Just when you thought Ikea couldn’t price its merchandise any less expensively, along comes the 2010 product lineup.
The Scandinavian-based retailer, which bills itself as the world’s largest furnishings store, just unveiled its new catalog, which features lower prices on some of its long-running products. The company says the season’s assortment is “wallet-friendly.”
“We are not happy until it’s free,” said Marty Martson, spokesman for the company, perhaps taking the strategy to the extreme. “For us, lower prices are nothing new.” The new lower prices will roll out over the course of the next 12 months.
As an example. Ikea cited its Klippan sofa, which sold for $395 in 1985. It’s featured in the 2010 catalog at $249. The company said it achieved the savings “by designing smarter, using materials more efficiently and reducing transportation costs.”
Among the new products are some fresh design themes as well as variations on existing items. The Klippan sofa, for instance, will celebrate its 30th anniversary with a limited edition model that features the original fabric cover. The Poang chair, another long-standing item, will be offered with an expanded assortment of frames, fabrics and leather covers.
On the color front, Ikea calls gray “the achromatic hue of the year,” and so will show various products in that color including the new Edland collection of bedroom furniture. The store said it expects walnut to be “the retro chic wood tone,” and will display the finish on its Engan collection.
In children’s products—always a strong category for Ikea—the new Len Stjarna quilt is made of renewable cellulose-based material that it says is eco-friendly, as well as a new child-sized mattress called Vyssa.
The new catalog, which should begin showing up in mailboxes this month, is 376 pages. There are a total of 290 Ikea stores in 36 countries, including 37 in the U.S. Two new American stores are in the works, in Somerville, Mass. and Centennial, Colo.