He Sold Matches at 5. Then He Built IKEA

At five, Ingvar Kamprad was already selling matches to his neighbors. At 17, he registered a business called IKEA. Today it furnishes homes in more than 60 markets. This is the full story of how a farm boy from Småland, Sweden built one of the biggest furniture retailers on Earth, and the boycott, the flat-pack idea and the chaos that shaped it. In this video: How a rocky Swedish farm gave birth to IKEA (and what the name actually stands for) The 1950s boycott that tried to destroy IKEA, and why it backfired The table leg moment that created flat-pack furniture How a chaotic 1965 store opening invented self-service Billy, meatballs and the one-way store path: how IKEA grew into a global giant The controversies and the questions the company still faces today ⏱ CHAPTERS 0:00 The boy with a box of matches 0:44 Småland and the birth of IKEA 1:35 Mail order, furniture and the first catalog 2:06 The 1953 showroom 2:24 The boycott that tried to kill IKEA 2:52 Poland: the move that saved it 3:07 The table leg that changed furniture 3:39 Chaos in 1965: self-service is born 4:12 Leaving Sweden 4:17 Going global 5:07 Billy and the names of IKEA 5:39 Frugal founder, complex structure 6:13 Controversies 6:39 China, Russia and the end of the catalog 7:02 IKEA today 8:00 The future 📚 SOURCES Ingka Group FY25 annual results (year to 31 August 2025): about €41.5 billion total revenue, €39 billion IKEA Retail sales. https://furniturenews.net/news/ikea-sold-m... 🎵 MUSIC atlasaudio-emotional-cinematic-606246 ⚠️ Disclaimer This channel is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by IKEA, Ingka Group or Inter IKEA Systems. All names and trademarks belong to their respective owners. This video is an educational, illustrated documentary and uses original animations created for this channel. 👉 If you enjoy stories behind the world's biggest companies, subscribe to The Timeline Tab so you never miss the next empire. #IKEA #BusinessHistory #CompanyHistory