Ikea catalog to end publication after 70 years

Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Ikea said Monday it will end publication of its print publication after 70 years, citing declining readership.

The ready-to-assemble furniture retailer said in a statement that the Ikea catalog has "inspired many people" worldwide, "but times are changing."

Ikea has shifted to embrace more digital media, and print readership has declined, the statement added.

"For both customers and co-workers, the Ikea Catalogue is a publication that brings a lot of emotions, memories and joy," Inter Ikea Systems B.V. Managing Director Konrad Gruss said in the statement. "For 70 years it has been one of our most unique and iconic products, which has inspired billions of people across the world. Turning the page with our beloved catalogue is emotional but rational."

Ikea was forced to embrace online shopping amid the COVID-19 pandemic after initial resistance.

Online retail sales surged 45% worldwide over the 2020 fiscal year, according to Ikea.

Ingka Group, a holding company, whose core business includes 378 Ikea stores across 30 markets worldwide, announced in October that Ikea had strong retail sales for the financial year 2020 despite the pandemic as people spent more time in their homes and sought to improve the environment.

Ingvar Kamprad founded Ikea in 1943 at age 17 in southern Sweden after his father gave him a small sum of money for doing well in school despite being dyslexic. The business name comes from an abbreviation of the founder's initials and Elmtraryd, Agunnaryd, his boyhood home in Swedish province of Smaland.

In 1951, Kamprad put together the first Ikea catalog.

At its peak in 2016, 200 million copies of the catalog were distributed in 32 languages.

The history of the catalog will be honored with a book during autumn of 2021, Ikea said.