Need a place to build a cozy home without going bankrupt? Look no further than IKEA. As everyone knows, the Swedish company is synonymous with affordable quality furniture. But that’s not all. Going to any of their cleverly designed stores located worldwide, is an experience in its own right. Not only do you get an amazing Scandinavian design at low prices, but their restaurants and showrooms are indeed attractions in their own right.
Founded in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad in a small Swedish farm, with the very Scandinavian idea of making furniture affordable to everyone, what started as a humble business, grew exponentially to become the world’s biggest furniture seller in the world. And one of the planet’s most recognizable and cherished brands.
For many, they mean a way of building a stylish home for the lowest possible price. They offer an idea of value and egalitarianism that makes IKEA more than just a brand. It represents Swedish values like few companies do, (despite their offices now being located in the Netherlands through a notoriously complex system of conglomerate companies).
The majority of IKEA’s furniture is flat-pack, ready to be assembled by the consumer, which helps keep prices low and also creates an emotional relationship with their products. After all, assembling your furniture yourself or with a friend is an experience that’s both fun and easy and that generates fond memories. This is what is called the “IKEA effect.”
Of course, IKEA faced its share of challenges along the way. The logistics of the self-assembly model required clear and easy-to-follow instructions, which took a lot of investment in product design and packaging. IKEA also needed to adapt its products and marketing to fit local tastes and cultural norms. This meant adjusting everything from product dimensions to color schemes to advertising campaigns. But IKEA managed to successfully build on its foundational idea, finding ways to help customers understand the architecture through instructions, as well as keeping the furniture culturally appropriate and even hip.
Besides, the Swedish icon not only offers interior design solutions to make your house stylish and practical with a fantastic selection of well thought solutions. They also serve their ever popular Swedish meatballs (no assembly required) and offer the amusing experience of trying to pronounce and make sense of their signature Swedish nomenclature.
IKEA’s vision is to create a better everyday life offering customers a wide range of well-designed, functional and sustainable home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them. And even if you own only a single Ikea item, you can mention with pride to your guests that your elegant wooden armchair is known as a “Poang,” which means “points” in English.
Register now to join the conversation, access exclusive content and be a part of our exclusive brand communities.
