Not many business owners today start from the aspect of frugality like he did. IKEA is a place that targets everyone but is priced at middle class or lower levels unlike most products today. That goes back to his roots.
Mr Kamprad was renowned for his devotion to frugality, reportedly driving an old Volvo and travelling by economy class.
In a 2016 interview with Swedish television channel TV4, Mr Kamprad said that it was "in the nature of Småland to be thrifty".
"If you look at me now, I don't think I'm wearing anything that wasn't bought at a flea market," he said.
Far away from Sweden, on a Saturday night me and my wife were in line buying some sheets at IKEA for beds we just setup from IKEA, and it was bustling with massive lines. His products have massive reach.
IKEA is quite good at everything they do and are extremely efficient, except checkout on a Saturday but we grabbed some meatballs while waiting in line.
Fun fact: IKEA stands for Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd which is derived from founder's initials and hometown. [1]
The driving idea behind IKEA was, and is, that anyone should be able to afford stylish, modernist furniture. Kamprad felt he was not just cutting costs and making money, but serving the people as well. [1]
Some of the "frugality" stuff is just image - he also had a Porsche, lived in a very nice property in Switzerland for 40 years, and also owned a French vineyard (although he forced IKEA to sell the wine from the latter so he may have actually made money off of that one...)
Ingvar Kamprad got mega rich, as accountants do for the rich they have much of it offshore and hidden because they get a piece, but he is probably in the top 10 most wealthy, 50 billion or so [1].
What didn't change is the company focus, very middle class like Costco.
What didn't change is how the company was started, from frugality and internal innovation.
What didn't change is treating employees well as part of your business that directly affects consumers.
So yeah, he got mega wealthy and deserved it and earned those toys. But the company and mission never changed meanwhile many companies in that space folded or moved to focus on upper middle class or wealthy only. IKEA still has a Costo/Sears type of target market that is largely not pursued today. IKEA workers also love it like they do at Costco, WinCo and you can compare that to how Walmart treats retail workers (they treat devs well) in pay and how people feel in the organization. I prefer to spend money at places that treat employees well and pay well.
Give people cheap stuff, pretend to be one of them and they won't question anything you do. Seem like he invented the modern tech company decades early.
As far as sports cars go, you can get a reliable Porsche that will last you a very long time. Not necessarily wasteful if you want good performance out of a car.
Kamprad should be very proud of what he built.
Not many business owners today start from the aspect of frugality like he did. IKEA is a place that targets everyone but is priced at middle class or lower levels unlike most products today. That goes back to his roots.
Mr Kamprad was renowned for his devotion to frugality, reportedly driving an old Volvo and travelling by economy class.
In a 2016 interview with Swedish television channel TV4, Mr Kamprad said that it was "in the nature of Småland to be thrifty".
"If you look at me now, I don't think I'm wearing anything that wasn't bought at a flea market," he said.
Far away from Sweden, on a Saturday night me and my wife were in line buying some sheets at IKEA for beds we just setup from IKEA, and it was bustling with massive lines. His products have massive reach.
IKEA is quite good at everything they do and are extremely efficient, except checkout on a Saturday but we grabbed some meatballs while waiting in line.
Fun fact: IKEA stands for Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd which is derived from founder's initials and hometown. [1]
The driving idea behind IKEA was, and is, that anyone should be able to afford stylish, modernist furniture. Kamprad felt he was not just cutting costs and making money, but serving the people as well. [1]
[1] https://sweden.se/business/ingvar-kamprad-founder-of-ikea/