October Blog

"A lot of IKEA products are not so cheap," said a parking attendant to me when he figured out that I was Swedish. (Was it the car I was driving or could it possibly be my accent that gave me away?)

I thought of his remark when I was at IKEA recently. Having just had a huge plate of meatballs for $5.99 and having picked up a LACK side table for two dollars more, I had to wonder what he was talking about. On the contrary you have to wonder how it is possible to buy the material, make the table, paint it, transport it from the country where it is manufactured to a central warehouse and from there to a store, make a profit at all stages of the process, and then charge only $7.99 for a piece of brand new furniture. I wonder what IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad, who reportedly could work out the cost of manufacturing a table by just looking at it, would have to say about this?

Another thing I can’t get my head around is the inconsistency in some IKEA prices. For instance the HELMER drawer unit on casters costs only $49.99 in Canada. With six drawers, this is a lot of beautifully powder-coated steel. Compare this with the IKEA 365+ BRASA pendant lamp, at $59.99, that is also made out of powder-coated steel, but probably only requiring a single punch to get it into shape. The “really radical” lamp has been given remarkable prominence in the IKEA catalogue with its “function and quality of material” emphasized and with statements like “sometimes you need to stay basic to stand out”, but I cannot see why it should cost more than a substantial piece of furniture.

I talked with some IKEA people about this and they explained that the main reason for the difference in price is that “the lamp has to go through CSA approvals, testing, and the cost of parts of the lamp are greater than the drawer unit."

My guess would be that both HELMER and BRASA are made at a really inexpensive factory in China but that it is a higher margin and the commission to the Swedish designers A Nilsson, H Preutz and T Eliasson that makes BRASA that much more expensive. And there is nothing wrong with that.

Have a nice October

Anders

September Blog

I have received my election papers from Sweden now. Have you?

I hope all readers who have Swedish citizenship will vote in the general election. The election authorities in Sweden have some 130 000 Swedish citizens with foreign addresses on their register. All these citizens but even those who are not registered have the opportunity to vote at embassies and consulates or send in their votes by mail so that they are counted in the September 19 election.

Sadly, only 29 percent of registered voters abroad cast their vote in the last election, as compared to 82 percent participation in Sweden itself. Furthermore the 125 000 registered Swedes were only a fraction of the estimated half a million Swedes living abroad (according to the organization Svenskar i Världen) so in fact voter participation among this group was in all likelihood an embarrassing single digit figure.

If you live in Sweden you are constantly reminded of the election and you are well informed about the voting process. When it comes to Swedes living abroad, it is only the registered voters who receive the pertinent voting information. Swedish Press is attempting to keep you informed, but we have not been getting much help from the election authorities in Sweden. You would think that reminding Swedes of their right to vote in the only Swedish monthly in North America would be a non-brainer, but no. (I contacted the embassies and the Swedish Election Authority without getting any response. When I finally got hold of a bureaucrat in Sweden over the phone I was told that the authorities had no mandate to advertise the election abroad.)

When I first came to North America it was during the Social Democratic reign in Sweden. During election time I was told that the dearth of information about the elections here could be attributed to the Social Democrats not expecting much support from Swedes abroad. If that was true the Alliance should be more interested in getting in the votes from abroad.

General elections are at the heart of democracy and a low voter participation is an indication that it is not working. In Sweden there have been discussions about lowering the voting age from 18 to 16 years to establish a voting pattern early in life and in that way increase future voter participation. In all likelihood this will not happen until voter participation drops even further.

I hope you will find all the information about the election in this issue useful and if you are a Swedish citizen, make use of your democratic right and make your voice heard in this exciting election.

Have a nice September

Anders