While you may pop to Gateshead's Ikea at the Metrocentre for some cheap and easy flat-pack furniture or a signature hot dog, how much do you actually know about the company and where the name came from?
Sure, we all know that their offerings are reasonably priced, the company was founded in Sweden, and the meatballs are simply second to none - but have you ever wondered where the four letter name came from, or if you're pronouncing it correctly?
Well curious shoppers have been left flabbergasted to find out the origin behind the successful retailer's name, and that they've been saying it correctly for years.
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The Mirror reports that to discover how Ikea received its name, we must go back to the original founder - Ingvar Kamprad. You may well notice at a glance that the first two letters of the chain-outlet are the initials of Ivan, but the 'E' and the 'A' have a much more special meaning.
The Sun reports that the E relates to a farm called Elmtaryd - which Ivan grew up close to - while the A represents a nearby village named Agunnaryd. Ingvar started his business journey when he was a young boy, selling matches back in 1931 aged just five.
His products were massively in demand as they were a much-needed item for the times, and after a little while Ingvar realised he could sell to people further afield - traveling to farms further afield to flog his stock. Soon after, he started selling all sorts of products - from fish and magazines, to classmate supplies when he was a teenager.
He then moved into the furnishings market, and the rest - as they say - is history.
And while you may now be well-informed as to the origin of the name of Ikea, there's a whole different can of worms altogether when it comes down to the brand's pronunciation. The majority see it as 'eye-kee-ya', but others will say 'ee-kay-uh'.
Thankfully, the brand set the record straight back in 2021 - with IKEA Singapore sharing a litany of fun facts about the brand online. During the whirlwind of info, their official Instagram page said that the brand's actual pronunciation is the latter in 'ee-kay-uh' - but people are more than welcome to say it how they wish.
And people were shocked to find out the meaning of the name and it's correct pronunciation - with one writing: "Double Wow," while another, penned: "We've always said eye-HEY-uh."
Another, joked: "What kind of people pronounced it as AI-KAY-UH? For research purposes," while a fourth, deeply added: "Today I realized I have never spoken or heard IKEA spoken aloud, I have only ever heard it in my head when I saw the name online. This whole time it's been AI-EKK-UH to me."
How do you pronounce IKEA? Let us know in the comments!
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