Swedish furniture retailer IKEA has opened the doors to ‘Hus of FRAKTA’, a luxury pop-up on London’s Oxford Street dedicated to one of the most iconic bags in the world, the blue IKEA FRAKTA.
Oxford Street is one of the world’s most fashionable streets and home to many iconic designer bags. To celebrate the forthcoming opening of the new Oxford Street store, IKEA is creating an homage to their own icon, putting IKEA’s FRAKTA at the heart of London’s fashion district and sitting nearby high-end favourites, but at a FRAKTA of the price.
The pop-up is now open daily until March 2025 at 216 Oxford Street – next door to what will be the new store, when it opens in spring 2025.
“We’re incredibly excited to bring IKEA to Oxford Street and know there’s plenty of anticipation for the store opening next year. In a playful tribute to this iconic location, we took inspiration from the world of fashion and blended it with our own principles of democratic design, so the FRAKTA can be discovered like never before,” says Matt Gould, IKEA London City Store Manager at IKEA.
A range of exciting features are included inside the pop-up; amongst them an ‘Atelier’, where guests will be able to personalise their FRAKTA bag with bespoke lettering. Personalisation of a large (75p) or medium (50p) bag will cost £3, or free of charge for IKEA Family members, which is free to sign up to and offers a range of benefits.
A ‘Curated Collection’ will offer a selection of some of the retailer’s most iconic products for purchase and will give fans a taste of shopping at IKEA Oxford Street come spring 2025. Products include, but are not limited to, the RÄFFELBJÖRK vase, the NÖDMAST lamp and DOMSTEN stool.
“The Hus of FRAKTA is more than a celebration of a product; it’s a fusion of fashion and our principles of democratic design, paying tribute to this iconic shopping destination and welcoming our new neighbours,” says Belén Frau Uriarte, Global Communication Manager at Ingka Group. “It reflects our commitment to the many people, bridging the gap between affordability and big dreams. As IKEA moves closer to where people live, work, and play, we reaffirm that great design is for everyone – no matter the size of their wallet.”
Meaning ‘to freight’ in Swedish, the FRAKTA bag was originally designed over three decades ago to help customers carry their purchases. Today it has become a cultural icon – reimagined by iconic designers including Zandra Rhodes and Marimekko along the way. The bag is a symbol of resourcefulness and adaptability; reused by many in so many different ways. From laundry basket to beach bag and even a trusty companion for city commuters, the FRAKTA has proven its versatility in countless ways, becoming part of the stories we live every day.
In other news, Ingka Group, the largest IKEA retailer, confirms its FY24 performance. In a year that was marked by tough economic conditions, high interest rates and continued inflation, Ingka Group and its three business areas – IKEA Retail, Ingka Investments and Ingka Centres – reached EUR 41.8 billion in revenue.
The company reduced prices by EUR 2.1 billion, prioritising affordability of IKEA products over profit. This helped to boost store and online visitation by 3.3% and 28% respectively, with the number of online orders increasing 9%. IKEA Retail delivered sales of EUR 39.6 billion, a decrease of 5% compared to last year (EUR 41.7 billion in 2023).
At the same time, the company continued to transform into a better business with capital expenditures into areas such as fulfilment capabilities, customer experiences, real estate development, renewable energy, and responsible forestry, totalling EUR 3.4 billion.
Juvencio Maeztu, Deputy CEO and CFO Ingka Group (IKEA) said: “It was a year of courageously investing in the future to make IKEA more affordable, accessible, and sustainable. For us, it has never been more important to side with the many people. Our unique business structure and financial independence enable us to make choices and invest for decades to come, making us more resilient to global and economic events and allowing us to remain focused on our business and our customers for the long-term. We have also stayed focused on our ambitious sustainability goals, working to future-proof our business.”
Ingka Group’s operating income was EUR 1.3 billion (FY23: 2.0 billion). The FY24 net income was EUR 0.8 billion (FY23: EUR 1.5 billion). Enabled by the company’s unique ownership model, 85% of net profit is reinvested back into the business, the remaining 15% is paid as dividend to the company’s sole owner, the Stichting INGKA Foundation.
The Stichting INGKA Foundation’s charitable purpose is to fund the IKEA Foundation, an independent, strategic philanthropy that focuses its grant making efforts on tackling the two biggest threats to children’s futures: poverty and climate change. By December 2023, the IKEA Foundation reached the milestone of granting EUR 2 billion to its partners.
“Our profit is very meaningful: it gives us the resources necessary to make us a better company, both now and in the future. To create a better life at home in ways that go beyond affordable, sustainable and functional furnishings, we are proud that a significant amount of our net profit benefits charitable causes,” added Maeztu.
Ingka Group’s sustainability commitments include reducing its climate footprint in its own operations by 85% by 2030 (from a 2016 baseline) and becoming net zero by reducing absolute greenhouse gas emissions from the entire value chain up- and downstream, by at least 50% by 2030 and 90% by 2050. Contributing to these targets, EUR 1.5 billion is invested as part of the renewable energy transformation. It will be used to accelerate ongoing efforts to retrofit IKEA units with renewable heating and cooling technology. All new units will be built with the new technology and last year eleven retail units in seven countries were retrofitted.
Ingka Investments, which plays a vital role in supporting Ingka Group’s long-term growth and sustainability ambitions, has so far invested and committed EUR 4.2 billion in off-site renewable energy, making it a mid-sized renewable energy production company. This is a part of a previously announced EUR 7.5 billion investment commitment up to 2030 in off-site renewable energy production and technologies.
Ingka Centres results were driven by the strong performance of portfolios in Europe and China. Global expansion continued with the acquisition of Churchill Square in Brighton, UK, the opening of Saluhall, Ingka Group’s first plant-forward food hall in San Francisco, US, as well as the opening of the Livat meeting place in Xi’an, China – the ninth Livat meeting place in the market.
Ingka Centres sold its total Russian portfolio of 14 MEGA meeting places in September 2023.
In FY24, Ingka’s corporate income tax was EUR 0.8 billion (FY23 EUR 0.7 billion) globally, the total tax bill, including other taxes and duties such as property taxes, environmental taxes and customs duties, amounted to approximately EUR 1.2 billion.
