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☆ IKEA cuts prices as inflationary pressures ease, says Ingka Group
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-11 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailIkea's parent company on price cuts: It's time to 'invest in pricing rather than profitability'Tolga Oncu, head of retail at Ingka Group, discusses its decision to cut prices in all the markets where it operates in light of easing inflation, saying it's taking a staggered approach.

Persons: it's Organizations: Ingka Group

☆ Ikea is betting you'll come to its coworking space in a mall, then shop at one of its stores
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-26 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ingka Group, which runs most Ikea stores, is leading the charge. One mall that Ingka recently acquired in the English city of Brighton included an Apple store and a Zara store. It added an Ikea store in the mall where a now-closed department store used to stand. The Ikea stores in these malls are often smaller than one of the brand's typical warehouses, which tend to be located in their own buildings on the outskirts of cities. In the US, Ikea has also opened some showroom-style stores built around complete setups for bedrooms, kitchens, and other rooms.

Persons: —, Hej, Cindy Andersen, Ingka's Anderson, Ikea's Organizations: Wall Street, Service, Ikea, Ingka, Apple, Business Locations: Swedish, Malls, California, San Francisco, English, Brighton, Zara, London

☆ How to find a hobby
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-20 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

But if that's not for you — or if you're struggling to find something to do outside of work — experts shared how to find a hobby. The big storyA guide to finding a hobbyRobyn Phelps/InsiderHaving a hobby can help people tackle their work and personal life with more energy. Treat finding a hobby like a projectYou likely won't find the perfect fit immediately, Laura Vanderkam, the author of "168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think," told me. Or if they're also trying to find a hobby, ask what the people around them do for fun. Be patient but proactiveAdvertisementVanderkam told me that finding a hobby just takes a bit of time, experimentation, and being open to different things.

Persons: —, that's, Robyn Phelps, I've, Alexis Haselberger, Laura Vanderkam, It'll, Vanderkam, Haselberger, they're, she's, Joey Hadden, andresr, Kornmesser NASA's James Webb, Gen, Patrick Pleul Organizations: Service, Business, Orient, Express, Volkswagen, Ford, Tesla, LinkedIn, ESO, ESA, Hubble, Kornmesser NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, IKEA, Getty, Ikea Locations: Venice, Brandenburg, Schönefeld, Dahme

☆ Ikea says it's going to cut prices this year, and the company's comments on deflation should be setting competitors on edge
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-16 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Read previewCompanies across the board have been hiking prices massively in the last few years, citing relentless supply chain disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitical tensions, and Russia's war in Ukraine. Speaking to Reuters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Broden acknowledged "quite significant deflation" upstream in its supply chain. AdvertisementIkea also has enough inventory to offset price hikes from any supply chain shocks, Brodin told the news agency. To be sure, Ikea hiked prices in 2022, citing supply chain bottlenecks and higher raw material costs, but the furniture giant started cutting price late last year, citing easing price pressures. US grocery giant Walmart signaled deflation in November as well — but that was before the Red Sea Houthi attacks dragged into the new year.

Persons: —, Jesper Brodin, Broden, Brodin, It's Organizations: Service, Business, Ingka, Ikea, Reuters, Red, Economic, Energy Locations: Ukraine, Davos, Switzerland, London, Russia

The European Commission in its 2016 decision said Apple benefited from two Irish tax rulings for more than two decades that artificially reduced its tax burden to as low as 0.005% in 2014. "The judgment of the General Court on 'tax rulings' adopted by Ireland in relation to Apple should be set aside," he said in a non-binding opinion. "It is therefore necessary for the General Court to carry out a new assessment," Pitruzzella said. Her biggest legal victory to date came in September when the General Court upheld her decision against a 700-million-euro Belgian tax scheme for 55 multinationals. Vestager is currently investigating IKEA brand owner Inter IKEA's Dutch tax arrangement in a case dating from 2017, Nike's (NKE.N) Dutch tax rulings and Finnish food and drink packaging company Huhtamaki's (HUH1V.HE) tax rulings granted by Luxembourg.

