Word: ikea
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...sales. Some items were moving nicely: oversize freezers to keep groceries bought in bulk; wood stoves to cut down on utility bills; shoe trees, mason jars, sewing kits, to extend the life of life's necessities; and any $5 present that looked as if it cost $25. At the IKEA store in Elizabeth, N.J., shoppers could lease a Christmas tree for $20 and get $10 back if they returned it for recycling into mulch...
Buying bargain imports, though, is smart, very smart. In Elizabeth, N.J., the grand opening of IKEA's 6.2-acre furniture store in May created nightmarish gridlock usually seen only for the nearby Giants football games. More than 25,000 eager shoppers heading for the Swedish-owned store jammed the New Jersey Turnpike, and 200 others camped in the parking lot overnight to get first crack at the firm's $39 bookcases, $7 rag rugs, $98 pine beds and other basic furnishings. Parents could drop off their children in a play area supervised by store employees before turning to serious shopping...
...average of 400 Dale City customers a day dine on Swedish food in IKEA's strategically located restaurant, just off the showroom floor. Most-asked-for dish: Swedish meatballs. Says Micha Baur, the West German who is the store's manager: "Very often people make their buying decisions in our restaurant. You can overhear them. 'Should we buy this table or that table? What do you think, honey?' " After making the choice, shoppers proceed to the self- service warehouse, where they find the goods on neat rows of shelves...
...IKEA is run by missionaries who were charged up by Ingvar Kamprad, 61, a Swede who started the company when he was only 17. He synthesized the name IKEA from his initials and those of Elmtaryd, his family's farm, and Agunnaryd, the community where he grew up and where he began the business some 40 years ago by selling ball-point pens through the mail. IKEA's management is still youthful, light on titles and neckties and thoroughly gung ho. The spirit is whipped up in seminars for employees on "the IKEA way." One thing stressed in the sessions...
After making such a promising start in the U.S., IKEA is hoping to expand across the country. Says an excited Bjorn Bayley, president of IKEA's North American operations: "What will really be fun is when we get to places like Minnesota. They still speak Swedish there...