Ikea to pay $46-M to family of toddler killed in dresser accident

WASHINGTON — Ikea has agreed to pay $46 million to the parents of a 2-year-old boy who was killed when a chest of drawers tipped over on him, the family's lawyer said Tuesday.

Jozef Dudek died in May 2017 at his home in California when a Malm model dresser toppled over on him, inflicting neck crushing injuries that caused him to suffocate. That piece of furniture had been recalled a year earlier following a series of similar accidents.

The boy's parents sued the Swedish furniture maker in 2018 on grounds the company failed to take measures to make its products safer and more stable, the law firm Feldman Shepherd said in a statement.

Ikea agreed Monday to pay the family $46 million in what could be the largest child wrongful death settlement ever in the United States, the law firm said.

The same company in 2016 won a $50 million dollar settlement shared out among three families that lost children to similar accidents involving the Malm chest of drawers.

Ikea confirmed the new settlement to AFP.

"We remain committed to working proactively and collaboratively to address this very important home safety issue. Again, we offer our deepest condolences," Ikea said in a statement.

The agreement with the Dudek family also calls for Ikea to do more to reach out to customers who bought Malm pieces or similar products.

Ikea announced the recall of nearly 36 million Malm chests of drawers in North America and 1.6 million in China after 6 children died and another 30 were hurt in the US in accidents involving that piece of furniture.

Agence France-Presse 

IKEA to test furniture rental in 30 markets

KAARST, Germany - IKEA will expand tests to allow customers to rent desks and sofas rather than buy them as it shifts away from selling low-cost disposable furniture in response to growing environmental concerns.

The world’s biggest furniture group first said it was looking into furniture leasing in February. It fleshed out its plans on Wednesday at an event held at its first 'sustainable' store in Kaarst, western Germany, opened in 2017.

"Testing out opportunities for leasing offers is one of the ways we are challenging ourselves to deliver on our transformation strategy," said Jesper Brodin, chief executive of Ingka Group, which owns most IKEA stores.

"Climate change and unsustainable consumption are among the biggest challenges we face in society."

IKEA's move towards supporting a more circular economy comes as many young consumers say they want to minimize their impact on the environment, preferring to rent items ranging from clothing to cars.

Its business model has already come under pressure from the rise of online retail and a growing reluctance among younger shoppers to travel to its vast out-of-town stores, get the flat-pack furniture home and assemble it themselves.

Rent the Runway, which has previously only rented out designer apparel and accessories, said last month it will partner with Williams-Sonoma Inc's West Elm brand to allow subscribers to rent home decor.

IKEA, which had global sales of 39 billion euros ($44 billion) last year, said it wants to develop subscription-based leasing offers to encourage products to be reused as many times as possible before being recycled.

It had already committed to make all its products from renewable and recycled materials by 2030 and also to design all its products to be reused, repaired and recycled. In 2018 it handled 1 million orders for spare parts to repair products.

IKEA has already started testing different furniture rental projects in the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and Poland, and aims to expand the tests to all its 30 markets next year.

In Sweden and Switzerland, it is looking into providing furniture to companies on a subscription model, while in the Netherlands it is testing a rental package for students in cooperation with a housing association.

(Reporting by Emma Thomasson; Editing by Jan Harvey)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Ikea bets big on India but keeps meatballs off the menu

MUMBAI - Furniture giant Ikea is set to open its first store and restaurant in India after years of trying but arguably its most famous item is off the menu -- Swedish meatballs.

Ikea, the world's biggest furniture retailer, will next month cut the ribbon on a massive 37,000 square meter outlet in the southern city of Hyderabad, complete with a 1,000-seater cafeteria.

The restaurant will be Ikea's largest and will cater to local tastes, with religious sensitivities in India dictating that beef and pork, staples of Swedish meatballs, will not be served.

"There will be chicken meatballs and vegetarian balls," Patrik Antoni, Ikea's deputy country manager for India, told AFP during an interview in the Indian financial capital of Mumbai.

"Fifty percent of the food will be Swedish inspired, salmon and shrimp dishes and so on. We'll also have quite a few Indian dishes like dal makhani, biryani, samosas," he added.