Persons: Mike Blake, Margrethe Vestager's, Apple, Apple's, Giovanni Pitruzzella, CJEU, Pitruzzella, Michael McGrath, Court’s, Vestager, Stellantis Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, EU, Apple, European Commission, of Justice, Justice, Court, Ireland, Dublin, Starbucks, IKEA, Inter IKEA's, Thomson Locations: La Jolla , California, U.S, Rights LUXEMBOURG, Ireland, Belgian, Luxembourg

☆ I visited one of Ikea's new mini 'plan and order' stores, and it felt like a tiny version of Home Depot
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-31 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

But in a $2 billion initiative it announced earlier this year, Ikea said that it would open nine "plan-and-order" stores in the US. Each store is a fraction of the size of the Ikea you're probably used to. While an Ikea warehouse can take up around 350,000 square feet, plan-and-order stores are a tiny fraction of that. The plan-and-order stores are designed around model kitchens, bedrooms, and other complete packages of appliances and decor that shoppers can buy for rooms in their homes. Ikea calls the stores "showrooms" and staffs them with employees it says can answer questions or even plan a remodel.

Persons: — Organizations: Ikea, Service Locations: Arlington , Virginia, Arlington

☆ Swedish furniture maker IKEA to open first Colombia store
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The IKEA logo is seen outside an IKEA furniture store in Brussels, Belgium June 13, 2023. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsBOGOTA, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Swedish furniture maker IKEA will this week open its biggest South American store in Colombia, as part of an international expansion plan which includes growth in Peru and Chile with an investment worth $600 million, an executive said on Wednesday. The Colombia store, to be opened on Thursday in the capital Bogota, will be the first in the country and will span three floors with 40 exhibition rooms. "The opening of our first store in Colombia is part of the brand's plan to establish nine stores in Chile, Colombia and Peru over the next 10 years," Hasbleidy Castaneda, IKEA's manager in Colombia, said in an interview. The investment plan includes opening two more stores in Colombia next year, to be located in Medellin and Cali, the country's second and third-largest cities respectively.

Persons: Yves Herman, Hasbleidy Castaneda, Luis Jaime Acosta, Oliver Griffin, David Holmes Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, IKEA, Thomson Locations: Brussels, Belgium, Rights BOGOTA, Swedish, Colombia, Peru, Chile, Bogota, Medellin, Cali, Mexico, Dominican Republic

☆ These retailers are bucking the trend and opening stores in San Francisco despite the city's 'doom loop'
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( Tom Carter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Some retailers are fleeing San Francisco as fears grow over rising crime and a worsening economic environment. They continued, "We are excited to strengthen our presence in San Francisco and intend to test and try different formats to meet the needs of our San Francisco consumers for many years." Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty ImagesChanel is also making moves in downtown San Francisco. The move came despite luxury stores in downtown San Francisco being targeted by a series of high-profile robberies. "We recently invested in renovating our Downtown San Francisco hub where our teams come together to develop new consumer experiences and product innovations.

Persons: Tayfun, Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, Jay Watson, Alexander Spatari, Henrique Dubugras, Michael Tannenbaum, Brex's, Tannenbaum, It's, it's, Angela Hoover, Andi, Hoover Organizations: Foods, Service, Nordstrom, Westfield San Francisco Centre, Ikea US, Ikea, Bay Area, Anadolu Agency, Getty, Real, Arpels, Gap's San, Gap Inc, Navy, Gap, Downtown, San Francisco Locations: San Francisco, Wall, Silicon, Francisco, Westfield, San Francisco's, Bay, Union, Gap's, Gap's San Francisco, Banana, Sutter, Downtown San Francisco, Miami

☆ IKEA stores owner Ingka plans recycling expansion
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Ingka Investments' Peter van der Poel told a panel at the Reuters IMPACT conference in London that a recycling initiative in the Netherlands would be expanded to markets including France, Belgium and Scandinavia. "The thing here is to understand in many markets in Europe, still incineration is incentivised (over) recycling. Ingka Investments is the investment arm of Ingka Group, which owns and operates the majority of IKEA stores. Investing in what it calls the circular economy, which includes recycling, is part of Ingka's sustainable investment portfolio, alongside renewable energy and forests. Van der Poel says this is viable because Ingka has an investment horizon of "generations", out to 100 years.

