Furniture retailer IKEA appoints a new CEO

Jon Abrahamsson Ring, a former assistant to furniture retailer IKEA's founder Ingvar Kamprad, has been named the new chief executive officer (CEO) of the Inter IKEA Group, the company said Tuesday.

Abrahamsson Ring, 45, will take over the reins on September 1, replacing Torbjorn Loof, 54, who resigned after seven years at the head of the group, it said in a statement.

Under Loof's management, the Swedish flat-pack furniture company expanded into 15 new markets and is scheduled to open its first South American store in Chile next year.

His newly appointed successor joined IKEA in 1998 as a trainee and worked for the company in Canada before becoming Ingvar Kamprad's assistant for four years, and then holding a senior position in China.

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In 2008, Abrahamsson Ring left IKEA to become CEO of the Swedish fashion brand Filippa K, and later the CEO of the Nordic gardening store chain Plantagen.

The Inter IKEA Group controls the IKEA brand and selects the franchises that sell its items worldwide – in physical stores or online. It also controls the development of new products.

Earlier in October 2019, the company announced its plans to expand to Tier-II cities as a part of its Phase 2 expansion plan.

It was developing a large format store in Bengaluru last year, and later plans to develop one in Delhi as a part of its first phase expansion plans. At present, the company has large-format stores in Hyderabad and Mumbai.

In November 2019, IKEA invested ‎€200 million to speed up its actions to become climate-positive by 2030. The investment has come about in connection with the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference COP25.

According to the company, the investment will focus on two portfolios – one, to transform the IKEA supply chain to integrate renewable energy use, and two, to remove carbon from the atmosphere through reforestation, restoration of degraded forests, and better forest management practices.

(Edited by Saheli Sen Gupta)