The Swedish multinational, which revolutionized household furnishings with its range of affordable ready-to-assemble products, is betting big on India as it seeks new revenues away from its key Western markets.

Ikea plans to invest $1.5 billion in Asia's third-largest economy as it seeks to lure price-sensitive Indians away from satisfying their furniture needs at local, family-run shops.

Ikea has already spent close to $750 million procuring sites for four stores, including the Hyderabad one which will open in July on a date that is yet to be announced.

Outlets in Mumbai, Bangalore and the capital New Delhi will follow, Antoni said, without putting a timescale on them. He added that Ikea will then look at Pune, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Surat and Kolkata.

"We are very bullish and excited about the Indian market. Normally, we would test a market by opening one store but in India, we are going all out and expanding," said Antoni.

At 37,160 square meters the Hyderabad store will be comparable in size to an average Indian shopping mall. It will have 850 employees and is expected to attract several million visitors a year.

Spice and all things nice

As well as its wide range of international items Ikea will also sell goods uniquely suited to the Indian market.

Alongside its popular Billy bookcases and Poang chairs, Ikea will also offer spice boxes and kitchen appliances to make traditional Indian staples such as idlis (rice cakes).

"We have done over a thousand home visits and interviewed people to try to understand their needs, dreams, aspirations and how they feel about their home," explained Antoni.

More than 1,000 products priced under 200 rupees ($2.94) will be on sale.

India, with its abundant supply of cheap labor, is not known for its "DIY" culture so Ikea has teamed up with UrbanClap, an online platform that helps connect handymen with consumers.

Ikea, founded in 1943 by late Swedish entrepreneur Ingvar Kamprad, operates 418 stores in 49 markets. In May it announced that it would expand into South America with stores in Chile, Colombia and Peru.

The home goods behemoth first tried to enter India in 2006 but was foiled by strict foreign direct investment (FDI) rules that required foreign companies to sign up with a local partner.

Seven years later the rules were relaxed to allow foreign businesses to own retail stores operating under a single brand, clearing the way for Ikea's entry into India.

The Swedish company hopes its walk-in stores and famed restaurant will be a unique selling point as it goes up against popular Indian online furniture retailers Pepperfry and Urban Ladder. 

It will also have to contend with Walmart. The world's largest retailer has agreed to buy a majority stake in Indian e-tailer Flipkart, which sells a wide range of home furnishings.

Ikea's global sales grew by five percent on-year in 2017 as it recorded annual revenues of 38 billion euros ($47 billion).

The firm hopes access to India's growing middle class in the country of 1.25 billion people will open up new revenue streams.

Analysts, however, warn it faces a long journey in a crowded market.

"Profitability will take some time for Ikea in India," Sowmya Adiraju, an analyst at research firm Euromonitor, told AFP. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

EU investigates Ikea's Dutch tax deals

BRUSSELS - The EU on Monday opened an in-depth investigation into Swedish furniture giant Ikea's tax deals in the Netherlands, in the latest salvo by Brussels against the tax affairs of multinationals.

With the probe, the European Commission is taking a close look at the ways Ikea allegedly used a Dutch subsidiary to slash its tax bill on revenue from megastores around the world.

The case is the most ambitious one yet by Brussels against a multinational from Europe, and follows similar cases against US heavyweights Apple, Amazon and McDonald's.

They all come amid a wave of revelations such as the "Paradise Papers" and "LuxLeaks" that have turned the spotlight on how multinationals and the world's super rich use legal means to avoid paying tax.

"All companies, big or small, multinational or not, should pay their fair share of tax," the EU's anti-trust commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in a statement.

"Member states cannot let selected companies pay less tax by allowing them to artificially shift their profits elsewhere," she said.

The commission put no figure on its latest allegations against Ikea, but a report by the Green party in European Parliament last year said Ikea avoided one billion euros ($1.2 billion) in EU taxes between 2009 to 2014.

Privately held since its creation in 1943, the Ikea group has a complex corporate structure and is run by various foundations that has allowed it to stay clear of Sweden's high taxes.

