IKEA history: how Ingvar Kamprad built one of the largest retail chains in the world
Furniture is an important part of creating home comfort, and it may seem strange that at the beginning of the 20th century, even in developed countries, many could not afford to buy it. Good furniture was quite expensive, and it could be bought by wealthy people, the rest were content with what they had or did with their own hands. Young Swedish entrepreneur Ingvar Kamprad, who became interested in the furniture business back in 1948, ran into such circumstances. Most likely, he could not even think that this idea would allow him to eventually create a world-famous brand with a turnover of more than $ 30 billion. INGVAR KAMPRAD By 17 years, Kamprad saved a good amount, after which he borrowed money from his father and opened his company. IKEA is an abbreviation composed of the first letters of the first and last name of the entrepreneur and the names of the farm and village where he grew up. It was 1943, war thundered all over the world, which, fortunately, hardly touched Sweden. At first, Ingvar established trade in essentials. The first model of work was the mailing list of goods. The young entrepreneur was forced to combine work and study at the Getterberg commercial school, in which, he says, he learned a lot. IKEA AT THE BEGINNING