dresses at sales, buys everything as cheaply as possible, and tries, whenever possible, to walk or ride a bicycle. He uses taxis only as a last resort and, they say, never leaves tips anywhere.

The site's observer studied the history of the Swedish company, which made furniture accessible to the widest segments of the population.

Furniture is an important part of creating home comfort, and it may seem strange that at the beginning of the 20th century, even in developed countries, many could not afford to buy it. Good furniture was quite expensive, and it could be purchased mainly by wealthy people, while the rest were content with what they had or made it with their own hands.

Such circumstances faced the young Swedish entrepreneur Ingvar Kamprad, who became interested in the furniture business back in 1948. Most likely, he could not even imagine that this idea would eventually allow him to create a worldwide famous brand with a turnover of more than $30 billion.

Ingvar Kamprad was born in 1926 and spent his childhood on his parents' farm. Already in early childhood the boy was famous for his entrepreneurial abilities. At the age of five, Ingvar began selling matches to his neighbors, having learned that they could be purchased much cheaper in Stockholm. The boy's aunt helped him buy the first batch of goods. Ingvar would later say that the moment when he sold his first batch of matches became his best childhood memory.

It will soon become clear that this was just a small warm-up before his further endeavors. Kamprad's biographers say that the ability to trade was passed on to him from relatives on his father's side. Ingvar's grandfather had his own small business- however, in the end he almost went broke and committed suicide. The family business had to be restored by his grandmother, who significantly influenced Ingvar’s development and even taught him several business lessons.

The unusually enterprising boy grew up, and his goals became increasingly different from the interests of his peers. During his school years, Kamprad spent most of his time looking for new ways to earn money and did not spend the money he received on toys and sweets at all - instead, he saved it. When the family asked the boy why he needed so much money, he answered: “To expand the business.” As a child, Ingvar tried himself in various fields, from selling matches to fishing.

By the age of 17, Kamprad had saved up a good amount of money, after which he borrowed money from his father and opened his own company. IKEA is an acronym made up of the first letters of the entrepreneur's first and last name and the names of the farm and village where he grew up. The year was 1943, war was raging all over the world, which, fortunately, hardly affected Sweden. First, Ingvar established trade in basic necessities. The first model of work was mailing list goods. The young entrepreneur was forced to combine work and study at the Getterberg commercial school, where, as he himself says, he learned a lot.

Writing materials began to be in particular demand at that time. To increase profits, the young man takes a risky step: he takes out 500 crowns on credit and orders ballpoint pens from France for them.

When the goods finally arrived, the entrepreneur realized that he needed to sell them quickly in order to pay off his debt. The task was not easy, but Kamprad still found a way to attract buyers to his presentation. He gave a note to the newspaper in which he promised to treat every visitor to a cup of coffee and a bun. Inspired by the proposal, people literally broke into his presentation. More than a thousand guests gathered, and it was a disaster. The young entrepreneur understood that he had to treat everyone, otherwise his name would suffer. With great difficulty and considerable expense, he still managed to do it.

The presentation of the pens was a great success, and the product was sold out very quickly. Ingvar first paid off the loan and never took it out again. He began to think about the importance of advertising in attracting customers - in the future it would become one of the main factors in turning his company into an empire. Another consequence of this promotion was the mandatory presence of a restaurant in every IKEA brand store.

In 1945, after graduating from commercial school, the young entrepreneur was sent to work as a clerk at the Forest Owners Association. Ingvar did not waste time here either: he obtained from one of the managers the right to sell saws. The business model did not change; the young man was forced to independently deliver goods for sale. Invaluable assistance was provided to him by his relatives, who supported all of Ingvar’s endeavors.

A year later, Kamprad was drafted into the army. An active and very efficient young man quickly won the trust of the unit commander and received permission to take night leave more often. This allowed him to rent a small office and continue to run his own business.

In 1948, Kamprad began to think about expanding his business. It dawned on him: furniture is what everyone uses one way or another. The problem is that it was quite expensive then, and in order to make money, it was necessary to make this product publicly available. According to Ingvar himself, the last argument in favor of working in this direction was that his competitors were also trying to do this. In the same year, IKEA expanded: the head of the company, who is also the only employee, despairing of working in so many directions on his own, finally hired the first employee. By 1950, the company already employed four people.

