March the 23rd, 2022 - The situation in Russia is bizarre to say the very least. With the media tightly controlled and threats of imprisonment imposed on those publicly opposing the invasion of neighbouring Ukraine, it's even odder to think that someone has employed their Photoshop skills into creating fake Zagreb IKEA photos which showcase Vladimir Putin.

Do you remember the quote that you'd wish on someone you weren't really the biggest fan in the world of? ''May you live in interesting times''. I think someone has said that to the majority of the population of the world over the last couple of years. As if a pandemic and now a war accompanied by soaring prices wasn't quite enough. Now someone has decided to try to frame Zagreb's IKEA store, of all places, as being a pro-Putin establishment.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the Russian media, which can barely be called free-thinking or independent, reported this week that here in Zagreb, the employees of IKEA are pro-Putin. Yes, you read that right.

''In Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, IKEA employees posted photos of Russian President Vladimir Putin in support of the special operation in Ukraine," Russian media reported.

"In Zagreb, at the local IKEA, portraits of Vladimir Putin were placed in all photo frames in their salons. Obviously, the IKEA employees did it themselves," the Russian channel went onto try to claim to the Russian public.

Based on the results of the audit, IKEA was very quick to confirm that these were fake photos that the state agency RIA Novosti were publishing.

“These pictures are fake and not real photos from the real store. We have no other information so far,'' said a company spokeswoman of the extremely strange Zagreb IKEA photos. The fact that someone has too much time on their hands is evident, but trying to use an IKEA store to clutch at straws for Putin support is perhaps one of the oddest events in this dire situation so far. Even Blahaj the famous IKEA shark looks displeased sitting next to Vladimir.

For more, check our lifestyle section.

February the 14th, 2022 - IKEA Zagreb was a huge hit when it first arrived in the Croatian capital, more precisely on the outskirts of it in Rugvica. It seems however that for the past few months, many customers have been noticing a lack of items on the shelves and an increase in the prices. Just what's going on there?

As Novac/Jutarnji/Ana Franic/SD writes, the Swedish brand IKEA arrived in Croatia back in 2014, taking up home on the outskirts of the capital, and since then it has delighted most people with its proximity, ease of purchase, decent prices and delivery.

Those of us who live in Croatia had fallen in love with this gigantic Swedish store's extensive and fairly prices offer much earlier, but it was necessary to cross the border before it arrived in Zagreb. Simple but modern furniture at relatively low prices and all sorts of little things for the house are an assortment that is both necessary and irresistible.

When IKEA Zagreb opened its doors, many Dalmatians made a ''pilgrimage'' of sorts to this huge department store and regularly received a list of products from family and friends with which to return home from shopping, writes Slobodna Dalmacija.

People outside of Zagreb eagerly waited for their purchases to arrive and in those years, suppliers who transported IKEA Zagreb goods to destinations throughout the resr of Croatia also made some very good money. Dalmatians were even more relieved back in 2017 when a delivery centre was opened in Split. In just a few clicks, fans of the Swedish brand could get their hands on their favourite things, and to add to that - delivery was made entirely free.

However, over more recent months, loyal IKEA Zagreb customers have noticed an increase in prices, but also the fact that a lot of products are not in stock at the Zagreb department store at all anymore.

''My apartment is like from the IKEA catalog. Everything I need for the house, whether it is furniture, utensils or decorations, I find and purchase with them. Everything is reasonably priced, but the quality is far from lacking. As I'm a big fan of IKEA, lately I've noticed that some of their products have become more expensive, but also that a lot of what they sold is not available,'' one woman from Split said, adding that she's not sure if those issues are due to coronavirus or something else.

''For example, I recently looked for an extra bed, but none of those that caught my eye were available. At first it meant nothing to me, until I continued to search for the products I needed. Baskets were also not available, nor were their scented candles, nor were part of their range of kitchen utensils,'' she went on to explain.

She's not the only one, either. After all, it's enough to look at the offer on the IKEA Zagreb website and notice that a lot of products are in the "red", that is, that they aren't in stock. Private renters are most affected by this, hoping that before the tourist season stocks will be restored and that they will be able to equip their rental apartments on time.

What exactly is happening with the IKEA Zagreb product offer and whether there has been an increase in prices?

''We'd like to point out that we continue to invest a lot of effort to keep our prices as low and stable as possible. However, the current situation with international trade and restrictions on raw materials affects all industries around the world, and IKEA is no exception. Procurement and transport costs are rising after the disruption in logistics, and the growth of raw material prices is at such a level that we couldn't avoid the increase in retail prices for many of our products,'' they explained from IKEA.

They added that some of their prices in their portfolio have been increased to reflect the current rising raw material and supply chain prices, adding that the prices of many of their products have remained the same, and some have even been reduced.

