30 surprising things you have never known about IKEA
Incredible facts about the furniture giant
Before IKEA comes, the furniture purchases wererough. It was a tedious, exhausting and exhausting process, often prohibitive that required several retailer pit stops (not to mention: significant fees picked up on movers). Then, suddenly, the Swedish brand broke in the Zeitgeist - in 2008, the company officially became the largest store of furniture and home goods in the planet - and we only collectively watched back . Designing a room these days it means little more than playing a game of adult legos.
But behind the meatballs and minimalist design (complete with photo book assembly guides), you will find a companycharge with secrets. Not the bad kind, the spirit of you - the good, the comforting heart, the kind of brain stitching. Fascinating ways in which society has resumed the world for specific methods that will allow you to save serious dough, we have rounded the most underneath secrets. And for faster facts about our favorite companies, checkThe most admired society in each state.
1 Its founder was incredibly frugal.
Although the founder of IKEA,Ingvar Kamprad, was incredibly rich (estimated $ 3.3 billion), he insisted on frugally life. To save money, he was driving inexpensive cars (his last car was worth about $ 22,000), only shopped for his clothes in flea markets and FLEW coach regularly,according to CNBC. And for more fortunate people who cut the corners, meet the17 A-List celebrities that (almost) always fly coach.
2 The Assement section is your best choice for great offers.
Before you go to other sections of the store, make sure to check out the "AS-EST" section for updated prices. In this section, slightly damaged elements, display elements and other imperfect products are sold at prices that will make you feel as if you fly directly to the shelves.
3 There are workers from Grouperabbit in some stores that can help you assemble.
Since IKEA bought the popular Handyman company, TaskRabbit, they started offering their services in some stores for customers who may not want to assemble furniture. In the store, guests can get an estimate for how much it would cost for the Taskrabbit to assemble their products. And for more ways to keep every corner of your organized life, checkThe 20 best applications for a more organized life.
4 There are some days and hours ideal for shopping at IKEA.
According to IKEA employees, the best days to avoid the precipitation of buyers, this is the week: Monday to Friday. And during these days, you can avoid crowds while shopping in the morning or at the beginning of the afternoon.
5 IKEA employees are trained to wait until you come to them.
There is a reason why IKEA employees do not rush to sell you goods and donations on your whims, they are trained not to do so. According to employees, they are specifically trained to help customers when clients admit them to help. This could be the case because this customer service method is considered a more Scandinavian approach to retail trade - just leave customers alone, and when they need you for something, offer your help.
6 IKEA even has local offers.
Before doing the trek at your local IKEA, make sure you check the offers and savings specific to this store. You can simply do it via your local IKEA website.
7 You can test furniture before buying it.
That's right - when you download theIKEA place App, this allows you to place virtually IKEA furniture in your home to find the perfect fit before going to the store. Basically, the application uses Apple's increased reality technology to scan the rooms of your home using your camera, then quickly browse the furniture selection and place it in the desired location. This is the perfect option for decorated beginners.
8 NAPS on IKEA furniture are encouraged.
Although these NAPS are technically authorized only in the Chinese IKEAS, according to employees, their displays are intended to be used and tested before consumption. After all, what other way would you be able to test the furniture that you are ready to buy? The average Chinese consumer, in recent months, has taken this notion tosome steps further By actually napping (and even eat) on the screens.
9 The books in the showroom are often from the personal library of employees.
If you have already taken the time to deal with the collection of books exposed in the different shelves offered in IKEA stores, you may have noticed the diversity of books. According to employees, these books are actually brought by them so that the store furniture is more realistic. So, the next time you are in an IKEA store, do your best to treat books carefully and not as if they are disposable goods.
10 Serial numbers can tell you a lot about the product.
Unlike other stores with a confusing mixture of numbers to represent the product serial numbers, IKEA uses an effective system to identify each product. As it turns out, some digits represent different colors and each category of furniture is represented by a category of vocabulary. The libraries, for example, are identical by different professions, while the products of the bathroom are identical by different types of aquatic bodies (ponds, tributaries, et cetera).
11 IKEA provides a free daycare.
As you probably know, invite small children to a store like IKEA can be a literal nightmare for everyone, including. Thus, to prevent customer headaches and lamentation tangles, IKEA offers a free daycare at each IKEA, called Småland. Although there may be a time limit at their stay, depending on the IKEA in particular, each child formed by the pot is welcome.
12 Take a store card to avoid buying more times and find shortcuts.
Rather than attempting to navigate the confused alleys of IKEA for yourself, take a map before making the first dive into the original property section. In this way, you will be well aware of your desired route - and even secret passages that are not obvious with a yein without normal card in the store.
13 They have survival bins to make you buy more.
According to IKEA employees, they are excessively bins to make it appear as the amount of product is abundant and therefore inexpensive, employing the "bulla bulla" technique. Employees are responsible for always keeping these garbage cans on the edge.