Kamprad spent all his time trying to find cheap furniture - at first it was a variety of small productions that could not command a high price. Its competitors also tried to reduce costs, but could not offer the same prices as IKEA. Over time, Ingvar's approach changed, and instead of reselling furniture, he began to buy individual parts and assemble them in his own small factory, which further reduced prices. Then Kamprad's famous formula appeared - it is better to sell 600 chairs inexpensively than 60 for a lot of money.

Soon a wave of discontent arose, signaling the beginning of serious competition. First, the company's products were no longer allowed at furniture fairs, where all new products were usually presented. Kamprad had to sneak into these events by cunning, hiding in the back seat of a car. The fight against IKEA reached the point of absurdity: once Ingvar was fined for selling products at an exhibition that took place in his own building.

Kamprad was not going to give up, and his competitors realized that he could not be stopped by such methods. They took the last possible step, threatening the suppliers to boycott the young entrepreneur. But that didn't help either. This was due to Kamprad’s original entrepreneurial approach, as well as the unusual popularity of the company’s products in Sweden.

Such fame became possible thanks to the innovations that Ingvar introduced into business. The first of them was the advertising booklet “News from IKEA,” aimed at people with low incomes, a prototype of modern catalogs that was supposed to attract customers. For the first few years, the booklet advertised not furniture at all, but familiar pens for writing.

In addition, the cheapness of the products sold and Ingvar’s ability to negotiate with suppliers helped out - some of them collaborated with the young entrepreneur, despite all the prohibitions.

The Swedish furniture retailer IKEA is one of the most popular companies in the world. They made quality furniture accessible to the entire population. Today the company sells more than $28 billion worth of products, and it all started with a small store opened by a young guy who had just graduated from high school. How did IKEA become one of the best in the world and open more than 300 stores in different countries?

IKEA's opening and expansion

Good furniture has always been very expensive. If we're talking about about high-quality wooden furniture, then it must be purchased from professionals who manufacture it. Otherwise, you had to do it yourself.

Nowadays, products have emerged from cheaper materials, wood substitutes, which have a lot of useful properties and essentially differ only in cost from real wood. But even then, buying furniture for your home is an expensive proposition. That is why IKEA, which produces high-quality products at a much lower cost than usual on the market, is one of the most popular in its field.

Creation of IKEA

IKEA was founded by a young Swedish entrepreneur, Ingvar Kamprad. He started selling at the age of 5, when he bought matches in a store and sold them to neighbors at a higher price. Over time, he began to expand his range, after which he opened a small store in his parents’ house. A few years later, he began to more actively study the market, after which he came up with a system for sending goods by mail. Ingvar took the products to the railway station, from where he sent them to the users' addresses.

After graduating from school, Kamprad decided to open a full-fledged store in which he could sell his goods. His father, who had already seen his son’s success in business, singled out a large sum on this. At the same time, the IKEA brand appeared, although it sold a variety of goods, not furniture. The name of the company is associated with the name of the young businessman Ingvar Kamprad, as well as the area in which he grew up, Elmtaryd, Agunnaryd.

First difficulties

More than 5 years have passed since the opening of the first store in 1943, and IKEA has already become a brand and trademark. Ingvar Kamprad has already begun to develop furniture design, as well as sell them. And at the same time, IKEA offered one of the lowest prices for home equipment.

The benefit for the business was that World War II did not take place in Sweden, so he could continue to work and develop his company. But everything could not be so good, because Ingvar’s successes did not suit local competitors in furniture production. At that time, home furniture was practically a luxury, so ordinary people could not afford it. Accordingly, the low cost of goods in the IKEA store began to attract customers, which negatively affected the income of competitors. At first it seemed almost unnoticeable, but after expanding its business, IKEA began to have problems.

In 1955, large enterprises that supplied wood and furniture fittings refused to cooperate with IKEA. The entrepreneur had to look for other suppliers. The best option was companies from Poland, they offered affordable prices and high quality tree. But the difficulty lay in the furniture assembly system itself: first it was necessary to transport the materials to Sweden, then assemble them at the IKEA factory, and then either sell them in the store (and buyers had to take them home themselves), or transport them to users. All this required expenses, so markups were added to the basic price of furniture, which is why the cost of goods was almost equal to competitors’ products.

IKEA's innovative idea

It was then that Ingvar Kamprad had a “million dollar idea” - not to bring materials to the factory, but to order ready-made molds from the manufacturer different furniture and deliver them to the buyer, after which the client himself could assemble the furniture at home. The sale of ready-made components and detailed assembly instructions was precisely what distinguished IKEA from other companies and made the company one of the best furniture retailers in the world.

