Celebrating 80 years of IKEA Innovation

Picture of Ingvar Kamprad holding an IKEA chair

Corporate newsRetailJuly 27, 2023

IKEA was founded in Älmhult, Småland, Sweden on July 28th, 1943, by Ingvar Kamprad. The brand began as a small mail-order business where orders were filled by young Ingvar Kamprad on his bicycle.

Fast forward into 2023, IKEA is now globally represented across 62 markets with 462 IKEA touchpoints, physically visited by 700M customers, 2.6 billion online visits, more than 20 million IKEA app downloads*, and most importantly the home furnishing retailer employs more than 231,000 co-workers passionate about creating a better everyday life at home.

Looking back at inspiration and innovation milestones:

1943: Ingvar Kamprad, only 17 years old, registers a company in Sweden on July 28th, 1943, which he names IKEA: an acronym for Ingvar Kamprad from Elmtaryd (the family farm), Agunnaryd (the local township).

1948: Furniture is introduced into the IKEA range. In a brochure, Ingvar explains how the prices can be so low: ”Our prices – without a doubt the lowest in the country – are made possible due to high volumes, direct delivery from the suppliers which helps us achieve low costs.”

1950: The iconic IKEA Catalogue makes its debut.

1958: The first IKEA store opens in Älmhult, Sweden.

1960: IKEA Älmhult introduces the first IKEA Restaurant & Café.

1976: IKEA arrives in Canada with the very first store located in Richmond, B.C.

1983: Ingvar seeks an ownership structure to create the best possible conditions for total independence and a long-term business perspective. He describes this as trying to give IKEA “eternal life.” His solution is to separate the ownership of the retail operation from the IKEA concept and the IKEA brand.

1995: The first IKEA PS collection was launched at the Milan Furniture Fair. The collection introduces the Democratic Design approach that IKEA develops using a three-dimensional design including function, quality, and low price.

2018: IKEA commits to becoming a climate-positive business by 2030.

2018: Ingvar Kamprad passes away at the age of 91.

2021: IKEA to phase out plastic from consumer packaging by 2028.

2022: First Canadian city-centre location, IKEA Toronto Downtown.

2023: 462 touchpoints in 62 countries and 231,000 IKEA co-workers.

*According to figures for FY22 (1 September 2021 – 31 August 2022).