Ingvar Kamprad bulk very cheaply from Stockholm, sell them individually at a low price, and still make a good profit. From matches, he expanded to selling fish, Christmas tree decorations, seeds, and later ballpoint pens and pencils. When Kamprad was 17, his father gave him a cash reward for succeeding in his studies. Ingvar attended Göteborgs handelsinstitut, now part of Hvitfeldtska Gymnasiet, from 1943 to 1945. In 1943, when he was 17, Kamprad founded IKEA, selling replicas of his uncle Ernst's kitchen table. In 1948, Kamprad diversified his portfolio, adding furniture. His business was mostly mail order. The acronym IKEA is made
Easy Gardener Products, Inc. Easy Gardener Products, Inc. Easy Gardener Products, Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Waco, Texas that manufactures and sells gardening products. European operations are managed in London. Easy Gardener was founded in 1983 by Dick Grandy and Joe Owens. WeedBlock was the company's first product. Since then the company has grown through acquisitions and the introduction of new products. U.S. Home & Garden (known as Natural Earth Technologies before 1995), purchased Easy Gardener for $21 million in 1994. In 1996 it acquired Weatherly Consumer Products (which would become an Easy Gardener subsidiary), the parent company of the Jobe's