Store’s iconic products turn 30

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THE new 2010 Ikea Cata­logue was launched last weekend alongside a celebration to mark the 30th birthday of two of Ikea’s iconic products — the Billy bookcase and Klippan sofa.

The catalogue, which features 376 colourful pages of dream home settings and home furnishing products, has been distributed for free to households in the Klang Valley since early this month.

This year’s catalogue continues to give every one more choices, ideas and inspiration to help them create a better everyday life at home.

Clutter-free: The new Anordna storage series to store cosmetics and beauty products. It has been designed to fit with the Godmorgon bathroom series to create an organised and inviting bathroom.

It also brings more thoughtful and creative choices, recognising the desire for fundamental basics but also understanding the need for a variety of styles, colours and patterns, in an easy and affordable manner.

“Some of Ikea’s bestsellers are now sold at even lower prices, with further reduction in prices made possible through more efficient ways of producing, transporting and storing the products,” said Ikea marketing communications manager Yap Poh Choo.

“A new item in the catalogue is the monthly specials, which highlights offers available at the Ikea restaurant.”

Some 2,000 Ikea products are presented in the catalogue, while about 700 new products are presented at the store.

Yap highlighted the bedroom and kitchen ranges, which include new products like the Anordna storage series, Poäng chairs, Färgrik Mellan and Färgrik Högst crockery series, and various working solutions for laptop users.

To commemorate the birthdays of its two iconic products, Ikea introduced limited edition Billy book­­-cases that are available in two motifs (Shakespeare’s love sonnets and Japanese manga), Billy book-ends in assorted colours, and Klippan sofas with a contemporary take on the original Bladhult fabric of 1979.

There are 1,000 units of the limited edition Billy bookcases, 1,500 pieces of the Billy book-ends and 150 units of the Klippan sofas.

Iconic product: To commemorate the product’s 30th birthday, Ikea introduced limited edition Billy bookcases that are available in two motifs (Shakespeare’s love sonnets or Japanese manga), and limited edition Billy book-ends in two sizes.

The saga of Billy and Klippan is that of Ikea in a nutshell — strong design at great value for money already from the start, followed by continuous evolution to become smarter, better and cheaper.

“Billy and Klippan now cost less than 50% of what they did 30 years ago, because the more Ikea makes of something, the flatter the packaging is, and the more production and transportation costs can be saved, with the savings going directly to the customer, which means an even lower price,” said Yap.

Yap attributed the two products’ enduring appeal to their simple and timeless designs, affordable prices and good quality.

“While the products have evolved over time, Ikea ensures that their function and quality remain. The Billy bookcases have expanded to include units with varying heights and functionality, while the Klippan sofa comes in numerous fabrics and motifs, and is lighter than it originally was,” she said.

Iconic product: The limited edition Klippan two-seat sofa with Bladhult cover is priced at RM899. The removable cover features a contemporary take on the original Bladhult fabric of 1979.

The party included a birthday cake-cutting ceremony, a lucky draw for five shoppers to win the limited edition Billy bookcases and Klippan two-seat sofa with Bladhult cover, and Q&A sessions during which Ikea items were given as prizes.

The first 100 30-year-olds who registered at the event also received a Billy book-end as a birthday gift.