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Ikea’s [newest] CEO Juvencio Maeztu is calling to tell me about the Ingka Group’s latest earnings (that’s the parent company behind Ikea). As it turns out, there are worse fates than a company making a little less money than it did last year.
An economist by training, Maeztu has worked at the company for more than 25 years and brings a powerful international perspective to the position—having started as a store manager in Madrid, before eventually taking over as CEO of Ikea India.
We spoke [about] the release of Ingka’s 2025 financial earnings, which Maeztu characterizes as “mostly flat.” Revenue is down 0.9% as the company fights inflation to keep prices low. On the brighter side, store traffic was up 1.3%; online sales were up 4.6%; and overall item sales grew 1.6%.
[Below] Maetzu details his biggest priorities for the company, while addressing the challenges of operating a budget-friendly furniture business in a volatile global economy.
What is the focus for Ikea?
I have been traveling around many countries to learn about the reality from the shop floor and talking with consumers, colleagues and coworkers. That has cemented three things that are important to [our] vision [of] caring for people and the planet.
[First] I will keep putting a lot of focus on growth, not only in mature markets or European-based growth but many markets—U.S. included, and India and China. Growth is a way to be more present in homes.
The second thing is to double down on the need for cost transformation. Because the best frame of low price is low cost. You cannot be a low-price company if you are not a low-cost company. And I will double down on the resilience of the company.
Third is simplicity. Normally, big companies like us start to be bureaucratic, and, from the leadership perspective, we have to learn how to lead the company in a more agile way, less layers and more agility in the decision making.
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