Latest news with #JesperBrodin
Business Insider
17 hours ago
- Business
- Business Insider
How the boss of Ikea gives his workers permission to fail
Many corporate leaders praise innovation but are less vocal about failure. That's not the case for the CEO of Ikea 's owner — he hands out "banana cards." Jesper Brodin, boss of Ingka Group, said in a podcast interview with Norges Bank Investment Management CEO Nicolai Tangen that the idea came directly from employee feedback. "A big group of Ikea colleagues said openly that we feel sometimes afraid of daring to make mistakes. What would be the consequences?" Brodin said in the episode released on Wednesday. To ease those fears, he created a symbolic gesture: "I invented this card where I basically cosign in advance for your mistake. And I've handed that out to a lot of people." Brodin said the "banana card" sent a clear message to staff: take risks, and that it's OK to fail. "I actually do follow up with everyone who I handed this card to," he added. "But more as an encouragement to say: if you do a mistake and you look for somebody to share that burden with, you can count on me." An Ingka Group spokesperson told Business Insider the card is so named to encourage staff to "go bananas" with bold risks. They also said Brodin rolled it out companywide and is following up on its use to promote "experimentation" and "co-responsibility." The initiative is part of Brodin's broader push to keep Ikea agile and entrepreneurial, despite its global scale. He took up the role in late 2017. "The biggest threat for us today, besides things like climate change, economic turmoil, would be our internal capability to actually be entrepreneurs," he said. With about 216,000 employees globally, Brodin said complexity and inertia were constant risks for Ikea. "Being part of a big system, there is always a force of nature that invites you to make things more complicated — maybe a little bit too many experts, too many meetings, and so on," he said. "So you need to constantly try to cut down on meetings, encourage people to take decisions, to take risks, to dare to do mistakes." For Brodin, Ikea's future hinged on being bold. "If you have an idea and you don't act on it, there's something dying inside," he said. "For us, it's important to be a live community of people who go for their ideas and continue to look for the next horizon." A number of prominent tech and business leaders share Brodin's belief that failure is essential for innovation. British inventor James Dyson has said he built more than 5,000 prototypes before launching his bagless vacuum cleaner in 1993, telling The Wall Street Journal in April that real wisdom comes from experience. Elon Musk told the International Space Station Research and Development Conference in Boston in 2015: "Anything which is significantly innovative is going to come with a significant risk of failure." Meanwhile, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos put it simply in a 2015 letter to shareholders: " Failure and invention are inseparable twins." Steve Jobs, the late Apple cofounder, also spoke about the value of failure in Silicon Valley.
Business Insider
06-05-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Ikea is going big on city-center stores. Take a look inside its new location in the heart of London.
Ikea just opened a new store on London's Oxford Street. The retailer is opening more city-center locations so shoppers don't have to visit its big-box stores. The store has thousands of items to take home and also has a Swedish deli. Ikea has opened a new store in the heart of London as part of a drive to expand its presence in city centers. The Swedish homewares retailer aims to reach more consumers who don't live near one of its traditional suburban stores. Its newest store opened last Thursday on Oxford Street, with more than nine million visitors expected a year. "This is going to be like the crown jewel in Ikea superstores," Jesper Brodin, CEO of Ikea's parent company, Ingka Group, told Business Insider in November. "We learned that a lot of the people who visit us in the big stores on the outskirts of town don't have cars, and they asked us to bring Ikea closer to them," he said. "So we've been doing that for seven years, testing and trying, and I think this is going to be the biggest investment and one of the coolest places we have," he said. Ikea also has city-center stores in San Francisco and Toronto. The new store has a capacity of about 2,200 customers. The new store spans 5,800 square meters (about 62,000 sq ft) over three floors, making it considerably smaller than the average Ikea location, which is about 30,000 square meters. A "small" store opened three years ago in Hammersmith, west London. Ingka Centres also owns the mall that houses the store. Tolga Öncü, retail operations manager for Ingka Group, said in a statement: "Adding Oxford Street to the Ikea map is a special moment for us. This store, on one of the busiest and most well-known streets in the world, exemplifies our ambition to innovate our retail presence and bring Ikea to where our customers live, work, and socialise." About half the products on show can be taken home All units were curated following home visits. Ikea's room displays can be seen throughout the store. There fun twist is that they've been co-created with Londoners based on their actual homes. The spaces can provide inspiration for people ranging from those living in smaller flats to larger houses. 'Curated shops' aim to reflect London's diversity and character. On the ground floor, there are three "curated shops," or displays created by Londoners inspired by their own tastes. Throughout the year, different residents will be invited in to assemble a selection of products. This one was curated by Carrot, a nonbinary drag artist. The new store features IKEA's first live studio. The Oxford Street store also boasts a studio with broadcasting capabilities. It mimics "skögen" — the Swedish term for the forest — and allows for interactivity on the screen like drawing. The retailer plans to invite local chefs and designers to host events in the space. There's a 130-seater Swedish deli. Like most Ikea stores, this one also has a Swedish deli. A number of the store's classics can be purchased in the store, including hot dogs for 85 pence ($1.13) each as well as meatballs and plant balls. It also offers some British favorites such as fish and chips. Customers can scan barcodes as they shop. Shoppers can purchase goods using the "Scan & Go" function on Ikea's app that customers scan barcodes as they shopp and then pay quickly at the checkout.
