Brand: IKEA
Country of Origin: Sweden 🇸🇪
Founded: 1943
Founder: Ingvar Kamprad
Industry: Home Furnishing & Retail
Brand Owner & Worldwide Franchisor: Inter IKEA Systems B.V.
Inter IKEA Group CEO: Jakub Jankowski
Official Website: IKEA
Featured By: ASIA Best Brands — Global Brands
About IKEA
IKEA is one of the world’s best-known home furnishing brands, offering furniture, storage, lighting, kitchen products, home accessories and food built around design, function and affordability.
Founded in Sweden in 1943, IKEA has developed from a small mail-order business into an international home furnishing network. As of late 2025, the brand operated 504 IKEA stores across 63 markets, supported by e-commerce and other retail formats.
From a Small Swedish Business to a Global Brand
IKEA was founded on 28 July 1943 by 17-year-old Ingvar Kamprad.
The name IKEA combines his initials — I.K. — with Elmtaryd, the farm where he grew up, and Agunnaryd, the nearby village in southern Sweden. Furniture was added to the business in 1948.
The first IKEA showroom opened in Älmhult in 1953, followed by the first full IKEA store there in 1958.
From these beginnings, IKEA developed a retail concept centred on making functional home furnishings available to a broad customer base.
Design Built Around Affordability
Classic IKEA furniture with a graphical twist. Image Source: IKEA.
A defining element of IKEA is its approach to designing products around price from the beginning.
Rather than developing a product first and deciding its price later, IKEA aims to balance form, function, quality, sustainability and low price throughout product development.
Self-assembly and flat packaging became important parts of this model in the 1950s. Flat packs reduced transportation and storage requirements while allowing customers to participate in the final assembly process.
Products including BILLY, PAX, POÄNG and KALLAX have helped make this approach internationally recognisable.
One Brand, Many Companies
IKEA has an unusual corporate structure.
The IKEA retail business operates through a franchise system, rather than through one company owning every IKEA store worldwide.
Inter IKEA Systems B.V. owns the IKEA Brand and IKEA Concept and serves as the worldwide franchisor. Other Inter IKEA Group businesses develop the product range, manage supply activities and support the wider IKEA system.
Retail operations are handled by separate franchisees. IKEA currently states that 12 franchisee groups operate across 63 markets.
This means companies such as Ingka Group and Ikano Retail are IKEA franchisees, rather than the owners of the IKEA Brand itself.
Making IKEA More Accessible
IKEA has expanded beyond its traditional large-format stores as shopping habits have changed.
Its network now includes full-size stores, smaller urban formats, planning and order points, collection locations and e-commerce.
During FY2025, IKEA opened 66 new sales locations globally, including six in Asia. Online sales represented 28% of total IKEA retail sales, while products sold through physical stores accounted for 69%.
The mix reflects IKEA’s effort to combine its traditional store experience with more convenient digital and smaller-format shopping options.
Renewing the Focus on Low Prices
Affordability remains central to IKEA’s business strategy.
Across FY2024 and FY2025, IKEA invested in reducing prices by around 10% globally. In FY2025, the company reported that lower prices contributed to approximately 3% increases in both sales volumes and customer numbers.
The strategy illustrates a core principle of the IKEA model: using scale, product development, sourcing and distribution efficiencies to make home furnishing available to more people.
Sustainability Across the Value Chain
IKEA is also working to reduce the environmental impact associated with materials, manufacturing and home furnishing.
Its sustainability priorities include climate, nature and circularity; healthy and sustainable living; and fair and equal practices.
From 2026, Inter IKEA Group began changing its sustainability reporting approach to align more closely with evolving European reporting requirements, with a combined FY2026 annual report covering financial and sustainability information scheduled for November 2026.
IKEA has also maintained long-term environmental partnerships, including work with WWF on forests, freshwater and agriculture across countries such as China, India, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.
A Strong Presence Across Asia
Thailand to get largest IKEA in Southeast Asia. Image Source: Coconuts.
Asia has become an important part of IKEA’s global retail and supply network.
The brand operates across Asian markets including China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and South Korea, among others.
The IKEA Pasay City store in the Philippines is currently identified by IKEA as its largest store worldwide.
In Southeast Asia, Ikano Retail operates IKEA businesses in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines. In Malaysia specifically, its network includes IKEA Damansara, Cheras, Tebrau and Batu Kawan.
These operations demonstrate how IKEA adapts its global concept to different Asian cities, housing environments and consumer needs.
Global Scale
For FY2025, which ran from September 1, 2024 to August 31, 2025, total IKEA retail sales reached €44.6 billion.
The figure includes sales of IKEA products, food and services across the IKEA franchise system. IKEA stores welcomed approximately 915 million visits, while the global IKEA workforce totalled around 222,000 co-workers.
It is important to distinguish these brand-wide retail sales from the finances of Inter IKEA Group itself.
Inter IKEA Group recorded €26.3 billion in revenue in FY2025, primarily from wholesale sales to IKEA retailers, franchise fees and certain retail operations.
Why IKEA Is Featured on ASIA Best Brands
IKEA demonstrates how a clear design philosophy can become the foundation of a globally recognised brand.
From a small Swedish mail-order business to an international home furnishing network, IKEA has built its identity around affordable design, functionality, self-assembly and efficient retailing.
Its extensive presence across China, India, Japan and Southeast Asia also makes Asia an increasingly important part of the IKEA network.
By combining Scandinavian design, affordability, global scale and continuous retail innovation, IKEA remains one of the world’s most distinctive home furnishing brands featured on ASIA Best Brands.
Official Website:
IKEA Global
Category: Home Furnishing | Retail | Interior Design
Tags: IKEA, Swedish Furniture Brand, Home Furnishing, Scandinavian Design, Affordable Furniture, IKEA Asia, Retail Innovation, Interior Design, ASIA Best Brands
Sources
1. IKEA Global — The Story of IKEA
Official history covering Ingvar Kamprad, the founding of IKEA and the origins of the brand name.
The Story of IKEA
2. IKEA Global — How We Work
Official current information covering IKEA stores, markets and the global franchise network.
How IKEA Works
3. Inter IKEA Group — IKEA Franchise System
Official explanation of the relationship between Inter IKEA Systems B.V. and IKEA franchisees.
IKEA Franchise System
4. Inter IKEA Group — Business Structure
Official information confirming that Inter IKEA Systems B.V. owns the IKEA Brand and IKEA Concept.
Inter IKEA Group Business Structure
5. IKEA Global — FY2025 Year in Review
Official figures covering €44.6 billion in retail sales, store visits, online sales and global employment.
IKEA FY2025 Year in Review
6. Inter IKEA Group — FY2025 Financial Results
Official financial information covering Inter IKEA Group revenue and performance.
Inter IKEA Group FY2025 Results
7. IKEA Global — Sustainability Reporting FY2025
Official information covering IKEA’s sustainability priorities and current reporting framework.
IKEA Sustainability Reporting
8. IKEA Malaysia — Ikano Retail FY2025
Official regional information covering the IKEA franchisee operating in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines.
Ikano Retail FY2025 Annual Report