A row could be brewing at Ikea after founder Ingvar Kamprad said he had no idea about the retailer’s plans to double the number of store openings each year.
Kamprad, who founded the Swedish home and furniture retailer in 1943 when he was 17 years old, said he had only heard of Ikea’s plans to open 20-25 stores each year, up from the current rate of 11 stores, when he read it in the papers.
“I talked with my secretary who said what was in Dagens Industri [a Swedish newspaper] that we had record profits and sales and that we should build 25 new stores a year. I rang the chairman and asked how is that possible,” Kamprad told Swedish newspaper Expressen in a rare interview.
He added: “We have spoken about building 10-12 stores a year until 2020 and I don’t know who has sent out this information.”
The 86-year-old no longer holds a formal role at the company but is still a senior adviser to the board.
Plans to double the pace of store openings were first revealed by Ikea chief executive Mikael Ohlsson in September.
It is understood Kamprad’s comments caused a stir among Ikea executives.
Ikea said: “There is a decision in the board where Ingar Kamprad is a senior adviser to have a growth of 5% from existing stores and 5% from new stores every year. For that 20-25 stores are needed.”
People close to Kamprad said the board had only agreed on the 10% sales increase. One person said: “There was no board decision on the number of stores.”
Kamprad also said in the interview that he did not know of plans to open a third store in Stockholm.
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