Very first Ikea store is now a museum

Swedish furniture store chain Ikea transformed its very first store into a museum. The store opened in 1958 and shut down in 2012, but fans can now visit it to see the best the chain’s past has to offer.

Interactive museum

The museum harbours plenty of furniture Ikea once brought to market. Not only its most successful items are on display: Ikea is not too shabby to also highlight its most remarkable failures. There are also a number of items that have nothing to do with Ikea as we know it today: the company started as a mail order company, selling a range of smaller items, like pens, lighters and watches.

Some items will remain on display permanently, while another part will be replaced every two years. There is also a restaurant and a shop in the museum, while schools can get special tours around the facility.

There is also an interactive element in the museum, where visitors can place themselves on the cover of the newest Ikea catalogue. The museum, in Älmhult, will open its doors for the public on 30 June.