IKEA IKEA's story begins when Ingvar Kamprad was born in 1926 in Smaland in southern Sweden. He lived on a farm called Elmtaryd near the small village of Agunnaryd. As long as he could remember, Ingvar knew he wanted to develop a business. At the age of five he started selling matches to his neighbours and by the time he was seven, he was selling to people living further away, using his bicycle. He found that he could buy matches in bulk cheaply in Stockholm and sell them in small amounts at a very low price but still make a good profit. When he was ten he went on to selling other things like fish, pencils and pens. When he was seventeen, Ingvar's father gave him a present for doing well in school. What did he spend it on? He founded IKEA. The name IKEA was formed from the first letters of Ingvar Kamprad's name (I.K.) plus the first letters of Elmtaryd and Agunnaryd, the farm and village where he grew up. He increased his range of products from matches to include watches, jewellery and stockings(长袜). His business became so successful that he could not deliver to his customers personally. So he changed his business into a mail order operation.