I remember I was in the kitchen department.I was selling kitchens and one of my tasks was to plan the kitchen with the customer.
So we would spend one hour, one and a half hours in the little corner in an IKEA store, right, planning a dream for them, right.
And it was the first time when I came to the customer's home to see in reality what we actually planned on a paper in the corner of the IKEA store, right.
That I still remember this day because I think probably that's when I decided this is cool, doing something where I can actually impact on people.And then I started to look at my career like maybe this is for me, right?
Welcome to Retail Gets Real, where we hear from retail's most fascinating leaders about the industry that impacts everyone, everywhere, every day.I'm Bill Thorne from the National Retail Federation, and on today's episode, we're talking to IKEA U.S.
CEO and Chief Sustainability Officer, Javier Quiñones.We're going to talk to Javier about his career journey, what he loves most about his job, and how he stays current in the ever-changing retail industry. Javi, welcome to Retail Gets Real.
Thank you very much, Bill.It's a pleasure to be here with you today.
Well, I'll start with congratulations on being named to the NRF Foundation's list of people shaping retail's future.I'm always impressed with the people that we are honored to honor every January in New York around the big show.
And if you look at the background, your experience and what you've done, I can't think of why they wouldn't honor you.So tell us a little bit about your career journey.Where were you and how did you get to where you are?
Well, thank you, Bill.And thanks.I'm extremely honored and grateful about the recognition.And while it all started now, actually, these days, I'm celebrating my 25th anniversary in IKEA.
So I don't need to say that I was maybe 13, 14 years old when I started.
That's what I thought.I mean, it was the first thing that came to my mind.
No, a bit more than that.But anyway, I was in university.I joined IKEA working Fridays, four hours, Saturdays, eight hours.Christmas campaign, it was mainly to help during a busy period in the store. Never expected to have a career in IKEA or retail.
I wanted to be architect and that's what I was studying.Right.And here I am 25 years later and of course with many roles in between.But I started part time.
I did many roles, full time, shopkeeper, some of the leadership roles, more or less all of them in the store, I would say.And then I have the privilege to travel around Spain and work in different places in the stores mainly.
like Barcelona where I'm originally from, Madrid, Bilbao in the north, go back to Barcelona, I, in 2014, I left Spain for the first time.And at that time I was a store manager in one of the stores in my city.And I thought, this is it.Right.
I have around all my friends around.I had a good job.I was extremely happy.And I have to say, I love the stores.I love customers.I love people.I love the range.So I had it all.And I actually thought I found my career.And this is what it was.
And I've reached the pinnacle.Exactly. But then, you know, I had a super opportunity to move to the UK.I was deputy to the CEO there for a couple of years, and then I got the role of the CEO for UK and Ireland.
And I was living in London for five years together with my family. In 2019, I had the opportunity to come to the U.S.right before COVID.And it's been more than five years.
I cannot believe all these 25 years and how grateful and how good they have been in many ways.
It's amazing to me.I mean, you said that you started out, you thought you were going to be an architect.
How many leaders that we talk to on the podcast or meet during our meetings and things of that sort that started out thinking this is where I was going to go, never, ever really thinking that they would end up in retail.
And yet they found something, they found a passion for it, and then they really, really succeeded as a result of it.And I think that's a great story to tell.And the store manager, I mean, your stores aren't just stores, they're like little cities.
So I can only imagine being a store manager in an IKEA is like running a small town as opposed to just being a store manager.
But I think that, you know, what you all do and what we're doing as an industry, with a lot of focus on sustainability, I know that you've got some great programs that you do through IKEA to address that issue.
Tell us, where did that interest in sustainability for you start?And what is IKEA doing?
Well, you know, as I said, I joined 25 years ago.I still remember one of the first trainings I had to be as a mandatory training was sustainability.
In 1999, Spain, you know, north of Europe was a little bit ahead on the sustainability conversation, but it was not what it is today for sure.Right.
So that was part of the training program.It was the very first time when someone put me in a room to talk about recycling, how important it was and why.Since the very beginning, and these are things that I reflect when I look back, right?
I've never seen an IKEA plastic one-use bag in my entire career.I've never seen that.During many years, we have seen others claiming, we don't have now plastic bags.We have now other type of material for our bags and so on. I've never seen it.
And I've been in the company for 25 years.I still remember in what we call the Asis, today Circular Hub, because it is evolving, right?But our founder was very clear.Nothing goes to waste.
And we have this little corner in the store where you can buy products that are used, that have been shown in the showroom, or other types of uses, right?And this has been with us
Then, of course, this has evolved because the last 10 years, probably a bit more, we know what's happening in the planet.We cannot deny what's going on anymore.It is obvious.It is clear.It's been also part of our DNA.