'BIGGEST TAX HAVENS'

The commission's probe concerns 2 tax agreements brokered between the Netherlands and Inter Ikea, a Dutch-based unit of the retail giant that receives franchise fees from Ikea shops worldwide.

In the first tax ruling, between 2006 and 2011, Inter Ikea was allowed by the Netherlands to pay a hefty license fee to another Ikea unit in Luxembourg, thereby shifting revenue to a jurisdiction where it remained untaxed.

In 2011, after Brussels forced a law change in Luxembourg, Inter Ikea arranged a second ruling with the Netherlands, this time involving a complex loan arrangement with an Ikea unit in Liechtenstein, and again the Swedish company successfully shifted taxable revenue to a low tax jurisdiction.

"The Netherlands fully supports the Commission's work," said a senior Dutch EU official, adding that the government would have to look at the details of the case.

The move against Ikea came at the urging of the Greens party in European Parliament which mounted a major campaign to put the spotlight on Ikea.

"This is a huge success for the Greens as it comes from our initial complaint. Europe works," MEP Sven Giegold told AFP.

"It is shocking that the Netherlands, a founding member of the EU, is one of the biggest tax havens in the world," he said.

'BRING CLARITY'

Ikea in a statement insisted that its tax deals in the Netherlands did not breach EU laws.

"It is good if the investigation can bring clarity and confirm that," the company added.

Many of the Brussels probes came in the wake of the "LuxLeaks" scandal which revealed details of tax breaks given by the wealthy duchy to dozens of major US firms.

The revelations came as a particular embarrassment for European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, who was prime minister of Luxembourg at the time when the tax deals were made.

In a similar Dutch case, the EU decided against coffee-shop chain Starbucks in the Netherlands and ordered the latte and espresso-maker to pay roughly 30 million euros in back taxes.

In accordance with Vestager's blockbuster 2015 decision against Apple, Ireland said earlier this month it would begin collecting the 13 billion euros in back taxes owed by the US-based iPhone-maker.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Ikea to join online sharing economy with TaskRabbit

SAN FRANCISCO - Ikea on Thursday announced a deal to acquire on-demand help startup TaskRabbit as the world's largest furniture retailer grabbed a seat in the online sharing economy.

TaskRabbit provides an online platform where people can hire freelance labor for anything from fixing leaky plumbing or assembling furniture to picking up groceries or waiting in queues outside Apple stores to buy iPhones on launch days.

Since being founded 9 years ago, San Francisco-based TaskRabbit has spread to 40 US cities and London, according to the company.


"Through our unique on-demand platform, TaskRabbit is making life better for both consumers and Taskers," startup chief executive Stacy Brown-Philpot said.

TaskRabbit expected the merger with IKEA Group to result in a broader array of services being offered and the potential for "taskers" to make more money.

Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. TaskRabbit will continue to operate as an independent company, according to Ikea, which has its headquarters in the Netherlands.

Late last year, Ikea successfully tested making TaskRabbit talent available to help Ikea customers assemble newly bought furniture.

"In a fast changing retail environment, we continuously strive to develop new and improved products and services to make our customers' lives a little bit easier," Ikea chief executive Jesper Brodin said in the joint release.

"Entering the on-demand, sharing economy enables us to support that."

Ikea planned to make TaskRabbit services available to customers after the acquisition is completed.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Airbnb partners with aid agency for refugees

LONDON - Home-sharing website Airbnb has partnered with global aid agency International Rescue Committee (IRC) to provide short-term accommodation for refugees, joining a number of companies that has voiced their support for people fleeing conflicts.

The company said it plans to house 100,000 people in temporary homes over the next five years, including refugees, displaced people, disaster survivors and overseas aid workers. It has also pledged $4 million to the IRC.

"People who've been displaced, whether because of war or conflict or other factors, are acutely vulnerable to not being accepted," the company said in a statement this week.

"They are, quite literally, in need of a place to belong, which is why we've been inspired to take action," it said, encouraging customers to join the campaign by hosting refugees.

Former US Secretary of State, John Kerry supported the initiative, posting on Twitter: "Heartened to see people and companies standing with those doing so much good for those most in need -- leadership that's needed!"

