Editor’s note: This article was first published in March 2012, as a news piece. The sales figure refers to 2011, and the house prices and plans described are from that time.
Ikea will no longer be just a store where you pick out furniture and decorative accessories for your home: it will also give you the chance to buy the house itself, with the furniture included. In the United States, the company has announced a partnership with a major architecture firm, and the first prefabricated houses are already in its catalogue at a price of around 80,000 euros.
The houses are eco-friendly and attractive, with spacious rooms and a single bedroom. They come fully furnished, with every last detail of the decoration taken care of. Ikea is an example of good management in times of crisis: it is moving forward slowly and laying very solid foundations before taking the next step.
While the world economy has been sinking into chaos, IKEA has increased its earnings by more than 6%, reaching a record 25,170 million euros in sales over 2011.
It stopped being just a place to buy furniture for the family home when it created Ikea Business and moved closer to the corporate market. Its entry into prefabricated houses could hurt many of the manufacturers specialising in this field, all the more so if it follows its usual value-for-money approach, or “very cheap furniture”.
Ikea’s prefabricated houses will reach Europe under the name “Aktiv”, and their design looks very well executed.
See also: Shipping container homes for 50,000 euros
Featured image: News Oresund, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr.
