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IKEA time machine: 40 years of Dreaming the Possibilities

“It’s a big country. Someone’s got to furnish it.”  

That’s a tagline from one of the earliest IKEA television commercials that aired soon after everyone’s beloved Swedish furniture store touched down in the United States in 1985.  

Forty years later, the country’s the same size – but we got much bigger.

Want to take a scroll through the past four decades of history in the IKEA time machine and revisit some of our biggest moments? Let’s go!

1985 - 1995

1985: Forty-two years after Ingvar Kamprad dreamt of and founded your fave furniture company across the pond in Sweden, IKEA opened its first U.S. store in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania. Just a hop, skip and a jump away from Philadelphia, grabbing an affordable, ready-to-assemble bookshelf and a delicious Swedish meal no longer required jet lag.

1992: IKEA U.S. expanded in Southern California and Texas by taking over Stor Furnishings International, a furniture business competitor. Hello, sunny SoCal! OK, which way to the beach?

1994: IKEA aired an ad on television featuring a same sex couple. “IKEA is introducing what is believed to be the first general advertising effort in the mainstream media to feature identifiably gay consumers,” wrote The New York Times. 

1995: The IKEA PS collection launched at the innovative Milan Furniture Fair under the banner “Democratic Design.” This bold collection exemplified our mission of providing modern furniture designs at an affordable price. It hit shelves in the U.S. soon after and some pieces, such as the now iconic IKEA PS 1995 clock, are still tick tocking on the shelves at your local store. 

crowd of people at store
blue clock
people outside store
two men talking at table

Wait, am I cooking in the wrong kitchen?

If you bought one of the earliest IKEA kitchens, it may have been a little confusing at first. Why? Our kitchens were measured using the metric system. Oops! Moving from Europe (where the metric system is king) to the U.S. was a bit of a rocky transition at first, but we updated the menu quickly.

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1995-2005

1997: Hej, we’re online! Shopping was not yet an option (everyone, not just us, was still learning, we swear!), but you could browse and see all the latest furniture and furnishings.

2000: Ingvar Kamprad put together the first ever print IKEA catalogue in 1951 and it underwent many evolutions over the years. In 2000, it launched for the first time in print and digital format. Did you download it?

2001: Online shopping is a thing, hurray! Too busy to swing by your local IKEA store? Not a problem. For the first time, customers in the U.S. could shop online. 

room setting
magazines in a pile
people in a room
screenshot of IKEA website

2005 - 2015

2007: Goodbye, free plastic bags! In a move toward improved sustainability, we began charging 5 cents at checkout for plastic bags. For the next year we donated all proceeds to American Forests, a conservation non-profit, as well as lowered the price of our reusable blue FRAKTA bags.

2011: Welcome to IKEA Family! Our loyalty program made affordable furniture even more affordable with offers and other perks, like free coffee and tea every time a member visited. Think you’re dreaming? Think again.

2016: We published our first ever IKEA US Life at Home Report based on a massive research campaign and created to give a snapshot of how everyday people lived at home. The survey asked questions about recycling, household norms around texting during dinner, people’s favorite room in their home and more.

Bag with IKEA logo
Two people talking
person carrying FRAKTA bag
Lightbulbs

2015 - 2025

2016: We were the first U.S. furniture retailer to start selling only LED lighting. Considering the environmental benefits and cost-saving consequences for our customers, it was a no-brainer.

2016: 200 million copies of the IKEA catalogue were distributed in 32 languages, making it the most ever distributed since it launched in 1951.

2018: So maybe you didn’t have time to put together your new IKEA furniture - Taskrabbit to the rescue! Taskrabbit was rolled out in 2018 to help people assemble their new items, whether one piece of furniture or everything in the haul. Initially only in select markets, Taskrabbit is now available everywhere.

2021: The Buy back and resell program was launched to help promote circularity. By buying back people’s gently-used IKEA items and reselling them in our As-is section we helped prolong the life of the furniture and improved sustainability for the business and for customers.

2024: The first IKEA Style Guide launched to help showcase four exciting design styles – including Scandinavian folklore and warm minimalism – and to provide tips on how to bring these styles home.  

2024: We launched a Spanish language website in the U.S. to make our affordable furniture even more accessible to Spanish speaking customers. Bienvenidos!

2025: We dreamt up more ways to make our IKEA Family loyalty program more robust. In May, IKEA Family members started earning rewards in addition to other discounts and benefits. Yes, just like when it launched in 2011, it’s still free! No, you’re not dreaming. 

Screenshot of website
two people carrying KALLAX
IKEA magazine
Chair on the floor

Take a walk down memorable moment lane

With 40 years of fun in the blue bag, how do we pick our all-time favorite moments? Here are a few that had you dropping “the marketing department needs a raise” in the comments. 

Tiny home scavenger hunt

After we created a 187 sq. ft. IKEA tiny home decked out with a functional kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and living space, there was only one thing left to do: Give it to the winner of our Instagram scavenger hunt. Because big dreams come in tiny packages! 

Meatball candle

If you love the smell of meatballs morning, noon and night, we here for you. That’s why we gave away about 3,000 meatball scented candles to select customers to celebrate the 10th anniversary of IKEA Family. Sniff, sniff… yum!

Big blue bag

When we say big, we mean BIG. One day, a 19 ft. tall version of the iconic blue IKEA FRAKTA bag appeared near Chicago’s Millenium Park and ended its journey in New York City’s Madison Square Park. What was inside? Affordable designs and endless possibilities!