Ikea part one

From humble beginnings in rural Sweden in the 1940s, Ikea has grown into one of the best-known brands in the world. But do you know the story behind it?

Over two episodes, Dougal Shaw and Graham Ruddick will look at Ikea from two different perspectives for Business Leader. In this first episode, Dougal speaks to Jesper Brodin, the CEO of Ingka Group, the business behind Ikea's global retail operations. They meet at a new store on Oxford Street in London as it undergoes a renovation. In the next episode, Graham will speak to Peter Jelkeby, the CEO of Ikea in the UK and Ireland, to find out how the UK fits into Ikea's global strategy.

Ikea is still best-known for its mammoth, out-of-town warehouses and flatpack designs. There's no other business quite like it in terms of the concept. And its size is staggering. Ikea's retail arm employs more than 162,000 people and it generates more than €40bn a year in revenue. But in the past decade this vast company has reinvented itself. Realising it was slow to adapt to the rise of digital shopping, Ikea has been focusing on a new omni-channel strategy, spearheaded by new, smaller, inner-city stores.

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