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Ikea's online sales got a big boost during the pandemic as millions of people turned their homes into makeshift schools and offices.
The company said in a statement on Tuesday that online sales surged 45% over the 12 months to August, driven by 4 billion visits to its website. Outdoor furniture was the retailer's fastest-growing category, with sales of office furniture also performing strongly, a spokesperson told CNN Business.
— CNN
Sales of household items in the United States were up more than a quarter in the three months to August versus the prior year, according to market research firm NPD Group., CNN reports. Moreover, according to CNN, even though online sales have surged, IKEA has recently opened 33 new... View full entry
Last month the IKEA's Museum in Älmhult, Sweden opened an exhibition showcasing 70's years of their iconic catalogs. Due to the location, and COVID, the exhibition was limited to a small number of visitors. Fortunately, they have just published their Swedish catalog archive for all to see... View full entry
IKEA and LEGO Group have launched the result of the long-awaited outcome of their collaboration. The two brands have come together to create BYGGLEK, a playful storage solution that consists of a series of storage boxes fit with LEGO studs and a special LEGO brick set. The system aims to provide... View full entry
Created by Russian agency Instinct, a new campaign launched by IKEA Russia offers parents instructions on how to make indoor forts and tents made from common household items such as chairs, couches, blankets, pillows and much more. View full entry
The querkraft-designed store seeks to create a friendly, open, unconventional, and informal experience for users. The new building will be situated in an urban setting, and with no allotted parking, customers are expected to arrive by means of public transportation. The structure will be... View full entry
Plans to transform the historic Pirelli Building on Sargent Drive into a hotel have moved forward, as a local developer has purchased the property from IKEA for $1.2 million.
The developer, Bruce Becker, purchased the 2.76-acre property at 500 Sargent Drive on Dec. 31. The deed was recorded in city land records Friday.
— New Haven Independent
The Brutalist, Marcel Breuer-designed Pirelli Tire Building in New Haven could be experiencing a new life as a hotel after sitting vacant for years. The New Haven Independent reports that the property's previous owner, IKEA, had "paved the way for the Pirelli project by winning approval in... View full entry
MARKERAD collection, a collaboration between IKEA x Virgil Abloh...This range stylishly fuses functionality with street cred and high cultural references, it brings you statement pieces that challenge tradition. The collection of 15 pieces consists of a range of fashion-forward homewares that cater towards fluid and contemporary living, including a day bed, table, chair, mirror, lighting, bed textiles, cabinet and accessories. — IKEA
"It’s about elevating the anonymous, everyday icons that we use without noticing. When we put a doorstop on one of the legs of an ordinary chair we create something unexpected – an interruption," said Abloh about the collection. View full entry
This year's first prize for the CHART Art Fair, a 72-hour competition inviting young designers working in the Nordic region to explore the crossovers between art, design, and architecture by creating temporary pavilions, went to Sultan, a project that utilizes discarded IKEA mattresses as its base... View full entry
IKEA Home smart was initiated as a project in 2012 with the ambition to enrich life at home by incorporating digital elements and technologies into products and solutions. Several launches within the smart home has followed since then and now IKEA has taken the strategic decision to invest even more in the home smart area by establishing IKEA Home smart as its own business unit within IKEA of Sweden. — IKEA
Björn Block, the Head of the new Ikea Home smart Business Unit said, in a recent press release: "At IKEA we want to continue to offer products for a better life at home for the many people going forward. In order to do so we need to explore products and solutions beyond conventional home... View full entry
Ikea has released a free font called Soffa Sans, inspired by all the memes born from its online “Design your own sofa” planner. The tool allows for customers to design the layouts and configurations of Ikea’s couches, from the Vimle sectionals to the Vallentuna modular sofa series. Once it was discovered that the planner allowed for basically any configuration with no limit to the cost, it inspired some Sims-like creativity from users. — The Verge
The SOFFA SANS font was developed in partnership with UK agency Proximity London and is available for download here. Some of the examples people used the sofa planner as a block-y drawing tool (which inspired the font) below. pic.twitter.com/o75DdhB3D5— forever (@perspectivator) June... View full entry
Since opening in March, Thomas Heatherwick’s Vessel at Hudson Yards has caught headlines for its ostentatious design, its billing as “public art”, its repudiation of the tenants of accessibility, and its overreaching rights to the photos taken by visitors. Also drawing plenty of scrutiny is... View full entry
The smart blind is made of a “block-out” fabric, an opaque finish that will completely stop sunlight, similar to the fabric used on the existing company’s Tretur manual blinds...There’s no official price yet, but in Europe they’ll go for between $113 and $181, with sizes ranging from the width of an average window up to 76.8 inches wide. — Fast Company
Joining IKEA's line of smart-lighting products, the “Fyrtur” blinds will be available in all U.S. stores starting April 1. View full entry
Two years ago, the company asked thousands of people about where they felt “most at home.” At the time, 20% of subjects said it wasn’t the space in which they lived. Two years later, they asked again, and found the number has risen by 15% among people who live in cities. In other words, 35% of people who live in cities don’t feel at home in their house or apartment. — Fast Company
Ikea, the largest furniture company in the world, may know a thing or two when it comes to styling a home. However, what many Ikea consumers may not know is that alongside its holding company INGKA Holding a yearly research report is conducted studying and identifying how people live. Since... View full entry
This week, Ikea opened its first store in India–a feat the company has been planning for many years. But while the big, blue exterior of the store looks the same, the interiors, from the displays to the products themselves, have been subtlety tailored to accommodate cultural differences. It’s a strategy Ikea has used to expand from its origins in Sweden, now reaching 30 markets in Europe, the Americas, Africa, and Asia... — fastcompany.com
As Ikea expands into Asia, the brand recently opened their first store in India tailoring their products to the county's culture. This is part of how Ikea introduces their brand to countries around the globe, by keeping their designs mostly the same with subtle, pointed changes for specific... View full entry
The Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson and the Swedish furniture retailer Ikea are teaming up to produce a range of accessible and affordable tools that function without mains electricity and use renewable energy.
Eliasson’s Little Sun project, co-founded with Frederik Ottesen, created a solar-powered torch for the 1 billion people worldwide who live off the power grid. It is now sold cheaply in more than 600 African outlets. [...] The products developed will be available in Ikea stores.
— The Art Newspaper
Olafur Eliasson is a busy man these days: after recently completing his first building, he's now announced a major design collaboration between his Little Sun initiative with IKEA to create a line of sustainable and affordable off-the-grid tools. Little Sun Original in Burundi. Photo: Aminata... View full entry
