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
Per-Ingvar Brånemark Per-Ingvar Brånemark Per-Ingvar Brånemark (May 3, 1929 – December 20, 2014) was a Swedish physician and research professor, touted as the "father of modern dental implantology". The "Brånemark Osseointegration Center" (BOC), named after its founder, was founded in 1989 in Gothenburg, Sweden. After studying at Lund University in Sweden, Brånemark became professor of Anatomy at Gothenburg University in 1969. Brånemark has been awarded many prizes for his work, including the coveted Swedish Society of Medicine's Soederberg Prize in 1992—often referred to as the 'mini-Nobel'—and the Swedish Engineering Academy's equally prestigious medal for technical innovation. Brånemark has also been honored with