How IKEA Is Keeping Its Furniture Affordable
4/30/202623 min
Tariffs, inflation and an energy crisis have driven up the cost of nearly every consumer good. Despite those economic headwinds, IKEA has tried to keep its furniture affordable. Juvencio Maeztu is the CEO of the Ingka Group, IKEA’s largest franchise, and he explains how the company is making the numbers work. Ryan Knutson hosts. Further Listening: Can Burger King Regain Its Crown? The Battle to Be the King of Retail: Walmart vs. Amazon Etsy: Big Commerce or Crafters' Community? Sign up for WSJ’s free What’s News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Clips
Showing 10 of 11Transcript preview
First 90 secondsRyan Knutson· Host0:00
[music] For years, consumers and businesses have been struggling to keep up with the rising costs of everything. Inflation, tariffs, and now high energy prices have added up to harsh economic headwinds. This is making life hard for a company like IKEA, which has a stated mission of keeping prices low.
Juvencio Maeztu· Guest0:24
It's not that the world is getting more affordable, it's the opposite, eh? And the, and the majority of the people, the mi- the many people, you know, are struggling to, to, to count the end of the month, eh? So that's why affordability and to get value for money, it's even higher in the agenda.
Ryan Knutson· Host0:44
That's Juvencio Maeztu, the CEO of the Ingka Group, the largest IKEA retailer in the world. Last week, I spoke with him about how IKEA is meeting its customers at this moment.
Juvencio Maeztu· Guest0:56
We have a saying normally that we sell umbrellas in IKEA, and we normally reduce the price of the umbrella when it's actually raining. Uh, so we like to do a bit the opposite because it's in the times, uh, that, that you have to really stretch yourself, uh, to be closer to the customer.
Ryan Knutson· Host1:17
Lowering prices for umbrellas when it's raining. In the world of capitalism, it's kind of counterintuitive. The challenge before Juvencio is making sure IKEA can deliver on its promise of affordable prices