Copenhagen (AFP) – The world number one in furniture, the Swedish group Ikea, had a lackluster 2025-26 financial year, but is banking on cut prices and local stores to revive its activity, its boss said on Friday in an interview with AFP.

Published on: 06/11/2026 - 1:42 p.m.

“I think we are finding the right formula, that Ikea is returning to its vision, that of being affordable for the greatest number of people,” Jakub Jankowski, general manager of Inter Ikea, the group's main holding company located in the Netherlands, told AFP.

“I think it will work, because it is also a reality in the world: there are more and more people who have no money,” he noted.

At the beginning of September, the group announced a reduction of up to 28% in the prices of some 1,500 of its products in Europe. This is the second time in two years that it has lowered its prices.

From a financial point of view, "we are ready to grow without necessarily having to invest in more infrastructure, because we already have capacities in production and in our distribution units", underlined the financial director of Inter Ikea, Henrik Elm.

“We can continue to invest in lower prices, since we make better use of our assets,” he explained.

The two leaders say they are “optimistic” about a return to growth after two gloomy years.

Over the delayed financial year ended at the end of August, turnover fell by 1.8%, to 43.8 billion euros, due to the price reduction undertaken, the holding company specified in its annual report, without giving the evolution of retail sales in volume.

Operating profit contracted by 12% to 1.5 billion euros due to cost pressure and inflation.

Presence in town

To attract customers, the furniture giant intends to increase its presence in the city, at a time when car travel, for ecological or financial reasons, is becoming rarer.

The objective is to increase the frequency of visits, which amounted to 913 million over the past financial year.

According to Mr. Jankowski, customers want to visit stores every four to six weeks, rather than two or three times a year, to buy everyday accessories.

“Combining the home improvement experience of department stores with also being very close to people when they need us on a daily basis, I think that’s also the winning formula,” he said.

Small-format stores also allow Ikea to enter cities where a large store would not be viable, noted Mr. Elm, who sees it as a way to gain additional market share.

Thirty small stores were opened in the 2025-26 financial year, while the group closed eight large stores, including seven in China.

The Chinese market is facing a slowdown in consumption and growing competition from online commerce.

“We are constantly adapting our footprint,” explained the boss of Inter Ikea. "On China, we are deliberately saying: 'OK, maybe we don't need such big stores.' It's better to evolve and adapt to the distribution environment as it is."

Present in 64 markets, Ikea has 519 stores, including 88 small formats, as well as 265 design and sales points.

Founded in 1943 in the south of Sweden by Ingvar Kamprad, the goldsmith of furniture kits is not listed on the stock exchange and therefore has no obligation to communicate on its financial health. The group began partially publishing results in 2010.

After cutting 850 jobs in May, Ikea has 217,000 employees worldwide.

© 2026 AFP

The content you are trying to access does not exist or is no longer available.