You already know IKEA makes the best meatballs, but do you know how many they sell a year? Or how much of the world's wood they use to create those BILLY bookcases we love so much? Or even how they got their name? Well pull up a minimalist Swedish reading chair and check out this list of interesting IKEA facts.
Ingvar Kamprad founded IKEA in 1943 as just a small mail-order business that sold pencils and postcards. The company now has over 300 stores in 41 countries, and sells not only your favorite meatballs, but also ready-to-assemble furniture, kitchen appliances, even decorative art. But these are all things you already know. So how about the IKEA statistics you don't know?
It's time to put down that IKEA instruction sheet (you don't understand it anyway) and get scrolling through this list of IKEA corporate facts and information you've been dying to learn.
24 Things You Didn't Know About IKEA,
Ingvar Kamprad
According to The Telepgraph and a book about the company by Elisabeth Asbrink, IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad was a member of the Swedish Nazi party. But as a spokesperson for the company said, "Ingvar Kamprad gave a detailed account back in 1994 about what he describes as his 'youthful sins' and the 'biggest mistake of his life', apologising and asking for forgiveness from all parties involved. The IKEA he created is based on democratic principles and embraces a multicultural society."
IKEA Catalog
According to idsgn, the 2010 IKEA catalog was "the world’s third most printed publication (next to the Bible and Harry Potter)."
One BILLY Bookcase Is Sold Every 10 Seconds
According to IKEA's 25th Anniversary Fact Sheet, one BILLY bookcase is sold in the world every 10 seconds.
IKEA Was the First Company to Feature a Gay Couple in Their Ads
According to Bustle, IKEA was breaking familial molds way back in 1994. The company ran the first mainstream commercial featuring a gay couple ever. And they didn't just include a same sex duo. The campaign also featured other groups that are sometimes stigmatized or ignored by commercial media: adoptive parents, divorced mothers, single people, etc.
They Use 1% of the World's Wood
As reported by Daily Mail, "The Swedish conglomerate needs about 1% of the world’s wood supply to make the furniture sold in its roughly 300 global stores."
Millions of IKEA Pencils Are Stolen Every Year
How many little IKEA pencils do you have? According to Metro, customers keep stealing those pencils IKEA hands out to fill out your order forms. In fact, millions of them get stolen every year. As a spokesman for the company said: "We provide the pencils to help customers place orders and we are happy to continue this service," but according to an IKEA employee in Glasgow, "Some people walk out with handfuls in their pockets."
128.5 Million Candles Were Sold Between 1987 and 2012
That's a LOT of light! From 1987 to 2012, 128.5 million candles were sold in UK IKEAs alone, according to the IKEA 25th Anniversary Fact Sheet.
They Can Sell 150 Million Meatballs in a Year
According to The Wall Street Journal, IKEA can dish out around 150 million meatballs in its store cafeterias in a year.
Cafeterias Were Included So You Wouldn't Shop Hungry
According to The Wall Street Journal, IKEA began incorporating cafeterias into their stores out of Ingvar Kamprad's fear that "too many shoppers were browsing the company's shelves on empty stomachs." It's no good seeing your customers flee to the nearest McDonald's before making a purchase.
Designers Come Up with 2,000 New Products a Year
Design manager Marcus Engman and his team create around 2,000 new products every year, according to Fortune. That includes redesigns of existing products. According to the mag, "Products under development go through rapid prototyping in the pattern shop to provide a sense of what they will actually look like in the flesh—or at least in plastic."