IKEA building in

IKEA building in Madrid in 1943, Ingvar Kamprad, a young Swedish farmer-started a business selling items by mail in a village in southern Sweden. The idea was to sell items that cover different needs, at affordable prices. Thus began selling pens, wallets, picture frames, watches, jewelry and nylon stockings. In 1947 his business expanded to selling furniture and four years later published the first catalog IKEA furniture, then took the historic decision to focus exclusively on home furnishings, and leaves the other articles. The catalog became a symbol of the company and its main marketing channel. By 1953, IKEA sells by catalog only, but the competition with its closest rival leads to a price war that lowered margins and endangered the quality.With the idea of achieving closer ties between its products and customers, Ingvar Kamprad is decided to launch this year its first showroom in lmhult, a city in southern Sweden. IKEA in Minnesota. The local success was not lost on the cartel that dominated cabinet Swedish industry at that time. Competitors pressured suppliers to complete their supply contracts with IKEA in an attempt off the market. He was also excluded from the main fairs. The boycott against IKEA, forced in 1955 to start designing their own furniture. The idea of furniture for easy transport armable zeroed in flat packages, which further reduced the final price to the customer. The new packaging system reduced storage space, reduced labor costs and avoided damage in transit. In 1963 IKEA opened its first store outside Sweden, in neighboring Norway, on the outskirts of the capital Oslo.In 1965, IKEA opened a store from 45,800 sq meters in the Swedish capital, Stockholm, circular design inspired by the Guggenheim Museum in New York. The success created huge capacity problems to serve customers, so they were allowed to own customers were met. It became a major feature of the firm. In 1969 he opened a new store in the neighboring country of Denmark, and in 1973 the first store outside Scandinavia is opened in Zurich, Switzerland. This store will be key to the rapid expansion of IKEA in Germany, which is now its largest market. IKEA in the world (2007). Countries IKEA stores contain green and blue future openings. Then came shops in Japan (1974), Australia (1975), Hong Kong (1975), Canada (1976) and Singapore (1978). Already in the eighties opened the first store in Spain, will be in Telde, on the island of Gran Canaria, in 1981.In 1985 he inaugurated the first stores in the U.S. and Tenerife in 1992 in Mallorca, in 1996 reached the Iberian Peninsula with its store in Badalona in 1998 in China, in Israel in 1999 and Russia in 2000. On August 27, 2007 opened store number 17 in Sweden, in the town of Karlstad. In Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic is built Ikea’s first store in Latin America.