The Ikea phenomenon

Furniture company Ikea was founded in 1943. The company's best pieces of furniture are currently on show at an exhibition in Munich. The daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung comments: "Ikea has liberated entire generations from the misery of furniture debts. But on the other hand, many a relationship has gone awry as a result of the bloody fingers, crooked shelves, mismatched raw plugs and missing pieces that are part and parcel of putting together cupboards after a visit to Ikea, and the likes of 'Ivar', 'Billy' and 'Hemnes' did not always bring domestic bliss. This prompted Ikea to cater to the needs of failed relationships in its 1999 catalogue. 'This is where we live', a little girl says in the catalogue, adding 'my father and I. Actually, I'm only here every now and again, but my father lives here the whole time. The curtain is made of two Ullört covers for 39 marks each sewn together.' Ikea even hawked that: dreams for the children of divorced parents."

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