If you recently went shopping at IKEA for a Billy (a bookshelf) or a Detolf (a glass cabinet), you had a lot of company. Over the last 60 years, the retail legend with unique product names has probably sold more furniture than any other company. Millions of customers worldwide have filled their homes with IKEA products, turning the Swedish chain into a multibillion-dollar giant.
turn X into Y：XがYに変わる
multibillion-dollar：数十億ドル
IKEA’s roots were far more humble. Founded in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad, a 17-year-old Swede, the company started as a mail-order business. One might expect such a young entrepreneur to grow tired of the ins and outs of a daily business, but not Ingvar. Within four years, he went from selling pens ，watches, and other odds and ends to hiring local craftspeople to build furniture for IKEA.
humble：謙虚な、つつましい
entrepreneur：起業家、アントレプレナー
grow tired of X：Xに飽きる
ins and outs：詳細
odds and ends：さまざまなもの
craftspeople：職人
The 1950s were a momentous period for the company. Kamprad opened his first showroom in 1953. Two years later, the company started designing its own furniture. Shortly after that, IKEA began selling items in “flat packages.” That is, the products came in several pieces, packed in a box, and customers assembled the items at home. According to the company, this idea came from an IKEA employee who had to take apart a table to make it fit into a car.
momentous：重大な
assemble：組み立てる
take apart：分解する
Besides do-it-yourself furniture and “one-way” store layouts (IKEA stores are intentionally designed to make you walk through every section before arriving at the cash register), IKEA is known for its emphasis on children. It sells many products designed specifically for use by boys and girls. The company is also a big supporter of children’s rights, helping in efforts to eliminate child labor in developing countries.
do-it-yourself：DIYの
intentionally：意図的に
in an effort to X：Xしようと努力して
eliminate：排除する
With sales of $28.9 billion in 2007, IKEA is firing on all cylinders. It now has more than 250 stores in over 30 countries. As the world buys Billys and Detolfs by the thousands, Ingvar Kamprad (already one of the world’s richest people) will continue to have a reason to smile. If there isn’t an IKEA near you yet, that could change soon, as the retail legend grows and grows.
fire on all cylinders：ばく進する、全力で物事に成功する
(ref.) go home burning rubber：大急ぎで帰宅する
(ref.) grease the wheels：事を順調に進める、事をスムーズに運ぶ