Daily Mail
01-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
You've been saying IKEA all wrong! Boss explains the correct way to pronounce name of the Swedish flatpack giant as it opens new Oxford Street store
For years, flat-pack fans across the UK have been proudly talking about their latest IKEA purchases whether it's a Billy bookcase or a Malm chest of drawers. But it turns out we've all been getting it completely wrong. CEO Jesper Brodin was speaking on Sky News following the grand opening of the flatpack giants new £450million flagship Oxford Street store. He joked: 'I will allow you to say whatever you like, but it is true that the right Swedish spelling would be 'eh-kay-ah'. 'I'm going to say that when the founder, who was 16 years old when he founded the company and he went to the register and he didn't have an idea for the name of the company so then they took his initials: Ingvar Kamprad. 'So that is 'ee' in Swedish 'eye' in English. Elmtaryd, the farm he was from, and Agunnaryd, was the county. 'So Ikea is basically the man himself and where he came from.' The pronunciation drama comes as IKEA opens the doors to its much-anticipated Oxford Street store today. The twice delayed £450 million shop is being seen by retail and council bosses as a crucial part of restoring Oxford Street to its former glory as one of the world's premier shopping destinations. CEO Jesper Brodin was speaking on Sky News following the grand opening of the flatpack giants new £450million flagship Oxford Street store It has taken over the former Topshop base in the capital to open a three-floor outlet selling around 6,000 products, of which 3,500 can be carried away by customers immediately, and the rest ordered for home delivery, click and collect or collection off site from lockers and other pick-up points. Pictures of the opening show staff, in yellow and blue tops, cheering and waving the flags of the UK and Sweden to greet shoppers as the walk in. London Mayor Sadiq Khan was also there to cut the ribbon and officially open the shops door for the first time. He smiled alongside staff surrounded by balloons. However there has already been some skepticism over how customers are going to transport their goods home, as there is no parking. So you will need to be able to carry away what you buy - meaning the 3500 items sold in the store weigh less than 15kg and are no more than 150cm in length. It is the second UK high street store for the company - the first opened in Hammersmith in 2022 - which it described as a 'milestone' in a strategy to expand its presence in city centres with smaller formats, increasing accessibility for customers. Another city centre store, in central Brighton, is set to open this summer, followed by three smaller stores in Chester, Harlow and Norwich this year. The company said it had further specific areas of interest including in London, the Midlands and the North West, but no new locations to confirm yet. Ingvar Feodor Kamprad was born in Pjatteryd, Sweden, on March 30, 1926, the son of modest farmers. He was dyslexic but unusually bright and, aged five, was already a budding tycoon, selling matchboxes, Christmas cards, pens, wall hangings and berries he'd picked in the forests. He founded Ikea when he was just 16 by using money his father gave him as a reward for trying so hard, despite his dyslexia, to register it. Soon he was advertising in newspapers, selling furniture by mail order and sending it to the station on the milk cart. By 1953, he had a showroom, but in 1956, when he saw delivery men removing a table's legs to transport it more easily, he had his flat-pack brainwave and everything changed. He founded Ikea when he was just 16 by using money his father gave him as a reward for trying so hard, despite his dyslexia, to register it Ikea took off like a rocket. Meanwhile, his first marriage, to Kerstin Wadling, foundered after ten years and, in 1963, he married Margaretha Sennert, with whom he had three sons, Peter, Jonas, and Mathias. By the Sixties there were Ikeas all over Scandinavia. When rivals tried to organise a boycott by his suppliers, he moved to Poland for materials and manufacturers and cut costs further. After that, the Ikea revolution was unstoppable. The first U.S. Ikea — near Philadelphia — opened in 1986. A year later came the first British store, in Warrington (by the end of 2018, there will be 22 UK stores). Russia and China followed.