''The increase in prices of individual products ranged from a few percentage points to a low double-digit percentage, while the average price increase in Croatia was 9 percent,'' they explained. When it comes to the supply and availability of their products, they said that since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, there has been an increase in demand for their products because, as they say, people want to improve their lives at home as they were spending much more time within their four walls pre-vaccine.

''But during the last year of the pandemic, the global situation with the capacity of ocean traffic has created challenges for all companies dependent on it, including the business of IKEA. Continuous disturbances, port congestion and historically high demand have created an imbalance in the overall ocean freight market, resulting in limitations in our business. IKEA is closely monitoring the development of this situation across all fields so that it can adequately respond to all challenges. We prioritise our range to ensure that IKEA products, which our customers love and need the most, are available online and in our department stores. We want to thank our customers for understanding that not all products may be available at this time, and we'll certainly continue to take further action to increase product availability and provide customers with an even better IKEA experience,'' they concluded from IKEA Zagreb.

For more, check out our lifestyle section.

March the 23rd, 2021 - Croatian furniture stores have seen an increase in revenue, but there are a third less of them currently in operation as their numbers have been going down since long before the pandemic struck.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Brnic writes, although the impression is that the number of Croatian furniture stores is constantly growing, Fina's data shows the total opposite. In the last ten years, the number of Croatian furniture stores fell by 37 percent (from 349 back in 2009 to 219 in 2019), and the number of employees in this sector decreased by 16 percent (from 3177 to 2672).

At the same time, net salaries for those working in this industry increased by an impressive 77 percent (from 3,917 kuna to 6,925 kuna), and total revenues in those ten years rose by more than 1 billion kuna or 45.5 percent, from a total of 2.33 to 3.39 billion kuna. There are three main players in the market when it comes to Croatian furniture store - Lesnina rather unsurprisingly holds the leading position, followed by the equally popular Ikea and Jysk.

These three furniture retailers operating within Croatia's borders also generate 86 percent of all revenues - Lesnina almost 1.1 billion kuna, Ikea 851 million kuna, and Jysk 562 million kuna in total.

More than 100 million in revenue is generated by Intermod from Zadar and Mima Furniture from Pula, and in the top ten in this regard are also ART Interijeri - kitchens 2000 from Split, ART Interijer Zagreb, Vokel from Imotski, Nas dom namjestaj (Our home furniture) from Vinkovci and Themelia from Zagreb. Lesnina is also the leader in terms of profit (66 million kuna back in 2019), while Jysk had a higher profit than the third on this list, being Ikea.

The results of operations in the conditions of the ongoing coronavirus crisis are yet to be announced, but in the last decade, the most difficult year of all for these retailers was 2014, which was concluded with a net loss of 111 million kuna.

For more, follow our business section.

LED bulbs continue to be the best selling item in the huge Ikea department store in Rugvica near the City of Zagreb.

As Marta Duic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 21st of August, 2019, the incredibly popular Ikea department store located in Rugvica near the Croatian capital of Zagreb marked its fifth anniversary of business operations in Croatia on Wednesday.

During this five year period, the department store in Rugvica, just east of Zagreb, was visited by more than 8.5 million customers, their website had 28 million visitors, almost 139,000 children played in their playroom, and almost 105,000 people participated in various workshops organised by Ikea.

Among the best-selling products in the Republic of Croatia are LED bulbs, with as many as 1,331,916 various types having been sold, saving Croatia's residents about 800 million kWh, or almost 350 million kuna in total.

More than 292,000 members are involved in the Ikea Family loyalty program. In the first year of business operations in Croatia, the Croatian subsidiary of the globally present Swedish chain was selected as the best employer among large companies by an independent survey of the equally popular Moj Posao (My Job) portal, while in 2016 and 2017, it remained among the top three in the whole country.

Since Ikea's popularity skyrocketed and its delivery centres have opened in Rijeka, Split and Osijek, since February this year, a fourth centre has been operating all the way down in the extreme south of Dalmatia, more precisely in Dubrovnik.

The enormous company, according to their anniversary announcement, cares greatly for gender equality, and more than half of Ikea Croatia's executives are women, and in partnership with company partners, they have formed an alliance for gender equality.

Make sure to follow our dedicated business page for more information on Ikea's operations and delivery centres in Croatia, foreign and domestic companies in Croatia, and much more.

The wildly popular IKEA Croatia continues to operate well.

A new date for the grand opening has been announced.

The outlet will be located next to IKEA Zagreb.

It's finally here!

The Split IKEA will open this August in an annex type space at City Center One.

According to an announcement by the department store, IKEA has confirmed that they will open a pick-up center in Split by the end of August this year.