The first IKEA store, located in Älmhult in Sweden not far from where the founder was born.

The net profit of IKEA Group ( which does not include Inter IKEA systems ) in fiscal year 2009 ( after paying franchise fees to Inter IKEA systems ) was € 2. 538 billion on sales of € 21. 846 billion.

One of the major pre-tax expenses that Inter IKEA systems reported was € 590 million of " other operating charges ".

In September 2005, IKEA Social Initiative was formed to manage the company's social involvements on a global level.

In 2001 IKEA was one of the first companies to operate its own cross-border goods trains through several countries in Europe.

* As a teenager, IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad was directly involved in the pro-Nazi New Swedish Movement ( Nysvenska Rörelsen ) until at least 1948, causing tensions when IKEA began opening stores in Israel, although one source has claimed that the movement was not pro-Nazi.

* A researcher from the University of Copenhagen pointed out that for years, IKEA has named their cheap rugs after Danish places, while the more expensive and luxurious furniture was named after Swedish places.

* In November 2009, IKEA, along with Abercrombie & Fitch, Gymboree, Hanes, Kohl's, LL Bean, Pier 1, Propper International and Walmart, was added to the 2010 Sweatshop Hall of Shame by labour rights group International Labour Rights Forum.

* In 2012, IKEA in France was accused by the independent newspaper Le Canard enchaîné and the investigative website Mediapart of spying on its employees and clients by illegally accessing French police records.

After the campaign appeared in the Metro newspaper London the business news website www. mad. co. uk remarked that the IKEA campaign had amazing similarities with the marketing activity of UK home refurbishment company Onis living who had launched their own Not For Sale advertising campaign two years prior and was awarded the Interbuild 2006 Construction Marketing Award for best campaign under £ 25, 000.

In November 2008, a subway train decorated in IKEA style was introduced in Novosibirsk, Russia.

In January 2009, just before the new store opened in Southampton, the MV Red Osprey of Red Funnel was re-painted in an entirely yellow and blue livery to celebrate the opening of the new IKEA store in Southampton.

IKEA was named one of the 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers in 2004 and 2005 by Working Mothers magazine.

It ranked 96 in Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For in 2006 and in October 2008, IKEA Canada LP was named one of " Canada's Top 100 Employers " by Mediacorp Canada Inc., and was featured in Maclean's newsmagazine.

" He was nominated for a body of work that included Hello Tomorrow for Adidas, Lamp for IKEA, and Pardon Our Dust for The Gap.

This location was the third and currently oldest IKEA store in the United States ( 1988 ).

The first IKEA store was opened in Älmhult, by Ingvar Kamprad.

IKEA was founded in 1943 at Kamprad's uncle Ernst's kitchen table.

IKEA has refused to explain these charges, but Inter IKEA Systems appears to make large payments to I. I.

INGKA Holding B. V. owns the industrial group Swedwood, which sources the manufacturing of IKEA furniture, the sales companies that run IKEA stores, as well as purchasing and supply functions, and IKEA of Sweden, which is responsible for the design and development of products in the IKEA range.

On February 17, 2011, IKEA announced its plans for a wind farm in Dalarna County, Sweden, furthering the furniture giant's goal of running on 100 percent renewable energy.

Newer IKEA stores, like the one in Mönchengladbach, Germany, make more use of glass, both for aesthetics and functionality.

With seven levels and a different flow from other IKEA stores, the format is expected to be used for future IKEA stores in the UK.

IKEA Canada, for a limited time, served dim sum alongside its original breakfast menu.

In Austria IKEA restaurants offer a free refill policy for soft drinks, a practice that is otherwise unknown in Austria.

IKEA also uses wood, plastic, and other materials for furniture and other products.

The company responsible for this liquidation traces back to the Interogo Foundation in Liechtenstein Ingvar Kamprad has confirmed that this foundation owns Inter IKEA Holding S. A. in Luxembourg and is controlled by the Kamprad family.

The Berne Declaration, a non-profit organisation in Switzerland that promotes corporate responsibility, has formally criticised IKEA for its tax avoidance strategies.

In 2007, the Berne Declaration nominated IKEA for one of its Public Eye " awards ", which highlight corporate irresponsibility and are announced during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

* In the wake of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, IKEA Australia agreed to match dollar for dollar co-workers donations and donated all sales of the IKEA Blue Bag to the cause.

* IKEA has provided furniture for over 100 " bridge schools " in Liberia.

* In the 2008 Sichuan earthquake in China, IKEA Beijing sold an alligator toy for 40 yuan ( US $ 5. 83, € 3. 70 ) with all income going to the children in the earthquake struck area

* Starting in June 2009, for every Sunnan solar-powered lamp sold in IKEA stores worldwide, IKEA Social Initiative will donate one Sunnan with the help of UNICEF.

In 1990, IKEA adopted the Natural Step framework as the basis for its environmental plan.

In 2000 IKEA introduced its code of conduct for suppliers, called the IKEA way of purchasing .... shortened to IWAY.

Most IKEA suppliers fulfill the law today with exceptions for some special issues, one being excessive working hours in Asia, in countries such as China and India.

More recently, IKEA has stopped providing plastic bags to customers, but offers reusable bags for sale.

After initial environmental issues like the highly publicized formaldehyde scandals in the early 1980s and 1992, IKEA took a proactive stance on environmental issues and tried to prevent future incidents through a variety of measures.

* After viewing the sign of an IKEA under construction near Portland International Airport, Randy Leonard, the city commissioner in charge of sign permits in Portland, Oregon, placed a moratorium on all pending and future sign permits in the area.

Inter IKEA Systems B. V. in Delft, also in the Netherlands, owns the IKEA concept and trademark, and there is a franchising agreement with every IKEA store in the world.

The world's largest IKEA store located at Kungens Kurva in Stockholm, Sweden, opened in 1965.

The first IKEA store in Latin America opened on February 17, 2010 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

IKEA opened its largest store in Canada on 7 December 2011.

IKEA store in Frisco, Texas, USA.

Entrance to an IKEA store at the 4th floor of Megabox ( shopping mall ) | Megabox in Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong.

IKEA store at Port Island in Kobe, Japan, one of the very few IKEA stores with direct mass transit access.

They are often designed in a one-way layout, leading customers counter clockwise along what IKEA calls " the long natural way " designed to encourage the customer to see the store in its entirety ( as opposed to a traditional retail store, which allows a consumer to go directly to the section where the goods and services needed are displayed ).

In many locations, the IKEA restaurants open daily before the rest of the store and serve an inexpensive breakfast.

Lighting department in a Russian IKEA store, showing item names in Russian.

The card is free of charge and can be used to obtain discounts on a special range of products found in each IKEA store.

IKEA store at Netanya, Israel, before a fire burned down the store.

Every IKEA store, including those run by Ingka Holding, pays a franchise fee of 3 % of the revenue to Inter IKEA Systems.

In theory, three percent of the revenue of each IKEA store goes to Inter IKEA.

In 2009, Sweden's largest television station, SVT, revealed that IKEA's money — the three per cent collection from each store — does not actually go to a charitable foundation in the Netherlands, as IKEA has said.

IKEA's goals of sustainability and environmental design in their merchandise have sometimes been at odds with the impact a new IKEA store can have on a community.

* In September 2004, when IKEA offered a limited number of free $ 150 vouchers at the opening of a new store in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, three people were crushed to death in a stampede that followed the store's opening.