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Ikea

Gaming furniture levels up to a more decorative aesthetic

by Matt Levin
Apr 18, 2024
Ikea is launching a new line of gaming furniture more suited for the living room than the basement. It's a sign of how gamer demographics are maturing.
Back in the day, furniture designed for gamers may have looked more like fighter pilot seats than something you'd find in a living room. Increasingly, that's changing.
Courtesy Ikea
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Why prices are dropping at furniture retailers like Ikea

by Meghan McCarty Carino
Mar 12, 2024
Furniture prices fell 3.7% over the last year, according to the latest Consumer Price Index report.
Demand for furniture spiked at the beginning of the pandemic, but now manufacturing and shipping costs have eased, making price cuts to furniture possible.
Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images
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Why does furniture fall apart so easily?

by Kai Ryssdal and Richard Cunningham
Sep 27, 2023
Furniture used to last a lifetime. Now, not so much. But how did we get here?
"A great place to buy long-lasting furniture is a vintage furniture store, right? The proof is in the pudding that it's well made because it's lasting long enough for you to be able to purchase it right now," said Washington Post reporter Rachel Kurzius.
jozzeppe/Getty Images
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Americans are buying a whole lot of furniture

by Matt Levin
Feb 16, 2022
Home furnishing sales went up 7.2% month over month in January, but why are people buying so much furniture?
Furniture sales climbed in January as people made themselves more comfortable at home.
Getty Images
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Ikea gets into the resale game

by Amy Scott
Aug 30, 2021
The furniture giant is piloting a program in the U.S. aimed at keeping its furniture in circulation rather than in the landfill.
Loic Venance/AFP via Getty Images
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Ikea ditches its catalog, but other retailers are hanging on to them

by Marielle Segarra
Dec 8, 2020
Catalogs can grab people’s attention, if only for a moment.
Catalogs placed at the entrance of an Ikea on Dec. 7, 2020, in Jarfalla, Sweden.
Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP via Getty Images
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Parenting in a Pandemic

Remote learning boosts back-to-school spending

by Erika Beras
Aug 11, 2020
School will be remote for many kids in the fall, and parents have been scrambling to outfit their homes with schooling furniture and supplies.
A mother helps her home-schooled daughter learn on a laptop. Parents are buying furniture and equipment to help their kids continue their education at home.
FG Trade/Getty Images
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Instruction manuals tell us more than how to use a product

by Janet Nguyen and David Brancaccio
May 29, 2018
They're the "supporting actress waiting in the wings," says the BBC's Helene Schumacher.
A view of one of Ikea's instruction manuals.
Ikea
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More than the meatballs: The economic enigma of Ikea

by Molly Wood
Nov 23, 2016
How the furniture giant is able to lower prices over time.
An IKEA employee displays the new IKEA vegetarian meatballs, during a worldwide launch at IKEA Anderlecht, on April 8, 2015.
EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images
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How do you define the American dream? Ikea wants to know

by David Brancaccio
Sep 21, 2016
Can a company built on selling stuff help Americans achieve sustainable, happy lives?
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
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