But it's also the way we do things.We always liked in the past to do versus tell, right?This has been a lot on who we are. And to be honest, we decided some years ago, probably six, seven years ago, that we need to tell the story.
We need to share what we do because I think that we need to demystify a little bit that sustainability, it's always all goes with a premium, that it costs money and that it doesn't have in some ways returns that are good to the business.
And for us, this is totally the opposite, right?Today in the US, we already produce more energy than the one that we consume.We own like around 215,000 solar panels.
I always say, I love the stores inside because they are amazing places of inspiration.But when you look at the roof, It looks beautiful because it's all capturing energy, right?We have invested in solar farms.
We own two wind farms in Illinois and Texas.We are investing in forestry.So all this is part of what we have done.It's part of our good business, I would say, right?
We say in IKEA, it's good business to be a good business because it helps to our returns in many good ways.
So 1999, I mean, that is way, way ahead of most retailers.I mean, I know that. there's some of the big retailers that started to talk about it, probably in the mid, you know, two teens.So that 1999 is way ahead of just about everybody else.
So do you feel like IKEA has kind of led the industry or, because you said that they don't like to talk about what they do, they just want to do what needs to be done.And so, you know, some of the practice that you all started that many years ago,
I would think it's an early adoption because people aren't having to reinvent the wheel.Did you see a pickup on that or did it take a lot more time?
No, I think many more companies are picking up.I'm not saying we are perfect, and I like to say and to see that we are not perfect, because that means we have a lot to do, right?
The reality is there is a lot to do, especially on climate and sustainability.It's good to see many more companies.It's good to see many more movements in these areas.
It's good to see that the public sector and the private sector is coming together in a better way. But there is still absolutely a lot to do.It's also part of, you know, we have the privilege to enter in many people's homes.
Just to give you an example, LED bulbs, when we started with the technology, I think it was 2016 actually, you could buy one LED bulb for $7.95.
And we actually decided at that time we are going to stop selling any incandescent bulb in 2016 because there is a better technology that helps people to actually save some money at home and that has a better or less impact on the planet.
What do we do?By doing this, we increase the volume of the LED in a way that allow us to have long term agreements with our suppliers so we can reduce the price so many more people can afford to buy an LED bulb.
This is for me one of the fascinating stories.You know how much we pay today for two LED bulbs with, of course, an improved technology because this keeps evolving?Whoa.Wow.
And this is for us a way to also be closer to people, people that need to save.That's why I say sustainability is good, not for business, but also for the pockets of people.
And we are privileged to be in many people's home and we are privileged to be able to support people living more sustainable and at the same time saving some money.
You know, sustainability, I've always been conflicted because I think the name or the word sustainability had come to mean so much.
And yet, I think at its core, where it started and where we really needed to focus and continue to focus is the environmental sustainability. And part of it too, I don't know if you agree with this or not, Javi, but it's gonna just take time.
I mean, it's generational.So you look at the generations, certainly younger than me, that have a far more keen sense of their responsibility to the environment.
And then that then translates into a keen sense of who's doing the right thing, which then translates into, I'm going to support that particular business.
And so I think that by you all getting out early, what you did was you showed that if people agree with this particular thing that we're doing in the sustainability space, we're developing a loyal customer.
And over time, that's only gonna get better.
I fully agree.There are two things here, or maybe three.The first and more important is probably this is the right thing to do.I don't think there is an option.I don't think there is an alternative.
And I think it's also important that everyone starts taking action.I would say don't plan for perfection. Tomorrow is when I step forward already, right?So let's just start moving.And I think that's extremely important, I would say.
Then on the consumer, yes, I think it's about inspiration.And I think it's about also doing this together.So by doing it, we can actually help each other, right?And the planet and help the pocket of everyone, right?
And on the circularity, for example, I think this is one of the super important topics these days.
Yeah.I think, you know, unless we start really creating products that are a hundred percent circular, there is a risk for many companies to not exist.Right.Then the price goes to the core of Ikea.So.
It's very easy to create expensive products, right?But it's extremely difficult to create a well-designed functional with a nice form, right?That is sustainable at a low price.And that's the core of our product, right?
That's what we ask any single product. And that's why for us it's important because unless the products are circular, we're going to be needing to buy raw material continuously new that will only increase the prices of our products, right?
And it's going to be extremely expensive in the future.So there is no way that we can keep acting like this.And that's why first it's good for the customers, right?Because we launched this service, buy back and resell.
You can today bring your IKEA products to the IKEA store, we'll buy from you. And we'll make sure that we give a second life, no?
And I think this is extremely important because it helps not only the consumers, but also companies to actually have the reason to exist.And I think if companies do not jump into this, I think there is not the right reason to exist.
So there's a risk that you will not exist in the future.
