Sweden - Becky Ohlsen [263]
The Ikea name (a combination of Kamprad’s initials and those of the farm and village he grew up in) was officially registered in 1943. Furniture was added to the company’s products four years later, gradually evolving into the Ikea-designed flatpack creations so familiar today. There was almost an early end to the Ikea empire when the first Stockholm shop and all its stock burned down in 1970. But, besides his devotion to work and obsession with cost-cutting, Kamprad also seems to thrive on adversity: Ikea bounced back.
The company sells a look and lifestyle that seems to be craved universally; shoppers are offered clean, cleverly designed Scandinavian style at prices that sometimes seem too cheap to be real. It’s estimated that 10% of Europeans were conceived in an Ikea bed!
Ikea is a mine of paradoxes, however, and is worshipped and criticised in equal measures. The clean-cut company was rocked in 1994 by revelations that Kamprad once had links with a pro-Nazi party in Sweden (he later offered a public apology, and expressed much regret for this time of his life). Ikea also seems to induce mass hysteria: a stampede in Jeddah left three people dead; and UK readers may recall the fighting crowds, evacuation of wounded people and cars abandoned on the North Circular when the Edmonton shop opened in London. Cheap and innovative designs are great, but what does it say about the value of individuality when every house in the land has Billy bookshelves and a Klippan sofa?
Still, like it or loathe it, Ikea is here to stay. Kamprad has taken a back seat, with control over his empire now divvied up among his three children, and more new stores are planned. Today Ikea has stores in 40 countries; branches first opened in Australia in 1975, Saudi Arabia in 1983, the US in 1985, Britain in 1987, China in 1998 and Russia in 2000.
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Tax-Free Shopping
At shops that display the ‘Tax Free Shopping’ sign, non-EU citizens making single purchases of goods exceeding Skr200 are eligible for a VAT refund of up to 17.5% of the purchase price. Show your passport and ask the shop for a ‘Global Refund Cheque’, which should be presented along with your unopened purchases (within three months) at your departure point from the country (before you check in), to get export validation. You can then cash your cheque at any of the refund points, which are found at international airports and harbours. The free Tax Free Shopping Guide to Sweden is available from tourist offices or call 020-74 17 41 for more information.
Bargaining
Bargaining isn’t customary, but you can get ‘walk-in’ prices at some hotels and stugby (chalet parks).
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SOLO TRAVELLERS
Travelling in Sweden poses no particular problems for lone travellers, though it can be trickier than most other countries to meet people. Hostel dormitories aren’t common, except in cities, and quite often you’ll end up stuck in a room on your own, surrounded by families. Female solo travellers should obviously take care at night in the cities, and check with locals about any dodgy areas to avoid.
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TELEPHONE & FAX
Swedish phone numbers have area codes followed by a varying number of digits. Look for business numbers in the Yellow Pages (www.gulasidorna.se, in Swedish). The state-owned telephone company, Telia, also has phone books, which include green pages (for community services) and blue pages (for regional services, including health and medical care).
Public telephones are usually to be found at train stations or in the main town square. They accept phonecards or credit cards (although the latter are expensive). It’s not possible to receive return international calls on public phones.
For international calls dial 00, followed by the country code and then the local area code. Calls to Sweden from abroad require the country code 46 followed by the area code, and telephone number (omitting the first zero in the area code).
Mobile phone codes start with