Persons: Anna Ringstrom, Peter van der Poel, Van der Poel, Tommy Reggiori Wilkes, Emma Rumney, Simon Jessop, Jan Harvey Organizations: REUTERS, Ingka, Ingka Investments, Reuters IMPACT, Investments, IKEA, Thomson Locations: Stockholm, Sweden, Europe, London, Netherlands, France, Belgium, Scandinavia, North America

☆ Ikea left Russia — but yet another copycat has popped up in its place. The real store says it could take action.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Kylie Kirschner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Good Luck, an Ikea copycat, joins the ranks of rebranded dupes of many western chains in Russia. And now, a store called Good Luck has opened in Moscow as an Ikea copycat. "The departure of Ikea is not a reason to abandon the usual interior design," Good Luck writes on its website. There are no suppliers for bathroom and kitchen items yet, employees at the store told the Moscow Times. Vlad Karkov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty ImagesConvincing Ikea dupe or not, Good Luck already has ambitious plans for expansion, it says.

Persons: Vladimir Putin's, McD's, Alexander Zemlianichenko Jr, —, it's, Good Luck, couldn't, McDonald's, ALEXANDER NEMENOV, Luck, Vlad Karkov Organizations: Ikea, Moscow Times, Service, McDonalds, Kentucky Fried, McDonald's, KFC, Starbucks, Getty, Swed, IKEA Locations: Russia, Wall, Silicon, Kentucky, Moscow, McDonalds, Zara, Ukraine, Swedish, Russian, Belarusian, AFP, Soviet

While global supply networks recover from the pandemic shock, fresh impetus is coming from tougher environmental standards, which drive companies to invest in new technologies to reduce their and their suppliers' emissions. "So in battery, steel, aluminum and cast iron we will only source green materials and technologies by 2030," Foller told Reuters. The foundation told Reuters it would also consider further investments in producers of steel, construction and green aluminium produced with hydropower or from recycled materials. Scania said that following its 10 million euro ($11.15 million) seed investment in H2GS in 2021, it has entered a steel supply agreement from 2027. While companies will keep investing in their suppliers in the short to medium term, the market will eventually reach saturation, said Jon Chadwick, global energy transition lead at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Persons: Andreas Follér, Foller, Rebecca Campbell, China's, Scania's Foller, Britain's, They're, Maybel Saleh, Case's Campbell, Jon Chadwick, Clara Denina, Sarah McFarlane, Helen Reid, Veronica Brown, Tomasz Janowski Organizations: IKEA, Climate Tech VC, Scania, Reuters, White &, Export, GM, IMAS Foundation, Airlines, EMEA, Citi . Supply, Equity, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, China, Russia, Beijing, Sweden, Swedish, H2GS, Norway, Germany, Indonesia, Britain, Bristol

☆ IKEA bets on remote interior design as AI changes sales strategy
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Helen Reid | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, June 13 (Reuters) - IKEA is training call centre workers to become interior design advisers as the Swedish furniture giant aims to offer more home improvement services and hand run-of-the-mill customer queries to an artificial intelligence bot called Billie. In April, IKEA expanded its interior design services to the UK and United States, after previous launches in parts of Europe, Australia, the United Arab Emirates and elsewhere. In the UK, customers pay 25 pounds ($31.44) for a 45-60 minute interior design advice video call and suggested product list, and can pay 125 pounds for three workspace design consultations, a floorplan and 3D visuals. Sales by phone or video of products and services through Ingka's remote interior design channel accounted for 1.3 billion euros ($1.40 billion) of revenue in Ingka's 2022 financial year - 3.3% of the total. These virtual services require significant investment, she said, to ensure items' colours, textures and sizes are accurately reflected and to minimise returns.

