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
I drove an hour out to Pennsylvania and spent about 900 dollars to furnish my family room. It all fit in one minivan although I had to unbox the couch and load with help from other customers - no employees to be found.
After five years (and bear in mind I have four children who are hard on everything) the furniture held up as follows - couch slip cover shrunk in wash; zipper broke under strain, fabric not stain resitant - solution, use cheap sheets to cover, bent wood couch itself holding up well. Bookshelf holding up well. Two bent wood chairs and ottoman holding up well, covers not stain resistant. Bent wood rocker/boat/slide toy holding up well, cover stained and faded. Fabric on swing stained and beginning to tear, inflatable swing cushion and ropes still good. Cheap stuffed animals and pillows - quick disintegration. Wine glasses and candleholders, 10 years old and holding up.
Conclusion: Ikea's bent laminated all-wood furniture holds up well, but its slipcovers and all cloth stain and fall apart. Wood-product, not enough data from one bookshelf - but I don't trust the stuff.
Mrs VS
Another college grad...
I see Anna Nichole Smith has left your house, Millee! :)
"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.
I wouldn't be surprised if Ingvar Kamprad is pro-ecology. Seems to be part of Scandinavian/Northern culture."
The Scandinavians have very advanced industry to make fullest use of forest products/byproducts, including manufactured materials for this furniture.
They are pro-ecology, along the same lines as many Americans. Like Americans who hunt but don't kill off species. Hunt what you can eat. Fish what you can eat. Catch and release.
Like not off-roading everywhere. Not marking graffiti on rocks. Not throwing trash everywhere in the outdoors natural settings. Not behaving like the ugly American stereotype (which some have done) Etc.
It is conservative to conserve nature. Got that from my Wyoming Dad and grandparents. Like Cheney.
Some Swedes have second homes, which is a small primitave place in the forest.
Even better, post.
I graduated grad school a couple of years ago.
One would bever know.
Ikea has some nice stuff, if you are VERY selective. Problem is, you better buy it when you see it because it will disappear from the catalog quickly. Don't even think about buying anything with the intention of matching it in the future, or expanding on any of their modular designs. What you need won't be there in a year.
The one thing they sell that beats anything else on the market is the unfinished wood modular shelving, good only for the basement or garage, but it's cheap and sturdy.
Yes, but I am series!
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