The circular nature is, I mean, something we talk about a lot.It really wasn't a big, I think it's been out there for a while, but I mean, really people focusing on it has been really important.
So it's the other interesting thing I think that y'all did is you're not doing something just because you can do it, you're doing it because it's the right thing to do.And I think that more and more retailers are really focusing in on that.
It's not just because you can, it's because it's the right thing to do.So I can tell that sustainability and what you're doing in that space and who you're helping in that regard, that's something you're very, very passionate about.
But other than that, what do you love most about your job
Well, probably I will connect this with legacy, right?16 and 10.And to go with my wife, right?I want to look at the face of them thinking that I'm doing something good for the future, right?And for future generations.And that what I do
But what I love, people know that IKEA is owned by a foundation and that 15% of the profits that we do every year go to the foundation.
And the foundation is there actually to support mainly in two big aspects, poverty across the globe and climate change.So a big part of our profit goes straight to the foundation. That's why for us it's also important that we generate profit, right?
Because profit secures that we are able to do what we do because it's for us to exist.Then the other 85 stays in the company, in ways of investing, right?In many different aspects.As I said,
all the investments in solar, wind farms, renewable energy, geothermal, and so on, comes from this 85%, right?So a big part of this comes from this money, which means that it stays, all stays in, we don't pay dividends to anyone, right?
And the 15% to the foundation for the right reasons.
So for me to wake up every morning knowing that the effort and the profitability makes a very good use and that has a good impact and in people on the communities we operate and so on makes it real.
And one on this, you know, when I was full time in one of the stores, I remember I was in the kitchen department, I was selling kitchens.And one of my tasks was to plan the kitchen with the customer.
So we will spend one hour, one and a half hours in the little corner in an IKEA store, right, planning a dream.
And it was the first time when I came to the customer's home to see in reality what we actually planned on a paper in the corner of the Kia store.I still remember this day.Yeah.Because I think probably that's when I decided, this is cool.
Doing something where I can actually impact on people.And then I started to look at my career like, maybe this is for me, right? I still remember, and feelings are difficult to forget, right?
I still remember being in the kitchen, seeing the family, the kitchen working.I could predict this family is going to write so many amazing moments, right?And you know, I probably have 0.001% of responsibility on that. I still have, right.
And for me, that was spectacular.And then I think the values, another story here, you know, I met Imbar, our founder, in 2006. He visited the store.I was a sales manager at that time in the store.
And I went, I think it was 5.30 in the morning thinking, I cannot be after him, right?I cannot arrive.Yeah, that's bad.
You want to get there before the boss.
That's right.You know what happened?I was, of course, late.
Maybe that 4 a.m.And you know, the first thing he did? He went to talk with the drivers, the truck drivers.He didn't go in the store.I mean, no one could open the door probably.
He went to the back of the store and he was talking to the drivers, asking about how the experience was when they come to IKEA.
And the first thing he would check, you know, in our stores on the backside, we have a shower with a place for coffee, right?And some snacks sometimes.
So the driver, when they arrive to IKEA, they can actually get a shower if they have been driving for a long time or have a coffee or things like this, right?So this is the thing, the first thing he actually checked.
And that told me so much about, you know, this is about everything.It's about everyone contributing to this has to be updated and so on and so on.
So these couple of things for me, and I don't know if it is retail, I don't know if it is more probably IKEA and the way we do things that attracted me.So I'm here 25 years after, right?
You know, it is always intriguing to me when I was with Walmart to travel with the president of Walmart U.S.and going to the stores and what they focused on.
It's not the things I would think that they would focus on, but cleanliness of the bathroom, how the break room looked.Was it, you know, comfortable?
It was always very surprising to me that top of mind wasn't just necessarily the assortment and how it was assorted, it was the customer experience and how the associates were enjoying their jobs and what they could do to make the jobs easier.
That stuck with me as something that is, I don't know if it's unique to retail, but I believe it's probably unique to retail.So I guess one of the questions that I just gotta ask you, How much IKEA furniture do you own?
Oh, a lot. You know, I'm not going to say 100% because that would not be the truth, but a big part of it, a big part of it.And I love it.And some pieces have been with me.As I said, I've been moving in Spain, the UK, here.
Some pieces are with me since the very beginning.That's pretty awesome.Beyond one of the armchairs that, you know, it was actually designed. Inbar, the founder, had one in the 50s, right?That was the design, and I still have it with me.
Not the one from the 50s, but it is still in his home.That's pretty awesome.It's beautiful.And the Billis, you know, they last forever.So many of them, I would say.I love them all.
Well, you better. So, you know, I was recently, some friends of ours bought a villa in a small village in Italy called Penne, and they shop at the Ikea in Pescara.And last time I was there, I went with them.
