Above - it's Ingvar Kamprad - the founder of IKEA. Who needs church? Who needs a hobby when you can visit an IKEA store! I went to the IKEA just west of Nottingham this evening. It was puzzling how, when you got inside, a shiny grey path with arrows on it, guided you through this maze of home furnishings. How disorienting! I was with our son, Ian. He wanted a new table and chairs for his kitchen. We made a note of his choices and the relevant aisle numbers for collection and before too long we were back on the M1 motorway heading northwards to Sheffield. It seems as if the motorway lanes have been narrowed for the last five years with a 50 mph speed limit in operation as unseen workers create a fourth lane on each side of the carriageway. At the rate they are going, I estimate that completion will happen somewhere between 2020 and 2025. Not long now! The lanes are so narrow that when you are in the middle lane sandwiched between two trucks, you feel like a hotdog in a bun. It's scary!
Back to IKEA. Where does the name come from? Well you take the I and the K from the founder's name,and the E from the farm where he grew up -Elmtaryd, and the A from his former home county in southern Sweden - Agunnaryd. And there you have it - IKEA. A place of domestic dreams. Take home a flatpack and you are buying into Scandanavian style and easy living. Thank Ingvar that we went there on a Wednesday evening and not on a rainy Sunday afternoon when hordes of heathens no doubt arrive to indulge in a nice spot of "leisure shopping".
Very interesting writing. So many unique facts =)
ReplyDeleteTake a look at my blog and comment on my writing if you have time!
Thank you!
http://tylerstunna.blogspot.com/
Ah, so that's IKEA. I've read references to it from a number of bloggers. So...sort-of Scandinavian-style modern furniture mainly?
ReplyDeleteDid you know that Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) and the SAAB automobile company are (or were) the same company? "AB" is the abbreviation of "Aktibolaget" which is Swedish for something like Company (Co.), Incorporated (Inc.), or Limited (Ltd.) -- so, voila, its original name, which was something like Svenska Aeronautica Aktibolaget (AB) (and not Scandinavian Arlines)....
ReplyDeleteAll this useless information in my noggin....
TYLER - As the crowd yell at visiting supporters - "Who are ya? Who are ya?"
ReplyDeleteKATHERINE - You don't have IKEA in NZ? You must be jossing me! Some of the stuff they sell at IKEA is cheap tack but other stuff is fine. Do a search and check out their website.
RHYMES WITH RAGE - Those are the sort of facts that I value. Thanks for adding to the bulging store room of uselessness that takes up 90% of my brain reserves!
I have never been to IKEA. Just pointing it out, in case it elicits sympathy.
ReplyDeleteThe Sunday morning I spent in the Ikea at Wednesbury a few years ago wasn't the worst two hours of my life, but it's pushing for a place in the top ten.
ReplyDeleteOur kitchen is mostly Ikea - great stuff, but go and buy it midweek.
I'll have to send this link to my daughter. She is what ok would call an IKEA freak! Pricey stuff, which is why Dad helped her with the purchase!
ReplyDeleteIf IKEA opened in NZ all other furniture outlets would close overnight. I still have some bits & pieces from when I emmigrated.
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