IKEA story guide
Identity
Hej, it’s great to see you!
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The IKEA Vision IKEA’s vision goes beyond home furnishing. We want to have a positive impact on the world – from the communities where we source our raw materials to the way our products help our customers live a more sustainable life at home. By sharing what we do, and speaking up for what we believe in, we can be part of positive change in society.
Furniture and inspiration for a better everyday life at home Welcome to IKEA, where you will always find affordable furniture, stylish home décor and innovative modern home solutions, as well as design inspiration and unique home ideas! If you are online furniture shopping or if you are visiting a local IKEA store near you, you can expect super low prices on a wide variety of exciting home essentials that are perfect for larger homes and small space living.
How to shop at IKEA Shop with us the way you want! Visit us in store, or shop comfortably from home.
Shop online
Shopping online just got a whole lot easier. Introducing our new IKEA App, experience IKEA’s big blue building without leaving the couch. Browse and save products, see product features and experience a fast and convenient checkout process - everything to make ordering your IKEA products easier than ever!
Shop at an IKEA store
We are safely welcoming customers into the store and we’re following guidelines provided by state and local authorities and the CDC. Everyone must wear a face covering when in our store. In accordance with CDC recommendations, this includes those who have received the COVID-19 vaccination.
DIY the IKEA way
At IKEA, you can do everything yourself. From collecting all your products in store, to transporting and assembling them. But of course, you don’t have to. IKEA offers a wide range of useful services to help you purchase, transport and assemble your products.
Welcome to the club that brings your ideas to life Some clubs are for the select few, but IKEA Family is for everyone. From those whose homes are their passion, to those who are just starting out and need a helping hand. Just by being a member you’ll receive discounts on many products and we even treat you to a free hot drink every time you visit. Because we know it’s nice to feel appreciated.
Join IKEA Family If you want to save even more money when you are shopping at IKEA, be sure to join IKEA Family so you can take advantage of our regular furniture sales, amazing deals on home furnishings and special offers on home accessories. Get ready for big savings whether you are refreshing your space with small upgrades, like new curtains or sheets, or planning bigger home renovation projects, like remodeling your kitchen or doing a DIY bathroom makeover! Bring your ideas to life with special discounts, inspiration, and lots of good things in store. It’s all free.
Get more from your membership Become part of the club
As a member, you have access to discounted member prices on selected IKEA products as well as inspirational workshops, great ideas and a free hot drink every time you say “Hi.”
Benefits & rewards
The more you get involved in our club, the more treats and rewards you get to enjoy: • Free hot coffee or tea with every visit • Happy birthday surprise • Free workshops and events • Exclusive member discounts
We’re always by your side
We give you peace of mind, with helpful things like 90-day price protection, receipts saved to your profile and financing options to bring your ideas to life.
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To a better life for the many people
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Logo History
Our first ever logo was created in 1951. It was round in shape and used the color red. IKEA founder, Ingvar Kamprad, liked the color red because it represents low price.
Colors
Flag of Sweden
IKEA Logo
The blue and yellow IKEA logo is the symbol for instant recognition of the IKEA Brand. They also enhance our uniqueness and our Swedish heritage. The IKEA Brand blue colour creates attention to the offer, thereby making it stand out. The IKEA Brand yellow, on the other hand, is an optimistic color giving customers a positive impression when meeting the IKEA Brand, everywhere, anytime.
Typography In the early days, some newspapers used blocks for printing corporate logos in adverts, others used a matrix mould. That’s why the IKEA logo looks the way it does. We added tiny “serifs” (little strokes at the top and bottom of the letters) to an extra bold Futura typeface. That way the outline of the letters wouldn’t look fuzzy when they had been used to print thousands and thousands of ads. This font is called IKEA Sans and it was designed by Robin Nicholas.
IKEA Sans font
In 2020, we changed the font to Noto, launched in 2016 by Google and Monotype. It is the most universal font becuase it includes every letter of all of the 800 languages. If your computer doesn’t recognize a letter, it will render the glyph as a box, which is called a Tofu in the typeface biz. Noto is short for “No Tofu.
Knowing the History
We love challenges!
IKEA was founded by Ingvar Kamprad in 1953 and came to life as a mail order catalogue business in the forested town of Älmhult, Sweden. The store name is an acronym—Ingvar Kamprad, the initials of the founder’s name; Elmtaryd, the farm where he grew up; and Agunnaryd, his home village. The current CEO is Jesper Brodin (Sep 1, 2017–). The headquarters is located in Delft, Netherlands. Each product category is assigned a specific type of name. For example, sofas, armchairs and coffee tables are
named after Swedish towns, whereas bathroom items refer to Scandinavian rivers and lakes. Today, it’s a global home furnishing brand that brings affordability, design and comfort to people all over the world. We may have come a long way since our humble beginnings, but our vision remains the same: to create a better everyday life for the many people. Explore the IKEA story here, to learn more about our heritage, what drives us today and the ways we seek to positively impact people and planet.