And as I go into the IKEA, I feel like I could be at the Potomac Mills IKEA.I feel very much at home here.
It is interesting to me that when you look at the IKEAs around the world, there is that sense that when you walk in, you could walk in the one at your hometown or you can walk in one in another country, but you feel like, I know this place.
Is that something that you all do purposefully?
Yeah, I think first we have a common concept and idea of what IKEA should look like, right?And as I said, for me, there is no more beautiful place in the world than an IKEA store to go and get inspired about home furnishings and furniture, right?
And that's the core, that's similar everywhere.The range, we of course have a core range that is the same all over the world, that also helps us to actually work with volumes and have good prices, right?
There is also an extended range that is local and it's adapted to the needs.Believe it or not, we don't all sleep in the same way, right?True that.
If you travel, you know that.
Exactly. But you know, in Sweden we have the Nordic system, right?The bed, the duvet cover and so on.And in many pockets in the U.S.we do that too.But we have comforters as one of the main way with the top sheet.Sure.Right.
So these things we adapt, we actually launched recently our comforter range, new. Still in 2024, we are adapting and we will see many more things coming, right?
Because we listen and we try to, as you said, be on the side of the consumer and provide the right solutions for everyone, right?So yes, common range, but then you will see an extension that is local, king-size mattress, for example.
My apartment in Barcelona, I cannot fit, right?I can't have my home here in the U.S. So we adapt, and we are there for everyone, of course.That's pretty awesome.Yes, and you will see the restaurants, you will see the luxury too, and so on and so on.
Yeah.So, you know, one of the things that we always talk about is if there's one constant in retail, it's change.Everything changes.
You know, something that was there five years ago isn't here today, and what's here today won't necessarily be here in a year. So how do you stay current?
And I mean you, Javi, in terms of your leadership, in terms of how you view this company and its future.How do you stay current in this industry of constant change?
And I think this is especially relevant or even stronger, probably from the last 10 years, obviously.But the last five years with COVID has changed so many things.Technology, AI is changing so much.Oh my gosh, yeah.
in the way we are looking at the future and so on.First, we have been here for 40 years.Next year we celebrate 40 years in the US, 18 years globally, a couple of years ago.
So we have, I think, a good way of being in touch and in contact with the people, understand needs, understand what they need. And we always try to adapt to these new or needs and trends that we see.
So that's part of the curiosity, staying on the ground, go and visit people in their home. And that's beautiful.We go, they are so generous that they open the living room and sometimes even a cup of tea or coffee and sit down.
We talk about their home, what they love, what they need, right?So our showrooms and our range solutions represent this, right?And that it's actually available, all the outcomes in our web.So you can find some of the learnings.
We don't keep this as a secret, right? Consumer side, we always try to be very close, talk to people in a natural way, right?I don't think there is a better way than over a coffee or a cup of tea, right?That's one.
But then of course, I think retail has moved so much.Consumers, we see our percentage of e-commerce sales before COVID and today, and this has grown exponentially.
And of course, we needed to adapt.We have been transforming what we look like from probably already before COVID, but it accelerated many things.
When you look at our stores today, they are almost all of them fulfillment centers, but they were not in the past.We are closer to the consumers and we can actually fulfill many of the online orders.
And we are investing in, from the 52 stores we have, we have 26 projects going on right now to transform them into something else. or something to add in the building, not something in addition to the normal tasks, right?That's one.
We have been investing, of course, digitally.We are going to see many more coming.We announced two years ago the investment in the U.S.of $2.2 billion because the U.S.is a priority market for IKEA and we have a super agenda of growth.
We still believe, I get this question very often, right?What is the future of the brick and mortar?What is the future of the buildings and so on?
And I, you know, I still today, what is it, October 2024, I am sure that the future, at least the very near future, we're going to have the stores and we're going to have amazing places where we talk, where we meet people, where we have fun, where we, you know, have restaurants and inviting people to join us.
And we are going to open many in the years to come, right?In different sizes, being there to help people and to be closer to where people is.But of course, we have had to do so many changes in the way we do things and where we are present as well.
Because sadly, being outside the cities, as we have been doing during many years, is going to be the only formula, but it's going to be part of the formula for sure. Lots on the transformation, lots on the standing or being extremely curious.
I've been listening and learning, being on top, I would say.
Listening is such a big, big, big part of it.Javier, thank you so, so very much for being a guest on Retail Gets Real.I've enjoyed this conversation immensely, and I cannot wait to meet you in person in just a couple of months.
I'll see you in New York in January.See you in New York, Bill.Thank you very much.Really appreciate the time together.And dress warm. And thank you all for listening to another episode of Retail Gets Real.
You can find more information about this episode at retailgetsreal.com.I'm Bill Thorne.This is Retail Gets Real.Thanks again for listening.Until next time.
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