I think I'm in love. No..really...I love him for his mind....
Posted on 01/03/2007 11:06:15 AM PST by WesternCulture
Introducing...Ingvar Kamprad
Introducing...is The Local's weekly column giving the lowdown on a top Swedish celebrity. This week Paul O'Mahony looks at the man who got rich by selling flat-pack furniture to the world - Ingvar Kamprad
Who is he and why is he famous?
Ingvar Kamprad is famous for being the founder of flat-pack furnishing giant IKEA. His cheap chairs and tables have made him one of the wealthiest people in the world.
So he's the one responsible for the Klippan-sized headache I got while assembling the Magiker that I ended up throwing in the Knodd?
Yes, the very man. But unlike his desk, he's no Jerker. Some reckon that he is in fact the wealthiest person in the world. But company finances are cryptic and nobody can quite work out what he's worth.
Is he in the news for anything other than being ikeatastically rich?
Yes, he is actually. For one thing, an end of year survey ranked him the second most admired man in the country, which is not bad for an 80-year-old tax exile.
And the other thing?
Oh yes, he accidentally revealed company profits while making a Christmas speech, which IKEA never does.
Go on, tell me. Make me cry.
It seems IKEA made a profit of 25 billion kronor in the last financial year, which will get you more Gutvik bed frames than you can shake a stick at.
Gutvik? That sounds a bit like when German people comment on the quality of their sexual intercourse.
Yes, it does a bit now that you mention it. Which makes sense, because 10 per cent of all Europeans currently alive were conceived in IKEA beds, such as the Dalselv to name just one.
Whatever possessed him to give all the products funny-sounding Scandinavian names?
Apparently it's because he's dyslexic and always had trouble remembering product codes. If you've heard that it's because he flirted with Swedish Nazis during the Second World War and thinks everybody should be forced into an inflexible Nordic mould, then you're wrong.
What? I never heard anything of the sort. Is that really true about his flirtation?
It is. He signed up with a group of Nazi sympathizers in 1942, one year before founding IKEA at the age of seventeen. He later said that there is nothing in his life he regrets more. When all this emerged in 1994 Kamprad wrote letters of apology to all IKEA employees of Jewish descent.
Flipping heck, at least he took a good look at himself in the Sandefjord and realised that he had been a fool. What does he do for kicks these days?
Well, he's 80 years old now and is still in charge of the whole show. He was recently quoted as saying "I don't have time for dying".
Who does these days? You won't find him lounging about in a Skruvsta then?
You certainly will not. You might find him driving a fifteen year old Volvo on the streets of Lausanne in Switzerland, or flying economy class to one of the world's many IKEAs to shake hands with some 'co-workers' as he calls them in his egalitarian manner.
Old Volvos and economy class? Next you'll be telling me he doesn't wear suits and likes to bake brownies.
You're right. He never wears suits. Don't know about the second part. But he does believe in the value of hard work, like the true Smålänning he is.
A Smålänning? Is that a chair or a bed? I can never remember.
No, no, it's a person from Småland in southern Sweden. They're a famously frugal and hard-working bunch, not ones to waste time. In the words of the man himself, "Time is your most important asset. Split your life into 10-minute units and sacrifice as few as possible to meaningless activity."
Meaningless activity? Like trying to assemble a Faktum kitchen cupboard without an Allen key?
Exactly.
Paul O'Mahony
On the contrary, several persons who possess insight into this matter view it as more or less evident that Kamprad has made certain financial arrangements in order to avoid taxation by Swedish authorities and is in fact in perfect, sole, control of the company he founded back in 1943 in Älmhult, Småland, Sweden.
As I view things, This petty controversy doesn't matter much. The achievement of Kamprad towers above it.
Just like this founder of a truly magnificent company makes me feel proud of being Swedish, Americans ought to feel proud over someone like Bill Gates.
Some of the things Microsoft and IKEA have sold me haven't been all that well-functioning. However, most products I've bought of them have been very priceworthy considering their actual cost. This aspect is the key to their immense success.
I think I'm in love. No..really...I love him for his mind....
Ok, Anna Nichole, what have you done with Millee??
IKEA sells nothing of real quality. I guess it's ok if your a college kid or just starting out.
Back in the late 90's, I bought a "table" that was an accessory to an Ikea desk/workstation unit, for the purpose of using it as my primary computer table. It was cheaper to purchase it on a visit to California (from the Carson store), and pay for delivery to Chicago via common-carrier, than purchase its equivalent in one of Chicago's "Scandanavian-style" stores. I remember thinking that those Chicago stores had better wake up.
The Top Ten
Not just bad quality but ugly design as well. In the US we can get better quality furniture, better design, and less expensive than IKEA products. In Europe people have to pay much more to get better quality and better design than IKEA stuff.
IKEA sells nothing of real quality.
I didn't want to get into personal preferences like design, but I happen to agree. Most of it is just plain ugly.
If you invest in quality pieces a little at a time and take care of them, you'll end up spending a whole lot less over time and have some nice furniture in the end.
This might explain the declining birthrate in Europe. Cheap fiberboard doesn't lend itself to, um, athletic endeavors.
LOL!!!!!
"IKEA sells nothing of real quality."
Nor do they claim to. Prices are too low for "real quality" as you call it.
What they do sell is functionality, clever use of space, economical pricing, etc.
If one wants quality Scandinavian furniture, it is out there. In the states and in Europe it was popular in the 50s and 60s, although the styles originated in the 20s and 30s.
I understand that the Ikea shipping containers are the heaviest ones around. Essentially packed fully with particle board, and little else. 50 lb/cubic foot, or about 60 tons per container.
If you invest in quality pieces a little at a time and take care of them, you'll end up spending a whole lot less over time and have some nice furniture in the end.
I recently heard of Mittal's acquistion. I think you could move the steel mogul up the list.
one word...
IKRAPPA...
Seriously, though, got sick of the WOBBLE chairs, and
the SHARDZ glassware, CZHEPOE quality, at the price...
I'd rather go to the Thrift store, and use a little
elbow grease and clean up some old furniture...has
a little character too...
I was kind of stunned by how he was like teflon based on so many various things he would say or believe or act .
To his credit, he is a good business man, but I'm stunned none of any real controversy has ever totally stuck with him or to him or to his company.
Ironically, (or maybe not so), he is pretty open about his views, beliefs and business practises, one of the more easier papers I ever had to write.
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