14 The products are named rather than numbered because the creator was dyslexic.
We have already learned that product series numbers are tagged uniquely, it would be logical that the actual products are named similarly, right? Although this is true, it was a necessary necessity system for Kamprad, which was dyslexic. The digital system normally used for products on this scale was not an option for a person who could easily confuse the numbers in his head.
15 There are more IKEA catalogs printed than the Bibles.
Upon arrival, the IKEA catalog seems to have exceeded the Bible in popularity. More than 200 million copies are printed per year,Internal business community reports.
16 They kissed the equality of LGBT earlier.
Before the LGBT-friendly advertisements started broadcasting popular networks, IKEA, as part of their "dining room" series, with different types of consumers as single parents and empty breeders, sought to bring the equality of the shopping experience by featuring the firstLGBT-positive commercial in history.
1994 airport, this advertisement, with a gay couple buying furniture, despite only to appear late at night to avoid "family spectators", has always upset many companies like the American family association, which threatened to boycott several IKEA locations in the United States. The advertising has even led to a threat to the bomb at the location of the IKEA Long Island, although it has never been competitive.
17 They also sell entire houses.
In a thrust to sell affordable housing, Kamprad started designing whole houses, calledBoklok, to these families who can not necessarily afford a new home or an older house with expensive repairs. In addition to the Skanka construction company, IKEA started building these houses, with different types of apartments designed for each unique set of family situation, in 1996. Although they are currently available in Europe, they hope One day develops to more required countries.
18 IKEA beds can be ideal for design.
According to A problem ofThe New Yorker, One in ten European is designed in an IKEA bed. If you do not miss, according to the same investigation, the number increases to a one in five British person because each household would have bought at least two Ikea mattresses of their lives. For them, IKEAis life.
19 Their dietary sales compete with those of the main fast food chains.
Compete with sales of fast food gloves like Panera Bread and Arby's, IKEAto sell$ 2 billion from its Swedish brand brand each year. In fact, in 2012, the retailer sold more than 150 million of their inimitable meatballs.
20 IKEA sells the Billy library every 10 seconds.
The most popular product of IKEA, the Billy Library, was first sketched on the back of a towel towel in 1978 by Designer Gillis Lucglegren. Decades later, the library now belongs to one in 100 people, and one of them is sold about every 10 seconds,according to BBC News.
21 IKEA lowers its prices every year.
Despite annual inflation, IKEA was able toinferior Its prices of two to three percent each year since 2000 due to efficiency.
22 The largest IKEA store is the size of 10 American football fields.
Rightly, the largest IKEA store resides in Stockholm and, at 594,167 square feet, is approximately 10 American football fields. This is an attraction as popular as it is listed in the Stockholm Official Visitor Guide.
23 IKEA builds its own city.
Although still under construction, theCity of Ikea, Buy near Olympic Park in London, will include shops, schools, theaters, a hotel and apartments for 6,000 people. In strangely, the city's only city of the city's staple is part of the design is an IKEA store.
24 The owner was only when he launched IKEA.
In 1943, a 17-year-old Kamprad 17-year-oldbased IKEA, first as an e-mail sales company that sold only smaller items, such as photo frames. Decades later, he was a business and a billionaire business.
25 The IKEA name is actually an acronym.
No, IKEA is not a Swedish word - it's actually an acronym created by Kamprad, containing the initials of his name (IngvarKAMPRAD), the farm it has grown on (ELMTARYD) and the city in which the farm has resided in (AGunnaryd, Sweden). And for more information on how some brands have got their names,Here's where these famous companies got their famous names.
26 IKEA consumes a large part of the worldwide.
According to Internal business communityIKEA uses about 1% of the world's commercial wood supply.
27 The characters onFriends Aimé Ikea.
If you know the hilarious but relatable scene ofFriends When Ross was trying to move a large sofa on the stairs, then you understand how much the gang furniture was pivotal as a journey point on the show. So, so it should not surprise that Ikea was mentioned in three episodes of the show, starting with "the one with all poker".
28 Each IKEA store is creatively redesigned for the country.
Depending on the location of each IKEA store, the chain makes its best to keep the country's culture in mind when creating the test rooms.According to Fortune, "Sendai, Japan and Amsterdam displays may have the same beds and layers, for example. But the Japanese version could incorporate tatami carpets, and the Dutch room will have inclined ceilings, reflecting architecture. local. The beds in the United States, during this time are covered with pillows. "
29 Near all Billy libraries are manufactured in a village in Sweden.
That's right - the most popular IKEA product is made in the small village of Kattilstorp, Sweden, where almost all if its 400 habit plays a role in theproduction of these libraries.
30 There is an IKEA hotel.
If you want to perform your IKEA experience last (without the company of hundreds of other buyers), a stay at theIKEA HOTELL In Älmhult, Sweden will satisfy your desires for Scandinavian future without the assembly time. And for more surprising hotels in the world, check these20 such scandalous hotels you do not believe they are real.
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