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About This File
History:
IKEA was founded in Älmhult, Sweden, in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad, then 17. The acronym IKEA is incidentally similar to the Greek word ????a [oikia] (home) and to the Finnish word oikea (correct, right), but was originally an abbreviation for "Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd" which was the address where Ingvar Kamprad started the company that is called IKEA.
Originally, IKEA sold pens, wallets, picture frames, table runners, watches, Jewellery and nylon stockings or practically anything Kamprad found a need for that he could fill with a product at a reduced price. Furniture was first added to the IKEA product range in 1948 and, in 1955, IKEA began to design its own furniture. The company motto is: "Affordable Solutions for Better Living".
At first, Kamprad sold his goods out of his home and by mail order, but eventually a store was opened in the nearby town of Älmhult. It was also the location for the first IKEA "warehouse" store which came to serve as a model for IKEA establishments elsewhere. On March 23, 1963, the first store outside Sweden was opened in Asker, a Norwegian municipality outside Oslo.
Today:
The company distributes its products through its retail outlets. The chain has 273 stores in 36 countries, most of them in Europe, the United States, Canada, Asia and Australia. 2006 saw the opening of 16 new stores. At least 30 openings or relocations are planned for 2008.[citation needed] IKEA is one of the few store chains to have locations both in Israel and in other Middle Eastern nations.
IKEA is generally pronounced /i'ke.a/ but in many English-speaking regions, it is pronounced /ai'ki?a/, rhyming with the word idea. As such, IKEA brought action in the Supreme Court of British Columbia successfully preventing a competitor in Victoria from using the name Idea. It is generallypronounced /i'ki.a/ in China, Singapore and Taiwan. Its Chinese name is Yíjia (??), which literally means fit for home in written Chinese and resembles the phrase right now in Cantonese pronunciation.
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