The first IKEA in Czechoslovakia: They opened their first furniture store in Prague 30 years ago
Last year, 9.1 million people visited its Czech department stores. The company’s revenues for the last financial year fell due to the pandemic, but the company recorded an increase in Internet sales by 97.5 percent. In 2012, when it opened a renovated store in Zličín, it planned to open another in six years three department stores (in Prague, Pilsen and between Hradec Králové and Pardubice). However, plans for development outside Prague came to fruition. However, he is now considering a fifth department store, probably on the southern edge of the metropolis in Čestlice by the D1 motorway.
Since last June, IKEA has also been building a network of sales outlets in the Czech Republic. In August this year, it expanded it to Jihlava, Ústí nad Labem and Karlovy Vary, thus covering all key areas where it does not operate department stores. All dispensing points process an average of 600 orders per week. In some cities, there are also mobile dispensing points, which have also proved their worth. The first dispensing point opened in June last year in Hradec Králové. In addition to the mentioned cities, dispensing points are available in Olomouc, Liberec, Zlín, České Budějovice, Pilsen, Havířov, Karviná, Třinec and Frýdek-Místek, and there are now a total of thirteen.
The power of the name
IKEA is one of the world’s largest manufacturers and retailers of furniture. Her furniture is world famous and popular for its modern look and usefulness. The first two letters of the name come from the initials of its founder Ingvar Kamprad (1926-2018), E and A are then the first letters of the names Elmtaryd and Agunnaryd – farms and villages where Kamprad grew up. The company was launched in Sweden in 1943 and first sold everything possible, such as ballpoint pens; the furniture was included in its portfolio in 1948. Three years later, the first catalog also came. IKEA operated as a courier company and opened its first showroom in 1953 in Almhult.
In 1956 pe discovered the first “do it yourself” product and at the same time came traditional flat boxes. The first IKEA store opened (1958 in Almhult, Sweden) expanded two years later with a restaurant. Expansion beyond Sweden has begun, and in addition to foreign suppliers, the first stores have opened.
IKEA currently operates the chain worldwide over 430 stores, there are approximately a billion customers a year. Last year, IKEA announced that after 70 years, it would stop publishing its annual printed catalog, thus responding to the massive transfer of shoppers to the Internet.
The entry of the Swedish company IKEA was also supported by the Czechoslovak government, the opening of its first store in Czechoslovakia was attended by the then Minister of Finance Václav Klaus.
Author: Archive DBK PRAHA as, retro.dbkpraha.cz