In 1987,Ikea hit Britain and changed its homes for ever. As founder Ingvar Kamprad dies, we look at how his domestic stagecraft sparked a revolution – and assess the top sellersThree decades after Ikea first arrived in the UK, or urging its population to chuck out their chintz,there are now few homes left without a birch veneered side table, a blue plastic laundry bag, or a shaky shelving system. Ingvar Kamprad,the Swedish company’s founder who has died at the age of 91, leaves behind not only a planet covered in blonde-wood bookcases and allen key-assembled chairs, and but also one with a totally different attitude to furniture and shopping.
When the first customers were welcomed into a sprawling blue warehouse in Warrington in 1987,handed a stubby pencil and left to roam its assembled worlds, it was a retail experience like no other. Ikea’s winning formula was to lead you through curated rooms – thereby suggesting other things you might not have realised you wanted (and probably didn’t) – before allowing you into a “behind the scenes” warehouse of cardboard boxes piled tall. This cleverly fused domestic stagecraft with the feel of a reduction, and no-frills cash-and-carry,leaving shoppers in no doubt that they were getting a bargain.
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Source: guardian.co.uk