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Practically none of Ikea or H&M stuff is manufactured in Sweden and exported, though. Sweden is the hub for brand management and such, but the manufacturing is

Practically none of Ikea or H&M stuff is manufactured in Sweden and exported, though. Sweden is the hub for brand management and such, but the manufacturing is distributed to where the contractors do it cheapest: China, Russia, Bangladesh, India, Vietnam. So the disposable goods are not exported from Sweden, they're imported to Sweden and other Western nations. And typically a part of the brand management is quality control that makes this cheap stuff slightly better, quality-wise, than the generic imports from same countries.

bogomipz 10y ago
Both Ikea and H&M are Swedish companies that have exported a brand that is synonymous with disposable culture, which is the point in the original article. Why does it matter that they source their cheap labor and manufacturing from elsewhere? Furthermore Ikea and H&M are not quality goods.
- ptaipale 10y ago
  Export a brand, but not export the stuff. H&M is crap in my opinion, but I actually think IKEA makes a lot of quality stuff.
  - bogomipz 10y ago
    What is this distinction between a brand and where the goods are shipped from? The profit from those sales are booked to a Swedish company. From a very recent article - July 4th of this year: 'IKEA Group Chief Executive Peter Agnefjall said the push was due to customers increasingly demanding more durable products. "Customers expect us to do more (on quality). And nowadays you can't really make products that are throwaway: when you buy a sofa table it needs to be built to last," he told Reuters.' I mean there you have a C-level Ikea officer admitting there's an issue. What more do you need? Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-ikea-quality-idUSKCN0ZK1IX http://www.reuters.com/article/us-ikea-quality-idUSKCN0ZK1IX
    - ptaipale 10y ago
      A significant distinction is that the manufacturing and exports are not controlled by Swedish laws, which the OP was about.

bogomipz 10y ago

Both Ikea and H&M are Swedish companies that have exported a brand that is synonymous with disposable culture, which is the point in the original article. Why does it matter that they source their cheap labor and manufacturing from elsewhere? Furthermore Ikea and H&M are not quality goods.

ptaipale 10y ago
Export a brand, but not export the stuff. H&M is crap in my opinion, but I actually think IKEA makes a lot of quality stuff.
- bogomipz 10y ago
  What is this distinction between a brand and where the goods are shipped from? The profit from those sales are booked to a Swedish company. From a very recent article - July 4th of this year: 'IKEA Group Chief Executive Peter Agnefjall said the push was due to customers increasingly demanding more durable products. "Customers expect us to do more (on quality). And nowadays you can't really make products that are throwaway: when you buy a sofa table it needs to be built to last," he told Reuters.' I mean there you have a C-level Ikea officer admitting there's an issue. What more do you need? Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-ikea-quality-idUSKCN0ZK1IX http://www.reuters.com/article/us-ikea-quality-idUSKCN0ZK1IX
  - ptaipale 10y ago
    A significant distinction is that the manufacturing and exports are not controlled by Swedish laws, which the OP was about.