Review of Bertil Torekull The IKEA® Story - Ingvar Kamprad (first translation Joan Tate) This review: 6th February 2014
IKEA may mark the advent of new businesses not dependent on Jews
The IKEA Story: Ingvar Kamprad talks to Bertil Torekull. (1998 first edition; this edition 2011, the new material including commentary on Russia; English translation printed 2012 and sold in IKEA).
I still think of IKEA as being a new large exciting place, which I personally discovered a few years ago. Its atmosphere, possibly induced by the car-owners only customer-base, reminds me of a well-behaved university campus, complete with refectory. I'm tempted to compare IKEA's workers with the staff at a thriving country-house at its zenith: lots of them, purposeful, well-behaved, well-trained and happy enough. The initials 'IK' belong to Ingvar Kamprad. Just like someone in this biography, I assumed IK was an engineer: 'Ingvar' sounds like Dr. Ing, a Doctor of Engineering. The flat-pack idea, offloading a lot of transport and assembly costs onto the buyer, and the wood processing technology, feels like, but isn't, the work of an engineer. In fact, it seems IK was motivated by money-making and money-saving.
This biography is facty but also cautious: there is, of necessity, a lot omitted. Sweden in the Second World War gets cautious and conventional treatment.
Meditating about the book, I was struck by historical similarities, or what may be historical similarities, of Jewish attacks against other non-Jewish industries. The Score by Rudy Stanko is an example. Looking only at IKEA we find a venture into Russia, which still has Jewish 'oligarchs', endured large-scale losses, including of valuable machinery in forested areas. IKEA was bringing some stability and wealth into areas which the Jewish USSR had left to ruin. In the USA, the 'Anti-Defamation League' is reported to have attacked Kamprad, nominally for beliefs in Sweden in Kamprad's youth.
Readers up to speed with Sweden will of course know that Swedish publishing is controlled by the Bonnier family, and will have heard of the vampirish 'Jew' Barbara Spectre. I believe to this day IKEA had and has problems in the USA market, including a complete plagiarism of their product range and house style. IKEA, or one of its spin-off organisations, has some banking presence; moreover they do not accept the percentages taken by credit card companies. My hypothesis here is that IKEA may be a sample of what could be Jew-free business operations in future. I don't know if it is; it's just a suggestion.
The paperback is small format, but has a small face: it has a lot of information, rather in the way company reports do. I'm certain there are many inferences to be made from the book, and I'm equally certain I've missed some. It has black and white photos, mostly of Kamprad's early life, including his Guggenheim-style spiral store, south of Stockholm. It is not indexed, but compensates with many lists, dates (such as three pages of important years to IKEA between 1926 and 2011), appendices and even a inspirational cheer-leading speech in immaculate capitalised Swedish handwriting.
Born in 1926 into a northern European landscape of dense pine trees, other woodlands, lakes, common mythology and fairytales, and very long winter nights. By 1943 IKEA was launched: Ingvar was packing things for sale, and not watching television. In wartime, Sweden was neutral. Post-1945 conditions were relatively favourable for Sweden; but Europe was messy and damaged. It took until 1958 for the first store to open. Kamprad collected associates who liked working for him, such as the catalogue designer. He built up suppliers on long-term contract where possible, but keeping a wary eye open for problems. Some specialist suppliers are inevitably spread out (tea, coffee, wine, tobacco...); others are collected together (buttons, car manufacturers, Italian gold chains): IKEA seems to have built a web of suppliers of different objects, all designed to be minimal in cost but high in quality. He also worked on high-tech manufacturing, as I understand it with wood chips, under pressure, impregnated under a vacuum with plastic resin. Each object (we're told) had at least two years' design work behind it. The cost kept constant for a year is a promise based on long-term supply contracts. IKEA came under some attack; it fought back using Polish timber, and cheap labour. In the 1920s and 1930s, British furniture manufacture came under Jewish attack: they controlled Baltic timber yards, and charged Jews less than Britons. I suspect they restricted output so increased profits went to Jews, whereas IKEA always preferred huge low-cost sales. Kamprad was always aware of this sort of thing, as far as I can tell. IKEA in Sweden had to have unions as directed by the Swedish government and it's entirely possible that Kamprad was irked by that, and entirely possible he was right.
This is taken from one of the tables. It is descriptive, but not analytical; how on earth did he get such growth? --
DATES
1926 birth. 1933 move to Elmtaryd farm
1943 IKEA registered. 1950 marriage, dissolved 1961
1951 First 1 M kronor turnover
1958 First store opens Ålmhult
1961 Polish outsourcing saves IKEA. 1963 Marries Margaretha Stennert; three sons
1965 Kungens kurva opens south of Stockholm. 1970 Kungens kurva burns down: reopens next year, new concept
1973 Emigrates to Denmark | First store outside Sweden, in Switzerland | 1978 family moves to Switzerland
1982 IKEA foundation; start of series of legal structures
1985 first US store Philadelphia
1986 Anders Moberg = director. Turnover reaches 10 Billion kronor.
1998 Turnover > 50 billion. First store in China, Shanghai. 137th store
1999 Anders Dahlvig succeeds Moberg. 150th opens, Budapest, Hungary. Turnover 60 Bn
2000 Russia: 2 stores outside Moscow. 3 others St Petersburg, Kazan, Yekaterinburg
2002 175th store and 100B kronor turnover
2003 13 new stores. USA stores took off in this year; but there were more in Germany in 2011
2005 1st Portugal store, 1st in Turkey (one of 24 Franchises) | 90,000 employees | 202 stores, 24 franchises. Turnover near 150Bn Kronor
2006 1st Japan, and 18 others.
2007 10th store in Russia. 265 worldwide.
2008 25 new stores
2010 Major corruption scandal in Russia.
As far as I could work out (partly from pages 350-351) the various interlocking and yet separate legal structures, dotted around the world to allow for different legal systems, IKEA now has at least these:
Ikano = banking, insurance, real estate
Stichting INGKA Foundation controls store management and owns e.g. Swedwood with 16,000 employees.
Stichting IKEA Foundation = charity
Inter IKEA seems to run retail parks: these may (my guess) compete with Jewish shopping malls. IKEA appears to find land, then fill its plot with complementary retailers.
Interogo foundation in Leichtenstein. Apparently, Ingvar Kamprad's control organisation.
Anyway: a meaty book, interesting, but not very easy to digest; and there must be legal and financial issues which aren't explained. It has plenty of personal anecdotes and material, too: disruptions, hassles opening stores, successful amusing tricks to get more customers, technical details. It would make a serious gift for a young entrepreneur: it doesn't spare the hard work aspect.
Update Jan 2015: It seems Ingvar Kamprad in recent years employed 'Jews' at high levels in his, or what was his, organisation.
I noticed that how water dispensers in a nearby IKEA (for teabags) are now labelled with a Jewish Rabbinical sign. So are their chocolate bars. Possibly a hint that the whole thing has been sold out. Sadly, I'd expect the quality and originality to decline, and promotion of odd sex, and vegan food, and fake charities, and typically Jewish hoaxes to climb. - RW 2020-1-26