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IKEA launches new dressers with innovative safety features

Corporate newsRetail, Life at homeJune 4, 2019Last edited: September 29, 2021
GLESVÄR offers three solutions to keep customers and their families safe

[International] GLESVÄR is a new family of dressers/chests of drawers with stability features designed to decrease one of the industry’s most serious safety issues - furniture tip-overs.

Älmhult, Sweden, June 4, 2019- Earlier this year, IKEA developed and tested several stability innovations in collaboration with customer focus groups. Based on the feedback, the company is now launching three solutions called GLESVÄR with limited sales in different parts of the globe. These new chests of drawers will have stability features such as interlock with unlock function or forced wall attachment.

“At IKEA, we believe that the safest way to prevent tip-over incidents is to attach furniture to the wall, per our assembly instructions. With the interlock function, we hope to further encourage wall attachment and decrease the risk of furniture tip-over.” says Vladimir Brajkovic, Head of Range and Product Engineering at IKEA Range & Supply.

GLESVÄR will feature three alternative solutions as part of the limited sale, including:

  • Solution 1: Interlock with unlock function only allows one drawer to be opened at the time, until it is attached to the wall. As a result, the interlock function unlocks and all drawers can be open simultaneously.

  • Solution 2: Forced wall attachment feature that prevents any drawers from being opened until it is attached to the wall

  • Solution 3: A two-legged chest of drawers that needs to be secured to the wall to stand upright


“Product safety is always a top priority at IKEA. It is a precondition to fulfill our vision to create a better everyday life for the many people, and it is the core of our democratic design process. With that at heart, we have invested heavily in product development and testing over the years, and we have a history of finding innovative solutions to create safer homes for our customers,” says Brajkovic.

The planned sales start dates for GLESVÄR is December 2019 in the United Kingdom, United States and Germany. More markets will follow in 2020. The limited edition sales will help IKEA learn how customers interact with these new safety innovations and inform future product development.