How IKEA’s flat pack changed the furniture business

Ingvar Kamprad was 17 when he registered IKEA in Sweden in 1943. The name comes from his initials plus Elmtaryd, the family farm, and Agunnaryd, his home village. He started by selling small items such as pens and wallets by mail.

Furniture came a few years later, made by local manufacturers in the forests of Småland.

The flat pack

In the 1950s, the story goes, an IKEA employee took the legs off a table to fit it in a car. The idea of selling furniture flat, for customers to assemble at home, became the company’s core model. Flat packs cut shipping and storage costs and let IKEA price low.

The first IKEA store opened in Älmhult, Sweden, in 1958.

The store format

IKEA’s big blue and yellow stores, with a set path through room displays, a self-serve warehouse and a restaurant serving meatballs, became a template copied around the world. The yearly catalog was printed in huge numbers before the company ended it in 2021.

Ownership

IKEA has an unusual structure, with the brand owned by Inter IKEA and most stores run by Ingka Group, which is controlled by a foundation. Kamprad died in 2018. The company now operates in dozens of countries and is pushing into smaller city stores and online sales.