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Background Information: • Ikea was founded in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad • Originally sold pens, wallets, picture frames, table runners, watches, jewelry and nylon stockings • Philadelphia, 1985: First IKEA store reaches the US Ikea’s Holdings: • On August 31, 2001, IKEA Group had 143 different stores in 22 countries with 20 more stores owned by franchisees outside of IKEA Group • Turnover for the financial year from September 2000 to August 2001 was about 9.6 billion dollars • 17% turnover and 4 % purchasing in the US, both in 2nd place • US is number 2 after Germany in the top 5 sales countries • The IKEA 2002 catalog is distributed; around 110 million copies in 34 different languages • IKEA is the 7th largest home furnishings company in the world What happened? • From 1985 to 1992, IKEA opened 11 stores in the US, with 4 of those 11 in 1992. The next store IKEA opened in the US wouldn’t be until 1998. From 1992 to 1998, IKEA had to reorganize their stores and redevelop their ideas and marketing strategy. Cultural Metaphors: • Americans are individualistic. Americans are taught to be leaders at a young age. Ikea likes to lead people by using arrows on the floor to direct traffic. • Americans like specialization. At first, when IKEA hit the US, they were carrying lots of different items, and it took time for them to specialize into home furnishing alone. • The US uses inches, feet and miles to measure, while the rest of the world uses the metric system (centimeters, meters, and kilometers). When Ikea first came to the US, everything was metrics, which made things difficult. • Americans like to have things stand out, but at the same time be in harmony with one another. For example, take the football, one player stands out, but together the team is in harmony. Same goes with home furnishings in a room. • Americans and the word independence are almost synonymous. Didn’t know who to target when they first arrived, and then started to hit it big with college students seeking independence.
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