The appearence of the Swedish Chef in this thread...?
Bork bork bork!
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
Great name for a billionaire.
I've checked out quite a bit of it, and I'd say it's variable. Some of the stuff is quite nice, some of it is total junk, but all of it is cheap enough.
At least it has a veneer (like 1/16th of an inch thick, but it's there) that makes it seem nice until it's time to buy new furniture.
Most furniture from competing stores at similar prices is junk, pure and simple, and it looks like junk the moment you see it in the store. So I'd say Ikea in practice is a cut above the competition in quality.
Better Scandanavian furniture is very expensive. My fancy round table that came from a top store cost me $1,099. Ikea sells its imitation version for a lot less than that. Likewise, you can buy high quality $450 bookcases or Ikea's $100 ones.
The difference between Kamprad and Bill Gates is that you're stuck using Bill Gates' stuff, or at least working with those unfortunates that use it, even when you personally have long since moved on to higher quality solutions!
D
He's on the list, but he hides much of his wealth, so nobody knows (probably not even him) whether he should be at number 3, 2 or even 1.
I love IKEA. Taking my kids there is the next best thing to Disneyland. I put them in Smalland, they play and I get to shop in peace and quiet. Then we eat meatballs and their 99 cent kids' mac-n-cheese plate. Everything we've ever purchased there gets used. I did buy a small sheepskin thinking our dogs would love it, but they turned up their noses at it for some reason. Check out their Lack bookcase. We have it in brown/black and it looks stunning in our family room. YMMV :o)
Apparently English grammar is not a requirement in grad school?
Either way you look at it, capitalist entrepreneurs like Kamprad and Gates have taught us all something about how to build a fortune and founding healthy companies.
Their key to success was not that of supplying customers with products of the highest quality around, but that of finding intelligent ways to manufacture, market and to distribute standardized items matching the needs of a vast public.
While their competitors slept.
I am stuned that you would say that!
ten thousand swedes, run through the weeds,
Chased by one Norweigian...
Nope, not college, nor high school.
You think my grammar is bad, or my spelling, I had a professor years ago who screwed up the grammar and spelling so badly on his critiques, that we had to see him personally just to understand what he was trying to explain.
Ikea is absolutely THE place to go for lighting. Other than that, I pretty much avoid the place.
Sweden and Norway were united under one crown, until their peaceful separation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_Norway_from_Sweden_in_1905
My ancestors were from Smaland (article) and Varmland (Karlstadt); site of the union breakup talks.
Some of my ancestor families span across the border--between Sweden and Norway. When they left, it was united. Would be cool to get one of those flags.
In any event, the Scandinavian countries with very small populations have had big impact on history, culture, industry, etc.
Look up the Normans. My wife's Italian family is from Bari, Italy--once the capital of a Norman kingdom in Italy.
Accounts for the blond Italians in southern Italy, quite likely.
I wouldn't be surprised if Ingvar Kamprad is pro-ecology. Seems to be part of Scandinavian/Northern culture.
"I like Kamprad, even when I disagree with some of his ideas or concepts, I just find it amazing that unlike so many others, he is able to avoid controversy, while, really being opinionated and not being a quiet media shy type of guy."
Guess he's better at dealing with the media than most people realize. In some way, he always manages to make the impression of the simple, down to earth, selfmade man originating from out of nowhere in a small town in Scandinavia even most Swedes haven't heard of.
Mr Kamprad almost seems to be lacking basic education, sometimes even rudimentary understanding of the ways of the world, still this is hardly the case.
I reckon he simply is intelligent enough not to confuse the greatness of the project that is IKEA with the picture he is able to make of himself in a media context.
Humble, unpretentious, friendly, yet very smart. I Kind of wish more people you met with were like that.
The appearence of the Swedish Chef in this thread...?
When we think of all the trees used and habitats effected by the making of IKEA furniture, it would be great progress if the company were to dedicate itself to using recycled and synthetic materials as much as possible.
Not everything in IKEA is to my taste, but some things they do a very good job on the cost-function-design tradeoff.
Never say I don't please the masses...then again, these are a lot more pleasing to the eye than I could ever be...and this is the only pic safe enough for FR.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.