What does the name IKEA abbreviate, combining its founder's initials with two Swedish place names?

The name IKEA abbreviates Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd.

Ingvar Kamprad founded IKEA in Sweden in 1943, when he was a teenager. The first two letters, I and K, come from his name. The E comes from Elmtaryd, the farm where he grew up, and the A comes from Agunnaryd, the parish in Småland where that farm was located.

IKEA began as a mail-order business selling assorted goods rather than exclusively furniture. Furniture became central during the 1950s, when the company developed its distinctive approach of selling affordable products that customers could transport and assemble themselves. Flat-pack design helped reduce shipping and storage costs.

The name is sometimes mistakenly expanded using Älmhult, the Swedish town associated with IKEA's early development and design operations. Älmhult is important to the company's history, but it is not represented by a letter in the IKEA acronym. The spelling of Elmtaryd and Agunnaryd reflects the original Swedish place names.