Everything you wanted to know about IKEA, but were afraid to ask

The New Yorker magazine recently published an exhaustive list of facts and figures, along with a bit of dirt, on our favourite Swedish giant. Written by Lauren Collins and entitled House Perfect, the article was as informative as it was amusing. I fancied myself a bit of an expert on IKEA before reading the article but there were some pretty amazing facts in there. I'll highlight the ones I liked the best here.

Photo c/o New Yorker

The best of the funny facts, the so-called "dirt":

• "One in ten Europeans is conceived in an IKEA bed.".
• "Americans keep sofas longer than they keep cars, and change dining-room tables about as often as they trade spouses".
• There is an "Official IKEA Is Hell on Earth" Facebook group.
• So many middle-aged singles were congregating in a Shanghai IKEA in recent months that management were forced to cordon off the area and designate it "match-making corner".
• The Market Hall is unofficially referred to as the "Open the Wallet section" of the store.
• Inside the IKEA museum, there is a filing cabinet storing unfortunate IKEA product names, including ANIS, DICK, FANNY and other words deemed offensive in various languages.
• As reading material, the IKEA catalogue is only slightly less popular than Harry Potter books.
• The Malmo City Theatre premiered "Ingvar! A Musical Furniture Saga." last year.

Photo c/o New Yorker

The best of the facts and figures:

• IKEA has 326 stores in 38 countries.
• IKEA offers more than 9000 products, divided into four "Style groups": Traditional, Scandinavian, Modern, and Popular.
• According to one executive, the company's vision is "to create a better life for the many".
• Cots are the ticket to building a lifelong relationship with core customers according to an internal report.
• All price tags should aim to the left in IKEA stores.
• The capital of IKEA is Almhult, a small village in the south of Sweden.
• Ingvar Kamprad is 85.
• The first IKEA store was opened in 1953.
• The name IKEA is an acronym: the I is for Ingvar, the K for Kamprad - the first and last names of the store's founder, the E is for Elmtaryd, the name of the farm where he grew up, and the A for Agunnaryd.
• The first store to open outside Sweden was in Oslo in 1963.
• In 1973, German executives opened a new store in Konstanz when they meant to open it in Koblenz.
• IKEA's corporate culture centre is called Tillsammans which means together in Swedish.
• IKEA is the world's third largest consumer of wood.
• The LACK table and the BILLY bookshelf are IKEA's most iconic products.
• IKEA invented flat-packed furniture in 1951.
• 197 million IKEA catalogues in 29 languages and 61 editions were printed last year.
• Recently (on the back of criticism), the IKEA foundation pledged to donate $62 million over three years to help Somali refugees in Kenya.

Photo c/o Mister Ian

And finally, did you know that:

• Bookcases get their names from occupations, curtains from mathematics and bathroom products from lakes and rivers?
• IKEA's designer begin with a price on their brief and work from there?
• Amy Poehler once said that IKEA is Swedish for "argument"?

And, as a parting note, my favourite quote from the article (only because I could relate so well!) was: ...my parents and I spent a long night trying to assemble an IKEA bookshelf with the guidance of only a stick man with a mute smirk.

Do you have any funny IKEA stories? Share them here: blog [at] bemz [dot] com or post in the comment section.

Comments

[Eastcoastmom]

Our now 12 year old son is the one assembling all IKEA stuff at our house, he's been the master of this for years. Must be the Swedish genes or all the Lego we invested in...

[Sparkle and Co]

I know that everytime I walk in ikea to buy a 30 euros table... I spend 200 euros with candles, plates, sheets etc... And, cope with friend to carry your stuff because delivery fees are sometimes more expensive than the chairs you want... But, I'm so ikea! They are so family friendly !!!

[Christie at Bemz]

@Eastcoastmom: Hilarious! Kids today are incredibly adept at picking up information and tackling new and challenging situations. I see that with my son too. The only time I've seen him stumped was when I was given an old rotary dial phone and he couldn't figure out how to use it! Too easy perhaps...

@Sparkle and Co: I hear you. It all adds up so fast. Even though you could swear that everything you picked p cost a euro you somehow still are handed and 100 euro bill at then end of it. That's Ikea magic.