Persons: Billie, IKEA's Billy bookcase, We're, Ulrika Biesert, Biesert, Wayfair, It's, Jocelyn Paulley, Helen Reid, Susan Fenton Organizations: IKEA, United Arab, Ingka Group, Reuters, Ingka, Gowling, Thomson Locations: Swedish, United States, Europe, Australia, United Arab Emirates, Ingka, headcount, London

STOCKHOLM, June 1 (Reuters) - IKEA stores owner Ingka group has announced the official start of work on its delayed first store in New Zealand, which it predicts will be followed by other outlets as the Asia-Pacific region recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic and macro-economic shocks. Head of Retail at Ingka group Tolga Oncu told Reuters preliminary opening dates were often subject to change. Asked about possible stores in other parts of New Zealand, Oncu said he did not expect the one in Auckland to be enough. "So one can expect that IKEA in the long term is going to continue to look for opportunities to expand in New Zealand," he said. Globally, there are more than 450 IKEA stores, most of which are owned by the Ingka group.

Persons: Oncu, Ingka, Marie, Lucy Craymer, Barbara Lewis Organizations: IKEA, Reuters, Marie Mannes, Thomson Locations: STOCKHOLM, New Zealand, Asia, Pacific, Auckland , New, Auckland, Europe, Australia, Stockholm, Wellington

☆ 10 Things in Tech: Say goodbye to the US car market as we know it, TikTok will pay for AR filters, and YouTubers share how they make money
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

I'm Diamond Naga Siu, and I'm taking a few days off to watch my best friend graduate with their PhD. (Don't worry, my colleagues in London will be bringing you your daily dose of tech news while I'm away.) Pharmacy startup TruePill is searching for its panacea. Employees told to "drink the Kool-Aid" at Larry Page's startup. Current and former employees told Insider about the recent turmoil.

☆ Ikea is redefining its customer experience — starting with raves
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Marcus Engman, Ikea's creative director, said the raves signal Ikea's strategy to attract customers. Two spectacular raves — one of which got shut down by the police, an Ikea spokesperson told Fast Company. As for Ikea, Engman said there are creative ways to maximize Ikea's space to improve its bottom line. "There are techniques that we use in entertainment that are not used at all in retail," Engman told Fast Company. Engman told Fast Company that Ikea's growth efforts — including raves — may be a way to expand its brand.

☆ Ikea is spending over $2 billion to open 8 new US stores, with an eye on locations in the South, plus 9 design centers
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Avery Hartmans | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The furniture retailer will open eight new stores and nine smaller locations over three years. Ikea's expansion comes as other big-box retailers are cutting jobs or closing stores. The Swedish furniture retailer announced plans to open eight new stores and nine new "plan-and-order points," smaller locations where customers can design kitchens, bathrooms, and living rooms and select furnishings. Ikea will also upgrade its existing US stores and add 900 customer pick-up locations nationwide as part of a three-year plan. The investment comes at a time when other big-box retailers, including Bed Bath & Beyond and Walmart, are closing locations across the country.

☆ IKEA plans new U.S. stores in $2.2 bln push to challenge Walmart and Wayfair
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Helen Reid | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] The company's logo is seen outside of an IKEA Group store in Saint-Herblain near Nantes, France, March 22, 2021. Ingka plans to open eight new big IKEA stores and nine smaller stores as well as upgrading existing stores in the U.S., which is IKEA's second-biggest market by sales after Germany, the company said on Thursday. As consumers spend less, big-box retailers Walmart and online furniture retailer Wayfair are cutting jobs and shutting stores, creating an opportunity for IKEA to pick up cheaper store and warehouse space. The planned stores would increase the number of IKEA locations in the U.S. by around a third, from 51 stores and two "plan and order points". Ingka Group had revenues of 5.5 billion euros ($6.03 billion) in the U.S. in its 2022 financial year.

☆ Ikea to invest over $2.2 billion in new U.S. store models, pickup locations in next three years
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Natasha Piñon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

"It's also an indication of how important the U.S. market is for Ikea," Quiñones said. Down the road, some might open in locations that already have an Ikea store nearby, while others might open in cities without any Ikea presence. Ikea is also adding 900 new pickup locations to its slate, allowing customers to retrieve ordered goods from more convenient locations. Like omnichannel retail more broadly, order pickup options have flourished at a variety of retailers throughout the pandemic. The majority of Ikea's pickup locations will be tied to Ikea stores, and some stores will have multiple pickup locations, Quiñones said.