Thanks to the new sales system, IKEA began to enter the international market in 1960. Almost instantly the company gained popularity on all continents, and a few years later IKEA had already become a company with multimillion-dollar profits, and made its leader Ingvar Kamprad a billionaire.

IKEA - to be the first and the best

IKEA stores were built outside the city because they were huge. After the 1970s, they began to appear in almost all major countries. The peculiarity of IKEA stores was that they offered not only goods at low prices, but also professional service, assistance to any buyer and even coffee for those who are planning for a long time select products in the store.

IKEA is a large corporation that retails furniture and other goods. They publish catalogs and have their own online stores where you can buy any products for your home. The company employs hundreds of thousands of people.

The company has been recognized several times as one of best places for work, because it employs people with difficult life situations, and also has good conditions.
Owner's condition IKEA Ingvara Kamprad has more than 30 billion.
Ingvar himself, despite his condition, continues to dress at sales, buys cheap goods and does not leave tips.
Because of their scale, IKEA stores are designed to ensure that the customer can see all the products. The layout there is not the same as in a regular store, but a kind of labyrinth, which the employees themselves call “The Natural Path”.
Almost all products, even individual models, have their own name, and not a digital article, as in other stores. This is due to the fact that Invar has dyslexia and cannot remember numbers.
According to statistics, due to the low price and cheapness of all goods, people buy various little things more than they planned. They can come for one product and buy up to 10 different products. This sales method is called “Bula-Bula”.
Unlike most furniture stores, IKEA allows you to test products - the client can lie on a sofa or bed, and even sleep on it.
Store employees do not have the right to impose themselves and try to sell a person more goods.
Marriage psychologists advise couples to go to IKEA and try to buy different products. This is due to the fact that lovers often quarrel there and cannot choose the best product. Such incidents happen so often there that the behavior of employees in such cases is described in the basic instructions that they must learn.
The employees themselves are given a huge number of benefits, and at Christmas they are given original gifts. Most often these are random air tickets to anywhere in the world.

Today the IKEA brand sells a huge number of products that have good quality and low cost. The success story of this company is an example for any entrepreneur - how to fight for your business, look for solutions to problems and not be afraid to introduce non-standard ideas.

IKEA is a Swedish manufacturing and trading group of companies, one of the world's largest retailers of household goods and furniture. The company's turnover in 2016 exceeded 36 billion euros. Company long time is among the “Best Global Brands” (the average position in the ranking is 26th place), and in the latest ranking of the “Most Valuable Brands in the World”, IKEA took 55th place with a brand value of 18.08 billion US dollars.

The founder of IKEA is Swedish businessman Ingvar Kamprad. He was born into a family of farmers and spent his entire childhood working in agriculture. Members of Kamprad's family tried to run a business before him, but it did not bring any special dividends. But thanks to this, since childhood, Ingvar had a good understanding of trade. In his youth, he tried to sell matches and fish.

In 1943, having invested all his savings and borrowed money from his father, seventeen-year-old Kamprad opened an IKEA store, whose name is an acronym made up of the initial letters of his first and last name and the names of the farm and village where he was born and raised. The choice of the store's specialization was influenced by the situation in the country. Finding good and inexpensive household items, essentials and furniture was almost impossible.

History of the IKEA logo, image: ikea.com

Ingvar Kamprad started his career by selling small household items., and the first main model of the company's work was mailing.

One of the company's first advertising campaigns was on the verge of failure. Young Kamprad decided to take out a small loan and order ballpoint pens from France, which were in short supply in Sweden at that time. To quickly sell the product, he promised everyone who came to the presentation coffee and a bun. This proposal attracted more than a thousand people, which significantly exceeded the plans of the young businessman. Having spent a lot of money and invested a lot of effort, he fulfilled his promise. The presentation was successful and the product sold quickly.

Video: the amazing story of the founder of IKEA.

Stages of company development

First steps

Until 1948, the IKEA store was focused on selling small household supplies. During this period, Kamprad began to think about expanding his business. To expand the range, he decided to choose furniture that always has a stable demand. And at that time, inexpensive furniture was considered a scarce commodity. The company's expansion began with an increase in staff. Until this period, only Kamprad himself worked in the store. In 1948 he hired his first employee. By 1950, the company's staff already numbered 4 people.

