People are only just realising what happens to the money IKEA makes – and it’s blowing their minds
PEOPLE are only just realising what IKEA does with it’s money… and it’s not what you’d expect the business to being doing.
Everyone loves the furniture store for offering stylist homeware on the cheap, but it has a little known secret.
IKEA is actually a nonprofit organisation.
That means the money made from selling drawers and wardrobes is primarily being used to pay its employees.
The rest is squirrelled away in savings or to pay for the IKEA branding.
That’s because IKEA stores are franchised by a company called Ingka Holdings, which is owned by a nonprofit organisation called Stichting Ingka Foundation.
The big charity’s mission is to “further the advancement of interior design”, so it owns IKEA and the majority of its shops
Thanks to the charity set up, the money made by IKEA goes into running the stores and as savings for a rainy day.
What’s more, a private Dutch Company called IKEA Systems owns the trademark to the iconic blue and yellow shop.
IKEA stores have to pay profits to the owners of the Dutch company to use the IKEA trademark.
IKEA employs over 135,000 across 460 stores.
Due to tax breaks for nonprofit organisations, IKEA pays about 33 times less on taxes than the average business, according to Online MBA.
The Economist claims: “The overall set-up of IKEA minimises tax and disclosure, handsomely rewards the founding Kamprad family and makes IKEA immune to a takeover.”
The average IKEA salary in the UK is £27,963 per year – or £14.34 per hour.
Shoppers’ minds were blown after IKEA’s little known secret was posted on Twitter.
One joked: “No wonder why you gotta put everything together yourself.”
When someone said they never knew IKEA was nonprofit, someone wittily replied: “Of course you wouldn’t know.
“The instructions were not clear and they were missing a few bolts.”
An ex-employee chimed in: “I worked for IKEA.
“They are actually a great company to work for.
“They really care about their employees.
“The founder of IKEA had rules in place before he died that they have to follow.”