IKEA the Leader in home furnishings sales
IKEA the Leader in home furnishings sales.
By PR .december.02.2005
Denmark is where the Swedish company IKEA was first found in 1943, and it operators a multinational chain of stores for furniture. It is the world's largest furniture retailer, which specializes, in stylish but inexpensive designed furniture. At the end of 2002 (1 September 2001 - 31 August 2002), the IKEA Group of Companies had a total of 175 stores in 31 countries. In addition, there were 19 IKEA stores owned and run by franchisees, outside the IKEA Group, in 12 countries including the one in Newhaven Connecticut which was opened in 2004. During the IKEA financial year 2003-2004, 323 million people visited IKEA .
The IKEA logo is blue and yellow and that’s because these are the colors of the Swedish flag. In Sweden, nature and the home both play a big part in people's lives. In fact, one of the best ways to describe the Swedish home furnishing style is to describe nature -- full of light and fresh air, yet restrained and unpretentious.
In the late 1800s, the artists Carl and Karin Larsson combined classical influences with warmer Swedish folk styles. They created a model of Swedish home furnishing design that today enjoys world-wide renown. In the 1950s the styles of modernism and functionalism developed at the same time as Sweden established a society founded on social equality. The IKEA product range -- modern but not trendy, functional yet attractive, human-centered and child-friendly -- carries on these various Swedish home furnishing traditions.
Many people associate Sweden with a fresh, healthy way of life. This Swedish lifestyle is reflected in the IKEA product range. The freshness of the open air is reflected in the colors and materials used and the sense of space they create: blond woods, natural textiles and untreated surfaces. In a climate that is cold and dark for much of the year, these light, bright living spaces create the sensation of summer sunshine indoors all year round.
The IKEA Concept, like its founder, was born in Småland. This is a part of southern Sweden where the soil is thin and poor. The people are famous for working hard, living on small means and using their heads to make the best possible use of the limited resources they have. This way of doing things is at the heart of the IKEA approach to keeping prices low.
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