Abstract
Almost everyone has already been in an IKEA store. Every day the 250 IKEA branded stores receive more than 1 million visitors. One my therefore wonder how this brand in yellow and blue succeed so well in a market where there are so many competitors. What do its stores have more than what the others do? IKEA was created in 1943, in Sweden; its name comes from the initials of the creator Ingvar Kamprad (IK), followed by the initials of the name of the farm and the village where he grew up, Elmtaryd and Almühlt (EA). His goal was to sell furniture at a low price. We can now take a census of over 250 stores all over the world that sell low-price products, including furniture, and bathroom and kitchen accessories in retail stores. While the core business is selling home furnishing, the company also develops and purchases its products in relationship with other suppliers. Today, 250 IKEA stores are established in 34 countries or territories. The turnover in 2006 was about 17.3 billion (from 09/01/2005 to 08/31/2006), representing a growth of 336% in 10 years. IKEA group employs 90 000 people that work in 44 countries. They are employed in the stores (79,800 employees), in the products development service, in the purchase and stock services and in the IKEA subsidiary company Swedwood that takes care of the production.
