Ikea as a shelter - this is how the furniture company should be used in war

The EU is gearing up. But in addition to strengthening military capabilities, civilian preparedness must also be strengthened.

In that part of the defense, Ikea can play a role.

In Denmark, it has been assessed that the department store's operations could offer what is needed in such a situation.

- Ikea is a very good example because no one would naturally put them on a list of emergency resources... An Ikea department store has space, goods, serving options and generators, says Maja Broloes to Reuters.

She is CEO of the Corporate coalition for crisis preparedness, an organization that brings together private companies for the purpose of crisis preparedness. The network brings together 200 companies with over 300,000 employees, with everything from retailers to construction groups and telecom operators.

In such a situation, Ikea can serve as a shelter or even temporary care facilities, writes Reuters.

In fact, Ikea has already been tried in a sharp situation. During the floods in Valencia in 2024, an Ikea department store became a refuge for over 600 people. During a snowstorm in Danish Aalborg in 2021, six customers and over 20 employees had to spend a night in an IKEA department store. They had to sleep in exhibition beds. The following morning, the employees had changed the sheets and opened the store to customers again.

Reuters writes at the same time that Ikea itself does not have a global preparedness program, but that it is the individual countries that coordinate such. Ikea in Sweden, for example, has not been included in similar plans.

- This is exclusive to Denmark, there is no equivalent here, says Fredrik Norrlid, press manager for Ikea Sweden

Do you have plans for something similar?

- Not that I know of.

In Denmark, the country's largest food group, Salling Group, will also open the first of 51 stores that will be able to function for up to 48 hours without electricity or internet access.

Estonia has gone even further, requiring 300 companies to maintain critical services in crisis situations. In Poland, some companies have a legal obligation to allow the country's military to use vehicles and other machinery.

In Sweden, a company can be obliged to "participate in total defense planning if a total defense authority requests it", writes the Civil Defense Authority. However, this is about companies having to "provide information that the authority needs" or to "plan their own operations". There are no mandatory peacetime laws like in Estonia and Poland.