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IKEA is a privately held international low cost home furnishings retailer. The retailer was founded in Sweden, but is owned by a Dutch-registered foundation, controlled by the Kamprad family. Inter IKEA Systems B.V. is the owner/franchiser of the IKEA trademark and the IKEA Concept. more...

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It is a Dutch-registered company, with offices in the Netherlands, Sweden and Belgium.

General overview

The company distributes its goods through its retail outlets, which sell contemporary furniture; IKEA follows the unconventional but often-copied principle that most of its furniture and accessories are made with the idea that the purchasers assemble the goods themselves.

The chain has 243 stores in 34 countries; most of them in Europe, the rest in the United States, Canada, Asia and Australia. More than 20 stores opened during 2005. IKEA is one of the few store chains to have locations both in Israel and in other Middle Eastern nations.

IKEA is generally pronounced IPA: but in many English-speaking regions, it is pronounced IPA: rhyming with the word "idea". In addition, it is generally pronounced IPA: in Taiwan and China with a Chinese name Yíjīa(宜家).

The IKEA Catalogue, containing about 12,000 products, is printed in 180 million copies (2006) worldwide, and distributed free of charge, through mail and stores worldwide. The IKEA Catalogue appears to meet or exceed the Bible (estimated at 53 to 100 million copies) in number of copies printed annually.

History

IKEA was founded in Älmhult, Sweden in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad, then 17. The company name is a composite of the first letters in his name in addition to the first letters of the names of the property and the village in which he grew up: Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd. This acronym is incidentally similar to the Greek word οικία (home) and to the Finnish word oikea (correct, right).

Originally, IKEA sold pens, wallets, picture frames, table runners, watches, jewelry and nylon stockings or practically anything Kamprad found a need for that he could fill with a product at a reduced price. Furniture was first added to the IKEA product range in 1947 and, in 1955, IKEA began to design its own furniture. The company motto is: "Affordable Solutions for Better Living".

At first, Kamprad sold his goods out of his home and by mail order, but eventually a store was opened in the nearby town of Älmhult. It was also the location for the first IKEA "warehouse" store which came to serve as a model for IKEA establishments elsewhere and on March 23, 1963, the first store outside Sweden was opened in Asker, a Norwegian municipality outside Oslo.

Read more at Wikipedia.org