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Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad has died

bbc.co.uk

121–130 of 189 posts

Re: Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad has died

#121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some of the "frugality" stuff is just image - he also had a Porsche, lived in a very nice property in Switzerland for 40 years, and also owned a French vineyard (although he forced IKEA to sell the wine from the latter so he may have actually made money off of that one...)

As far as sports cars go, you can get a reliable Porsche that will last you a very long time. Not necessarily wasteful if you want good performance out of a car.

Completely off topic, but ehat model/years are you talking about?

I’ve never heard anyone say that about a porsche.

Genuinely curious, not being facetious.

Re: Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad has died

#122
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ikea actually plans to become "forest positive": https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/ikea-sustai... The article is from 2012, not sure how far they progressed (true sustainability is difficult). I doubt they use any tropical wood though. Most of their wood supplies are already FSC certified.

Also worth pointing out that in the UK, the company now sends nothing to landfill itself ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/38636272/ikea-sustaina... ). And in France, they will accept old Ikea furniture and resell it at low cost ( https://www.climatesolutionsplatform.org/solution/giving-fur... ) There are a few things to attack the company on; I’m not sure sustainability is one of their weak points.

Arguably they are one of the leading large companies with regard to sustainability. Most of their wood is fast growing pine, and they switched their entire lighting range over to LEDs way back in 2011 http://www.ikea.com/us/en/about_ikea/newsitem/IKEA_pulls_the...

Re: Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad has died

#123

"In the later years of his life, Mr Kamprad had faced questions over his past links to the Nazis." It's crazy how he ran Ikea for over 70 years but a quarter of the article deals with his ties to Nazis. Granted, he admits it was the "greatest mistake" of his life, so I suppose the attention to it may not be unwarranted. But I think it would have been prudent to touch on what caused him to shift his perspective. "Yout…

Objectively, what IBM did, in helping the nazis, and was collaborating with them, for many years into the war - even when the US was getting involved —, was much worse then what this guy was doing. There’s also Porsche, Volkswagen (basically, Hitler’s own brand) and any other brands that were involved, and basically the catholic church was preaching in many EU countries for their sons to join the German army...

Don't forget Henry Ford.

Re: Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad has died

#124
post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As far as sports cars go, you can get a reliable Porsche that will last you a very long time. Not necessarily wasteful if you want good performance out of a car.

Completely off topic, but ehat model/years are you talking about? I’ve never heard anyone say that about a porsche. Genuinely curious, not being facetious.

Not OP, but some info here: https://jalopnik.com/how-to-own-a-ridiculously-cheap-and-rel...

Re: Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad has died

#125
post #35

This news also tops the consumer version of the IKEA swedish subsite. Kamprad was the most well known entrepneur in Sweden. He projected an image of himself as an every day man, even somewhat behind ("smådum") which he obviously was not. He considered the entire supply chain, including buying forests as supply for wood. With him gone, only future will tell if IKEA will be able to keep up its success.

[deleted]

Re: Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad has died

#126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My take on this is that they make some real crappy stuff, like in: if you ever take it apart, you might as well throw it away. And then they also have some decent, quality stuff, like some of their couches. The problem is that as a consumer, it’s sometimes a bit unclear which category you’re buying into. Price is not a good indicator when it comes to ikea stuff: they have cheap stuff that’s great and expensive stuff…

> you ever take it apart, you might as well throw it away. I'm sure virtually no other piece of hone furniture was ever designed to be taken apart. Iikea's stuff is designed to be easily shipped and put together by unskilled people, but not to be taken apart. I'm sure that you won't rate your cellphone or laptop by how well it handles being disassembled.

I have seen several over 100 years old wardrobes that can be disassembled and reassembled in minutes without damage because they are held together by metal fittings that hook into each other. Like the better Ikea stuff, but much sturdier, especially the actual metal fittings. The wardrobe I remember best had three doors - it would barely fit through any door if it couldn't be disassembled for transport. It had a socket part, separate wall parts with aforementioned fittings, and a top part that could be slotted onto the walls (and doors with their simple stick and hole type hinges) after assembling them. Assembly and disassembly was as simple as it sounds, if not simpler.

Re: Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad has died

#127

Moving from a country with no Ikea to a country with Ikea has been a paradigm shift for me, and I'm not sure it's entirely a good one. It used to be that if I wanted furniture, I'd go to the second hand store, and look for some used furniture that fitted my purpose. If I couldn't find something that worked, then I'd look online, and then failing that, I'd buy it new. I found some real gems at the second hand store. A…

On another take, the amount of IKEA furniture I've assembled over the years has instilled some basic sense of design and structure which has aided my in building my own outdoor furniture. IKEA is, effectively, a DIY store and you aren't limited to the pieces they package together. You can really be creative with it.

There are many good examples of DIY approach at the IKEA Hackers blog.

https://www.ikeahackers.net/

Re: Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad has died

#128

I read the news in an IKEA sofa wrapped in an IKEA blanket resting my head on an IKEA cushion watching TV on an IKEA bench. He truly built a startup that changed the world.

I read it while getting ready to go and buy some white transparent boxes :).

That's a funny way to spell "SAMLA" :)

Re: Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad has died

#129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Before disposable stuff, people bought used furniture and then re-sold it when they moved. It was less convenient, but certainly not 2-3 times more expensive, since good furniture holds its value.

Most of the times when you rent you don't have the actual time to sell the furniture that you bought, because the "finding a new place and moving right in"-period is pretty short. Plus, you kind of need your bed, your chairs and your table until the day when you're actually moving out, so if you were the one who had actually bought them and there's not enough space for them in the new place then your only solution is…

Other options that might be available:

- Selling to the next renter or to the landlord

- Finding a buyer (individual or store) and arranging with them to pick it up on the day you're moving out

- Selling your stuff a few days before leaving and improvising temporary alternatives (e.g. $20 air mattress on the floor, or staying with friends)

Note: I'm not saying these are better than just writing off your current furniture and buying new stuff. All I'm saying is that other options existed before IKEA, and continue to exist today.

Re: Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad has died

#130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On another take, the amount of IKEA furniture I've assembled over the years has instilled some basic sense of design and structure which has aided my in building my own outdoor furniture. IKEA is, effectively, a DIY store and you aren't limited to the pieces they package together. You can really be creative with it.

There are many good examples of DIY approach at the IKEA Hackers blog. https://www.ikeahackers.net/

The Lack specifically is one of the most versatile pieces of furniture in existence. Dirt cheap, symmetrical, strong load bearing, simple design and assembly. The classic “Lack Rack” server racks have been posted on here several times as another example of what you can do with the Lack.
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