Forbes
15-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Why IKEA's CEO Is Betting On Small Joys And Big Sustainability
Jesper Brodin was nothing like I expected. A formidable CEO, yes—but without the polished sheen or corporate distance. At Milan Design Week, while much of the design world leaned into spectacle, Brodin sat with me in a converted warehouse in Navigli, discussing carbon emissions and circularity with the calm of someone more interested in systems than soundbites. The CEO of Ingka Group—the largest IKEA retailer globally—was there as IKEA unveiled two projects: the return of its design-led STOCKHOLM collection and Do Something, Change Everything, a data-backed display of how the company is reworking its operations to meet urgent climate targets. Both presentations reflected a broader shift in how IKEA approaches the intersection of design, behavior, and impact. The STOCKHOLM collection is a nod to longtime customers—those who grew up with flat-packs and now have more disposable income. Do Something, Change Everything made the company's strategy clear: by investing in renewable energy, resource efficiency, and circularity, IKEA can reduce emissions and champion affordability at scale. This approach extends to new services like IKEA Pre-Owned and Sustainable Living Shops, designed for how people buy, live, and budget today. CEO Jesper Brodin at Milan Design Week The same attention to everyday realities also shapes the company's Life at Home Report, now in its 11th year. Drawing on insights from over 38,000 people across 39 countries, the 2024 edition revealed that one in three people don't feel enough joy at home. The solution doesn't suggest grand overhauls. Instead, it points to small, powerful shifts—more personalization, more connection, more comfort. In the conversation that follows, Brodin shares how these insights inform IKEA's evolving design priorities, retail strategy, and long-term sustainability goals. You've been at IKEA since 2002. What was your relationship with the brand before joining? I grew up in Sweden—my father was a teacher, my mother worked at a travel agency. We didn't have a lot of money, so every purchase had to count. I remember going to IKEA with my dad and assembling furniture together. I thought it was fun—he might not have agreed! But that relationship with the brand started early. You've just launched the latest STOCKHOLM collection. Can you tell us about that? STOCKHOLM was designed for people who've maybe grown out of their first apartments, had their first kids, and now have a little more money. We noticed some of these customers 'graduated' from IKEA and started shopping elsewhere. So we asked, what if we could keep them with us? This is our eighth STOCKHOLM collection—it's the biggest yet with 100 products. It's intended to 'flirt' with that more design-focused category, but still at a quarter of the price you'd find elsewhere. A similar sofa from a competitor might cost €5,000—we're offering ours for €1,400. IKEA's STOCKHOLM Collection at Milan Design Week There's a lot of talk around sustainability at IKEA. If you couldn't use the word 'sustainable,' how would you describe your approach? It's about doing what's right—not just for business, but for all our stakeholders. Being people and planet positive has to be business positive too. It's not charity; it's a smart business. We've proven it's possible to grow and reduce our carbon footprint at the same time. Since signing the Paris Agreement, we've grown our business by 24% and cut absolute carbon emissions by 30.1%. That's impressive. How have you achieved those reductions? Almost every action we've taken to cut carbon has also helped us reduce costs. We've invested in renewable energy—wind and solar—and now we produce 140% of our own needs. That independence is a business win. We've also reduced food waste by 60.5%. People often assume sustainability is expensive, but being smart with resources is good for the bottom line. And yet, many still believe sustainable products are unaffordable. Why do