Passing of a retail giant

The man who turned a small Swedish mail-order company he founded at age 17 into a global, $48 billion retail powerhouse has died at the age of 91.

On Sunday, Ikea announced the passing of its founder, Ingvar Kamprad. He died at his home in Smaland, Sweden, following a short illness, the company said.

“He will forever be remembered as a great entrepreneur, who turned his dream into a lifelong mission to make life better for the many people,” stated Jesper Brodin, CEO and president, Ikea Group, which operates some 350 stores around the globe. “He believed that everyone deserves a better life, and that Ikea can answer to their needs and dreams at home, even with small means.”

Kamprad stepped back from day to day operations in 1988, but continued to contribute to the business as a senior advisor, sharing his knowledge and energy, Brodin added.

“His greatest contributions to Ikea are his vision: to create a better everyday life for the many people, the Ikea culture and the long term approach to business,” he said.

Kamprad formed his company's name from his own initials and the first letters of his family’s farm and the surrounding village. He grew up in a rural part of Sweden whose citizens are known for their thrift and ingenuity, traits that Kamprad possessed and which are foundation for Ikea’s corporate culture. Its employees follow some basic tenants written by Kamprad in 1976, "The Testament of a Furniture Dealer," which states that "wasting resources is a mortal sin," and stipulates Ikea's "duty to expand."

In 1950, Kamprad introduced furniture, made by manufacturers in areas close to his home, into his mail-order catalog. Based on the positive response, he decided to discontinue all other products to focus exclusively on low-priced furniture. Several years later, he debuted the concept that would be the launchpad for Ikea’s global expansion and success: flat-pack (or ready-to-assemble) furniture, an idea analyst Neil Saunders called “revolutionary.”

“Distributing flat-pack was much more efficient and economical than shipping fully made items,” said Saunders, managing director, GlobalData Retail. “It also divided the effort — prices were lower because the customer had to assemble the product; that was the trade-off or compromise.”

Ikea owned by the foundation that Kamprad created, whose statutes require profits to be reinvested in the company or donated to charity.