Last week Airbnb offered free accommodation to refugees and others barred from entering the United States due to President Donald Trump's immigration curbs, which have since been temporarily suspended after a court ruling.

"It is important to remember that refugees have fled great harm, and in many cases their journey to the U.S. have been long and arduous. Now we want them to begin to feel at home," IRC spokeswoman Lucy Keating told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Airbnb is one of several global companies that has supported refugees after Trump's proposed 90-day travel ban on citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, and a 120-day bar on all refugees.

Swedish furniture giant IKEA last week announced it would stock rugs and textiles made by Syrian refugees by 2019, employing mostly refugee women living in Jordanian camps.

"The situation in Syria is a major tragedy of our time, and Jordan has taken a great responsibility in hosting Syrian refugees," said IKEA spokeswoman Johanna Martin.

"We decided to look into how IKEA can contribute in supporting Jordan's journey in integrating refugees with locals in labor market through jobs," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation, adding that production should start by September.

But initiatives to help refugees have not been welcomed by everyone.

Global coffee chain Starbucks faced a backlash on social media last week after the company announced it would hire 10,000 refugees over the next five years in the United States.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

IKEA to open in PH? Netizens react

MANILA – Many Filipinos took to social media to share their thoughts about the Swedish furniture retailer IKEA following a report that it will soon open here in the country.

IKEA, known for its big blue and yellow building that sells ready-to-assemble furniture and Swedish meatballs, will finally open in the Philippines, news website Inquirer.net reported on Wednesday.

IKEA’s current Asia Pacific locations include Australia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, India, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand.

The company also has several branches in Europe, North America, Middle East, North Africa and the Caribbean, according to its website.

Reacting to the news, several netizens expressed their excitement over the idea of IKEA furniture being readily available in the country.

Ive the best news for Titas (and Titos):

IKEA TO OPEN SOON IN THE PHILIPPINES!

Kung natuwa ka, confirmed tita ka.

— g3 san diego (@g3cafe) July 27, 2016

It's official: IKEA is opening in the Philippines. pic.twitter.com/StZSVBLZyQ

— Alessandra Guballa (@laphotograpia) July 27, 2016

Sign that you're a true Tita/Tito of Manila: the level of enthusiasm you have upon learning that IKEA is coming to the Philippines.

— Tina Araneta (@tina_araneta) July 27, 2016

IKEA in the Philippines got me giddy.

 Definitely, am now a tita.

— N (@macronikki) July 27, 2016

This IKEA Philippines news ought to drive my mom crazy

— Patti (@fattiefatuti) July 27, 2016

IKEA TO OPEN SOON IN THE PHILIPPINES! Thank you, furniture gods!

— Marge Manabat (@margemanabat) July 27, 2016

They say IKEA is coming to Philippines. I AM SO THRILLED! Bookcases bookcases!!! pic.twitter.com/4iBo1H8beD

 — Erika E. Solaris (@thenocturnalfey) July 27, 2016
 
Others, however, were not as pleased. Some netizens said they are worried that IKEA, with its relatively cheap products, will kill local businesses.

IKEA in the Philippines? This would likely kill our local businesses. :(

— Jaybee Domingo (@iamjbeedomingo) July 27, 2016

Why people are excited about IKEA coming to the Philippines? No one gets excited when SM Our Home opens smh 😒

— Paulo Rubio (@paupable) July 27, 2016

Ikea opening in the Philippines is both good and bad. :(:

— nikki yo (@nix222) July 27, 2016

IKEA is opening in the Philippines soon. Just another foreign company coming here selling overpriced mediocre stuff. pic.twitter.com/7ZNfxjLSJW

— Me-J Madayag (@meJagerbomb) July 27, 2016

Lawyer Yves Gonzalez, who used to work for the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, for his part wondered where the country’s first IKEA store will be located.

Theoretical: IKEA in the Philippines but due to scarcity of open spaces, it will be in Pampanga and Laguna. Are you ok with that?

— Yves Gonzalez (@doblezeta) July 27, 2016

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com