you think that is? It's a misconception. At IKEA, we follow a design formula: form, function, price, quality, and sustainability. Years ago, I met two groups of producers. One said we had to choose between low price or high quality. The other said increasing quality would save money—through lean production, zero waste, worker motivation, and better materials. They were right. It's the same with sustainability—transformation lowers cost in the long run. Milan Design Week How do you address concerns around greenwashing? Greenwashing emerged from companies that were reckless or misleading. But now there's a new concern—greenhushing. The best companies are staying silent out of fear of backlash. We've chosen the opposite approach. We work with youth organizations, NGOs, and even lawyers who prosecute greenwashing to keep us honest. We're sharing the facts—30% carbon reduction across 20 to 30 examples. If we make a small mistake, we'll own it. But silence isn't an option. How do you know your customers care about sustainability? Every two years, we survey over 33,000 people across more than 30 markets with GlobeScan. Climate change has consistently been the number one concern—across Texas, Shanghai, Milan, Stockholm. In fact, awareness is highest in China. Today, 64% of customers report taking conscious action, like recycling or buying secondhand. But only 6% say they could pay more for climate-smart products. The reality is that most people simply can't afford to care the way they'd like to. So how does that shape IKEA's strategy? We can't build a sustainable future by asking people to pay more. That only works for the wealthy, and it doesn't drive transformation. So we bake affordability into our sustainability strategy. That's why we celebrate when we can lower prices—it means we're reaching more people. Milan Design Week Speaking of affordability, tell us about IKEA's approach to the secondhand market. This is almost embarrassing, I didn't realize how massive our secondhand market share was! Just go on Ebay or Facebook Marketplace and you can see how many people are reselling IKEA products. They don't throw them away—they sell them, especially in life stages like parenting where space is tight. In some areas, we actually have a higher secondhand market share than first-time purchases. How did that lead to IKEA Pre-Owned? We began exploring this seriously around 2015. At first, we thought the existing platforms were good enough. But eventually, our innovation team saw room to add value. We built IKEA Pre-Owned, now live in Spain and Norway. Sellers can access our full photo library, get price recommendations based on our database, and buyers get free spare parts. It's not just resale, it's a better experience. Let's talk about the Life at Home report. How does the concept of 'designing for joy' fit in with your other priorities like sustainability and affordability? People start with price. Then they want functionality—especially in small spaces. After that, quality and well-being become important. Joy is woven through all of that. We've seen families save for years just to buy a bunk bed for their kids so they can create space to play or do homework. That shapes our design process. We do home visits constantly and come back with real insights. We design all our products in-house, so we have a point of view. Simplicity, Scandinavian style, and the feel of the material all contribute to joy. The STOCKHOLM Collection at Milan Design Week Finally, what's the future of IKEA retail that excites you most? We've made big investments in online and services. But we've also explored new physical formats. We realized we couldn't take 70 years to adapt—we had to move fast. After many tests and mistakes, we've landed on three new formats: home planning studios, pick-up points, and what we call 'access format' stores. They're smaller, urban, and flexible—like the one opening soon on Oxford Street in London. They give you the full IKEA experience in a condensed version. It's super exciting to see them rolling out globally.