At first, the company focused on cheap furniture, which was made in small industries. Later, the approach was changed: it was decided to purchase parts and assemble the furniture ourselves. Thus, we managed to significantly reduce prices and gain popularity among customers.

In 1958, the first IKEA brand store was opened in Älmhult. Here, for the first time in Sweden, it was possible to try out furniture before purchasing. This marketing ploy greatly increased the store’s popularity.

Due to difficulties with suppliers, who were prohibited by competitors from doing business with IKEA, in the late 50s, I. Kamprad was faced with a shortage of goods for sale. To solve the problem, he decided to purchase goods abroad. All necessary goods he found it in factories in Poland and organized timely deliveries to Sweden.

By the early 60s, several IKEA stores were already operating in Sweden and Ingvar Kamprad began to think about entering foreign markets. It was decided to start in Norway and in 1963 a store opened in Oslo. And by the end of the 1960s, the first IKEA store opened in Denmark.

At the same time, tableware was added to the store's product line. Also, to reduce queues, work was carried out to optimize the number and placement of cash desks.

In 1973, to optimize taxation, the company's center was moved to Denmark.

The beginning of active expansion

Photo: pixabay

In the 70s, the company began active expansion in Western Europe: stores were opened in Switzerland, Germany, and France. In the late seventies, Ingvar Kamprad’s work “The Commandments of a Furniture Dealer” was presented to the world, which became a must-read book for all company employees.

In the early 1980s, the first IKEA stores opened in Saudi Arabia, China and Kuwait.

And in 1985, the brand entered the US market. The first store was opened in Philadelphia. Ingvar Kamprad had doubts about the American market, but thanks to the popular hippie cult at the time, IKEA's democratic and original stores quickly became popular.

In parallel with conquering new markets, the company expanded its product range. In the 1980s, IKEA introduced its first sofa.

In 1986, Ingvar Kamprad left his post as head of the company and became a consultant to the Stiching INGKA Foundation. General Director became Anders Muberg, who worked as Kamprad's deputy.

In the early 1990s, the expansion of countries in Eastern and Southern Europe began. The first stores were opened in Hungary and Poland, and a little later the company came to Slovakia and the Czech Republic. In 1996, brand stores opened in Spain. Also during this period, a set of rules was created regulating work in the company.

Work via the Internet

IKEA was one of the first major retailers to go online. The company's website, which talks about its philosophy, went live in 1997.

In 1999, the company's sales amounted to €6 billion. 20% of the volume was provided by stores in the USA and Asia. In this regard, it was decided to intensify work in these markets.

Since the early 2000s, IKEA has been actively working on the development of Asian stores and Internet commerce. The first store in Japan was opened in 2006 and the chain began to quickly develop using standard technology. The Chinese market, on which great hopes are pinned, did not conquer immediately. The first stores opened in the early 2000s brought losses. Only after changing the concept for this market did the Chinese chain of stores begin to develop. Today it has about 10 stores.

Video: see with your own eyes how production is organized at IKEA.

IKEA in Russia

IKEA's first attempts to enter the Russian market date back to the late 1980s. Ingvar Kamprad personally negotiated and planned to create an entire furniture production complex in the USSR. But a final agreement was never reached.

The company returned to the Russian direction in the late 1990s, and at the beginning of 2000, the first store was opened in Khimki. Investments in the project amounted to about $200 million. On the first day, about 30,000 people visited the hypermarket. The opening of the second store attracted more than 50,000 visitors.

By 2008, there were 11 brand stores in Russia, and in 2017 there were already 14.

In September 2016, IKEA launched Russia's largest furniture factory. The volume of investment in this project is estimated at €50 million.

Main competitors

Globally, the Swedish retailer has virtually no competitors. In certain regions and areas they compete with IKEA JYSK, Metro Group, Leroy Merlin and Hoff. Only JYSK, which operates in the same segment as IKEA, can be considered a direct competitor. Metro Group, Leroy Merlin and Hoff have a wider product range than the Swedish retailer, so they partially compete with it.

IKEA today

Today IKEA is formally a Dutch company. The country of registration was changed in 2012 to optimize taxation.

In 2016, the company's revenue amounted to 36.4 billion euros. Today the company operates 389 stores around the world, which are visited by more than 900 million visitors per year. IKEA has 183,000 employees.

The priority direction of the company's development is online sales. IKEA develops modern technology platform, which should stimulate sales growth in this segment.

Significant hopes also rest on the Chinese market, which has not yet been fully developed and has significant potential for growth.