☆ Construction is bad for the planet. This startup's solution is to assemble buildings like they're flatpack furniture.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Spanish startup 011h is betting on timber as a humble hero to ease the climate and housing crises. Now, a Spanish construction company is hoping to spearhead the adoption of flat-pack buildings. When it is cut down for timber, carbon remains stored in the wood until it burns or decays. For Brennan, cost remains a big "but" — even if sustainable buildings are a no-brainer. If it's not affordable, if people cannot pay for it, then it's not sustainable," Carné said.

☆ Russian firm says it closes deal to buy IKEA factory
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

IKEA halted all retail and production operations in Russia soon after Moscow sent troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24, along with scores of other Western companies. "The process of concluding the deal was not easy and quite lengthy," Invest Plus owner Vadim Osipov said in a statement, thanking all parties involved - IKEA, Russian and Swedish regulators, and Russia's Ministry of Industry and Trade. Sales by Western companies have been complicated as deals involving firms from so-called unfriendly countries - those that imposed sanctions against Russia - need approval from a government commission. Russia's industry ministry in February said that Slotex and lumber producer Luzales would buy the IKEA plants. "Our goal is to return the highly popular and quality production of the Novgorod factory to Russia's furniture market as quickly as possible," Osipov said.

☆ Top brands pull out of Russia, but their goods remain easy to find
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Alexander Marrow | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

Brands' continued availability shows the challenge companies face in controlling supply chains when exiting a market. Market leader Wildberries sells old stock from Inditex brands and has almost 17,000 goods in its Zara catalogue. Informal supply routes could lead to more poor-quality goods entering Russia, however, as regulators lose oversight, Ben Tzion said. IKEA brand owner Inter IKEA Group said it sold remaining stock for an undisclosed amount to Yandex as it down-scaled IKEA Retail Russia. IKEA said it was looking into goods being advertised as similar to IKEA online.

☆ Russian government approves sale of IKEA factories - deputy minister
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Brand owner Inter IKEA Group has previously said it was selling its four production units in Russia, in Tikhvin, Novgorod and Vyatka. The factories would continue to operate and the goods produced would be sold by Russian retail outlets. "The sales process is subject to a mandatory approval process," Inter IKEA said on Thursday. "We have agreed with potential buyers not to share any details with respect to them and the integrity of the sales process." IKEA, the world's biggest furniture brand, shut down its Russian stores last March and said it would sell factories, close offices and reduce its 15,000-strong workforce in Russia.

☆ Having elements in your home that reflect your identity could boost your mental health
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Renée Onque | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

And you might also be experiencing a small boost to your mental health. People who feel their homes reflect their identity are 1.5 times more likely to have positive feelings about them, according to the IKEA Life at Home Report. "And those who say their homes reflect them are almost twice as likely to agree that they're also a source of positive mental wellbeing," the report reads. Of those surveyed across the globe, just 58% believe their homes reflect their identity. But it's important to note that, depending on one's relationship with certain possessions, the items can end up having the opposite effect.

"We have managed to replace those (Russia and Belarus) volumes in other countries on a very hot wood market," Ulf Johansson, Global Wood Supply and Forestry Manager at brand owner Inter IKEA, told Reuters. Russia and Belarus were IKEA's fifth and sixth biggest wood suppliers before the war, accounting for 6% and 5% respectively of its supplies, the company's website said. Poland, followed by Lithuania and Sweden were the three biggest suppliers in the 12 months through August 2022. IKEA stores in Russia have been closed since March, while IKEA owned shopping malls remain open. IKEA has in recent years been buying and managing forests in a number of countries through its investment vehicle IKEA Investments, from which it might use wood and wood products in the future.

☆ Agreement over IKEA's Russia sale could be reached in days, says Moscow
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A view shows the logo of IKEA on a closed store in Kotelniki outside Moscow, Russia July 5, 2022. IKEA decided to close its shops in Russia after Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops to Ukraine in February in what it said was a 'special military operation'. Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov said negotiations were ongoing, but declined to do disclose who the potential buyers were. "The sales activities of our factories in Russia are proceeding according to plan," IKEA said in a statement. "We have agreed with potential buyers not to share any details with respect to them and the integrity of the sales process."

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