IKEA making it one of the largest users of wood in the retail sector. Most of IKEA's stores and factories were previously owned by INGKA, a holding company controlled by the Stichting INGKA Foundation, one of the 40 wealthiest foundations in the world. Ingvar Kamprad founded IKEA in 1943 as a mostly mail-order sales business. It began to sell furniture five years later. The first Möbel-IKÉA store was opened in Älmhult, Småland, in 1958 (Möbel means "furniture" in Swedish). The first stores outside Sweden were opened in Norway (1963) and Denmark (1969). The stores spread to other parts of Europe in
Ingvar runestones Ingvar runestones The Ingvar Runestones () is the name of c. 26 Varangian Runestones that were raised in commemoration of those who died in the Swedish Viking expedition to the Caspian Sea of Ingvar the Far-Travelled. The Ingvar expedition was the single Swedish event that is mentioned on most runestones, and in number, they are only surpassed by the c. 30 Greece Runestones and the c. 30 England Runestones. It was a fateful expedition taking place between 1036 and 1041 with many ships. The Vikings came to the south-eastern shores of the Caspian Sea, and they appear to have taken