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Events on Wednesday 28 July 1943 1
1943IKEA founded — a mail-order businessIngvar Kamprad founds IKEA on 28 July 1943, aged 17, using money his father gives him as a reward for good school grades. The name IKEA is an acronym: Ingvar Kamprad, Elmtaryd (the family farm), Agunnaryd (the nearby village). The first products are not furniture but small household items — pens, picture frames, table runners, watches, jewellery — sold by mail order throughout Sweden. Kamprad is an extraordinarily energetic salesman, cycling around the local area to deliver orders personally.