Swedish retailer IKEA plans U.S. expansion

Business

A gallery of photos of IKEA stores in Atlanta and other cities around the world.

IKEA offers complete collections of furnishings for various home sizes; this set, designed for a 592-square-foot apartment, was on display in the Atlanta store in 2005.

The layout of the Atlanta IKEA, which opened in mid-2005, is identical to that of the company's stores worldwide.

Hundreds of people wait outside the IKEA store at Atlantic Station before its opening in June 2005.

IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad, 81, has become one of the world's richest men. His initials, joined with those of the Swedish farm and town where he was raised, created the IKEA acronym.

This is the front cover of one of the first IKEA mail-order catalogs, from 1951.

While IKEA is known for its simply designed and reasonably priced home furnishings, its food counter is just as popular. Here, the company's signature Swedish meatballs.

An estimated half-billion people visited IKEA stores in 2007. The company racked up $28.9 billion in global sales in the fiscal year that ended August 2007.

In this photo from 2005, Ashley Gill stacks a rug in the Atlanta store.

IKEA is known for its colorful items, but some shoppers say the in-store experience is less than ideal. Some often-heard complaints: The stores are difficult to navigate and they're often jammed with people.

Shoppers wait for the opening of the IKEA store in Sunrise, Fla., on Oct. 17, 2007. The company plans to expand in the U.S. this year and next.

A family loads items onto a cart while shopping at an IKEA store in Europe. The company was founded in Sweden in 1943.

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IKEA offers complete collections of furnishings for various home sizes; this set, designed for a 592-square-foot apartment, was on display in the Atlanta store in 2005.

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