Forbes
08-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
How Action Speaks Helps Turn Climate Optimism Into Action
Jesper Brodin, Ingka Group CEO Action Speaks is an innovative, open-source platform created to showcase practical, scalable climate solutions and accelerate global climate action. Co-developed by Ingka Group, the largest franchisee and operator of IKEA stores globally, in partnership with Project Drawdown and the World Economic Forum, it bridges the gap between awareness and action by promoting science-backed solutions from individuals, communities, organizations, and corporations. I caught up with Ludvig Liljekvist, a key sustainability leader at Ingka Group, about the journey to creating Action Speaks and its mission to drive meaningful climate action. The project emerged from a straightforward yet ambitious challenge: Ingka Group CEO Jesper Brodin tasked Liljekvist and his team with developing something impactful ahead of Climate Week NY 2023. Liljekvist explains, "We knew the big climate solutions were out there, but there was a gap when it came to the wider awareness, and not enough people knew about them. So, we set out to close the know and act gap. Our mission became clear: bring optimism, action, and create a community of hope. How? By not just sharing our own examples, but other verified, science-based climate solutions from people, communities, organisations, and corporations that are scalable and can help us act against climate change's severe impacts." To ensure credibility and accuracy, Action Speaks partnered with Project Drawdown, a nonprofit organization that rigorously verifies every solution featured on the platform. Project Drawdown is renowned for identifying and promoting practical climate solutions to reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Action Speaks also collaborated with the World Economic Forum to develop its interactive platform, ensuring accessibility for users worldwide. Ludvig Liljekvist Liljekvist emphasizes the pragmatic nature of the platform: "Actions speak louder than words. Time is ticking, so we're all about progress over perfection." He underscores a crucial point: "It's good business to be a good business." Highlighting the collaborative spirit of the initiative, Liljekvist adds, "We are proud to present some ideas from IKEA but also from like-minded partners, as only together can we turn ideas into real-world impact. We welcome any entity with scalable, impactful, and viable climate solutions. What makes them stand out is that they're verified by climate science, thanks to our partnership with Project Drawdown—no myths, just facts." Among Action Speaks' standout initiatives are examples from like-minded partners. The platform already features over 50 verified sustainable solutions and toolkits. Ocean Bottle, a personal favorite of Liljekvist, creates beautifully designed reusable water bottles. Each bottle sold funds the collection of plastic equivalent to 1,000 single-use bottles from regions severely affected by ocean plastic pollution, including Indonesia, the Philippines, India, Kenya, Brazil, and Egypt. Collectors exchange the gathered plastic for improved access to healthcare, education, and financial aid, resulting in a clear "win-win-win." Liljekvist also highlights transformative initiatives like HYBRIT from SSAB, LKAB, and Vattenfall. Steel production alone accounts for 7–9% of global greenhouse gas emissions (Source: SSAB). HYBRIT's groundbreaking technology enables ore-based steel production with nearly zero fossil carbon emissions, significantly benefiting industries such as automotive (Volvo EX30) and retail (IKEA's steel racking). IKEA's plant-based hot dog IKEA's plant-based hot dog exemplifies another impactful initiative. Food production and consumption contribute 22% of human-made greenhouse gas emissions (Source: Project Drawdown). By lowering prices on plant-based alternatives, IKEA makes sustainable food choices more accessible, aligning with Action Speaks' practical approach. Since launching at Climate Week NY in September 2024, Action Speaks has attracted over 130 members, including prominent brands like Eon, Mastercard, IKEA, and innovative enterprises like EatWasted, Allbirds, and Houdini. Membership is free and takes just five minutes to complete. Each organization is reviewed to ensure it aligns with the platform's mission. As Liljekvist notes, this verification process helps ensure all members are contributing to Action Speaks' goal of accelerating climate action towards net-zero by 2050. Looking forward, Action Speaks continues global engagement. With only five years left to meet the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to below 1.5°C, the platform aims to inspire widespread climate action by keeping awareness high and momentum strong. As Liljekvist puts it, "We aim to keep hosting and attending events when the opportunities arise—they're key to sparking radical collaboration and celebrating the amazing work of our community." In January, the team hosted a breakfast at the World Economic Forum in Davos, gathering over 100 members and partners to discuss the business case for climate action. Next, they will showcase their bold "Paris City 2050" vision and spotlight leading climate solutions from members at ChangeNOW in Paris, April 24–26. The platform will also return to Climate Week NY and the United Nations General Assembly this September. Liljekvist's message to companies considering joining Action Speaks is clear: if they have climate solutions that are available, scalable, impactful, and viable, the platform offers a way to amplify their reach, collaborate with others, and gain access to exclusive events. At the same time, Action Speaks welcomes those still shaping their climate strategies—anyone who wants to be part of the solution. Membership also offers inspiration and community for organizations at any stage of their sustainability journey. The invitation from Action Speaks is powerful and straightforward: "Join the movement, because every action counts—and when we all act, the world listens." For more information on the new Action Speaks platform and event – Action Speaks: Join the Movement for Collective Climate Action.
