IKEA: the Swedish-founded home furnishing brand and how it works

IKEA is a home furnishing brand founded in Sweden in 1943, whose concept and trademark are owned by Inter IKEA Systems B.V. and whose stores are run by 13 franchisee groups around the world. It sells furniture, kitchens, textiles, lighting and food, mostly in flat packs that customers assemble at home.

The brand matters because of its reach. In the financial year to August 2025, IKEA stores and online channels recorded 44.6 billion euros in retail sales and 915 million store visits, and Inter IKEA chief executive Jon Abrahamsson Ring said that “Making IKEA more affordable for the many people is central to who we are.”

Overview and Founding

Ingvar Kamprad registered IKEA in 1943 in southern Sweden. The business first sold small household goods by mail, such as pens, wallets and picture frames, before adding furniture in 1948.

Because it was based in the small town of Älmhult, far from the big cities, IKEA relied on a printed catalogue to reach buyers, with the first annual edition appearing in the early 1950s. A showroom in Älmhult let customers check quality before ordering.

Flat packing, introduced in the 1950s with the LÖVET side table, cut transport costs and damage. Self-service followed after a fire at the Kungens Kurva store near Stockholm in 1970 led staff to let customers collect goods themselves.

By the early 1980s IKEA was present in 20 countries. Kamprad then set up a franchise system to protect the concept and keep the company independent, and ruled out a stock market listing.

Key Milestones

• 1943: Ingvar Kamprad founds IKEA as a mail-order business.
• 1948: Furniture joins the range.
• 1953: A permanent showroom opens in Älmhult on 30 March.
• 1958: The first IKEA store opens in Älmhult on 28 October.
• 1965: Kungens Kurva opens near Stockholm, then the largest furniture store in Northern Europe.
• 1973: The first store outside Scandinavia opens in Spreitenbach, Switzerland.
• 1976: Kamprad sets out IKEA’s culture and values in a nine-point document.
• 1982: The IKEA Foundation is created.
• 2016: The IKEA Museum opens in the first IKEA store in Älmhult.

What It Does

IKEA designs and sells a wide home furnishing range: sofas, beds, wardrobes, kitchens, storage, textiles and lighting, plus food in its restaurants and shops. The first IKEA restaurant opened in 1960, at first serving only coffee and cold dishes.

The brand works through franchising. Inter IKEA Systems B.V. owns the concept and licenses it to 13 franchisee groups. The largest of them, Ingka Group, runs IKEA retail in 31 markets and accounts for 87 percent of IKEA retail sales.

Sales come through stores, online channels and services. In the 2025 financial year stores made up 69 percent of sales, online 28 percent and customer services 3 percent. The company opened 66 new sales locations in that year, including five in the Middle East, and plans entries into Panama and Costa Rica.

In the Kingdom, the IKEA Saudi Arabia website lists stores in Riyadh, Jeddah, Dhahran and Madinah.

The IKEA Foundation, set up by Kamprad in 1982, funds work on poverty and climate change. In 2015 IKEA switched its entire lighting range to LED bulbs.

In Numbers

• Retail sales, financial year 2025: 44.6 billion euros (2024: 45.1 billion euros).
• Store visits, financial year 2025: 915 million (2024: 899 million).
• Online share of sales, financial year 2025: 28 percent.
• Co-workers, financial year 2025: 222,000.
• Stores: more than 500 in 63 markets (IKEA Global, 2026).

Leadership

Jon Abrahamsson Ring is Chief Executive Officer of Inter IKEA Group, the owner of the IKEA concept. Juvencio Maeztu is Chief Executive Officer of Ingka Group, the largest IKEA franchisee, a post he has held since November 2025.

The link between Sweden’s big retailers runs in both directions: Anders Dahlvig, who led IKEA from 1999 to 2009, now sits on the board of H&M, and Stefan Persson of H&M once sat on the board of INGKA Holding, according to Encyclopedia.com.