Throughout our history, our best ideas have come from our biggest challenges, and we believe this is what makes us different. Today, IKEA is one of the most well-known home furnishing brands in the world and, if we include the many thousands employed by our suppliers, around one million people is working with us to make our vision to create a better everyday life for the many people become reality. And this is just the beginning. Like Ingvar Kamprad used to say, “Most things still remain to be done. A glorious future!”
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Our heritage Today, IKEA reaches millions of hearts and homes all over the world, but every success story has to start somewhere. Did you know that IKEA once was as a tiny business in Älmhult, a small Swedish village in the countryside, selling through a mail-order catalog? And that the IKEA headquarters for design are still located there? Here’s our story.
Our roots Ingvar Kamprad founded IKEA in 1943 at the age of 17, selling household goods like pens, wallets and picture frames. Småland, the landscape where Ingvar grew up, was stony and rugged.Back then, many of the inhabitants had to get by with small means, making as much as possible with next to nothing. Because of this, Smålanders are said to be thrifty and innovative, with a “no-nonsense” approach to everyday problem solving. This heritage is one explanation to the IKEA way of doing things and to our success.
Cost-consciousness
Simplicity
Caring for people and planet
Togetherness
Different with a meaning
Renew and improve
Give and take responsibility
Lead by example
Environmental and Economic Efficiency
The furniture is shipped and sold in flat-packs, which makes transporting it cheaper, and customers put it together themselves (or pay for someone to do it), keeping labor costs down. We’re constantly challenging ourselves and others to make more from less without compromising quality. Every day, everywhere, we do our best to discover and eliminate unnecessary costs, because low prices are impossible without low costs. We want to be a force for positive change.
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Waste of resources is a mortal
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sin at IKEA.
Our reach gives us the possibility to make a significant and lasting impact – today and for the generations to come. We will continue to offer more sustainably sourced and manufactured products and help people live a more sustainable life at home.
Consumption and Worldwide Emissions
1.6 Planets
Consumption and Sweat Emissions
3.3 Planets
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Carbon Dioxide Emissions
30%
Traffic
20%
Households
30%
Industry
20%
Agriculture
Sustainable everyday How sustainable is IKEA? Well, more sustainable every day. With products like veggie hot dogs, and energy-saving solutions, we’re paving the way for more sustainable homes for the many. We believe that people should feel empowered to live more sustainably, which is why we focus on inspiring change with affordable, recyclable, and energy-effective product design. Because, as Ingvar Kamprad once said: “No method is more effective than the good example.”
Our materials • 100% committed to sustainable cotton • We want all our rugs to be made from sustainable wool • Only recycled or renewable based plastic in IKEA products by 2030 • Bamboo and its many sustainability benefits
Cotton from more sustainable sources includes Better Cotton, Recycled Cotton and Towards Better Cotton.
77% Better Cotton
17% Recycled
6%
Towards Better Cotton
Reasons to choose wool • Wool is renewable, biodegradable and recyclable • Wool is a natural, durable and strong material • Wool ages beautifully and is more resistant to stains • Wool is highly thermal and breathable • Wool dyes easily, so we can create many beautiful and varied design styles for you to choose from
Facts about plastic at IKEA •
By 2030 we will only use renewable and or recycled materials in
our plastic products
• We phased out all single-use plastic products from the global home furnishing range in January
2020
• 85% of the plastic in ISTAD bags is made from renewable material from the sugar cane industry
Factors that have a positive impact on bamboo’s environmental footprint: • Grows in a wide variety of ecological environments • Generally doesn’t require fertilizers or irrigation • Grows extremely fast • Rarely needs replanting
Additional Information
Our fascination with life at home is what makes us IKEA. Every year, we ask thousands of people to share their thoughts and feelings about where they live. We want to learn what makes life at home better, so we can help people thrive there. It’s an ongoing research project that feels more important than ever.
IKEA Harmoni – Declutter your life
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Step 3 –
Sort your stuff
Organize your stuff
Free your stuff
When home starts to feel just a little too full, the time has come to step back and see what you’ve got. Begin by breaking things down.
Overcrowding. It tends to just happen while you’re not watching. How do cabinets, drawers and sideboards end up like that?
Don’t need something anymore? That doesn’t have to mean ‘throwing away’. Instead, it can mean a new start.
The first step in decluttering your house is to categorize everything so you can work out what to keep and where to keep it.
Don’t worry. There’s something you can do about it. Begin creating a space in which you can breathe again right now.
Just because you don’t need it anymore, doesn’t mean it isn’t perfect for someone else. There are so many ways to give your unwanted items a new life.
Get sorted
Get organized
Pass it on
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Step 1 –
Text and images from IKEA.com and Wikipedia.com