When Ingvar Kamprad founded his first business in 1943, he may not have thought of creating an empire made up of 460 points of sale in 62 countries and more than 40 billion euros in turnover. Of course, he did not think that his company, Ikea, would cover such a leading role in the life and homes of the entire planet.
In 2022, Spanish stores received 43 million visitors, with a turnover of 1,820 million euros. Sooner or later, everyone goes through the famous exhibition route of the Scandinavian giant and, although the variants of furniture and decoration components that it offers are very wide, it is a fact that in most of today's homes a family air.
However, in a world that increasingly favors the personalization of services and products, differentiation has become a necessity, also driven by social networks such as Instagram or Pinterest, which have somehow democratized design, making models go viral. aspirational. Thus, as a remedy against approval, numerous solutions for customizing Swedish furniture have come to light in recent years.
These are companies, in most cases digital natives, capable of creating a true 'Ikea economy' around the multinational's offer. From sofa covers (Bemz), to legs and feet for all types of seats (PrettyPegs), to fronts and accessories for furniture and cabinets (Superfront, Frontiers, Norse Interiors, Reform or Koak Design). The options are many and from various countries.
Therefore, what was once only a niche phenomenon, known as 'Ikea hacks', limited to an audience of architects, handymen and amateur emulators of famous designers, is now a reality that is growing in parallel with the Swedish furniture market. In short, an ecosystem of products and services has proliferated around the multinational, similar to what happened with covers and accessories for smartphones.
Since 2019, a Spanish startup, Cubro, is also part of this universe, founded by two professionals from the digital world, Jaime Pont, who had just brought HBO to Spain, and Jorge Cienfuegos, former CMO of Habitissimo. Pont relates that “the idea arose in 2017, when he was doing a work in my new apartment. I like to cook and I wanted a special kitchen to host friends. So I immersed myself in this world and understood that the Ikea model was very good, but I also saw that I found my 'ideal kitchen' everywhere”.
“Then they introduced me to a digital maker who made custom furniture, I liked his way of working and I asked him to personalize the fronts of my new kitchen. When I finished my work, I found out that many friends had the same need and I understood that there was a business there”, argues the businessman. In fact, the strong point of Scandinavian furniture is its versatility and ease of transformation, especially the simplest ones made of raw wood.
The fact is that the kitchen is one of the most expensive items in a reform project, forming a market that moves 28 billion euros at a European level. In addition, in recent years we have witnessed a change in the function and perception of this part of the home. It is no longer just the place to fry croquettes, but a space integrated into the furniture and, also due to the reduction in the size of the homes, it is often part of the living room, therefore it has to be beautiful. "In this sense, we do not consider ourselves a kitchen company and many of our projects extend to the living room or even the bedroom," says Pont.
Cubro, in fact, defines itself as a design firm that personalizes furniture with high quality pieces and design at an affordable price. Its clients are architecture studios and individuals who commission the fronts while acquiring the Ikea 'Metod' (kitchens) and 'Pax' (wardrobes) structures; or also when, after a few years, they decide to give their kitchen a new look, without having to change it completely. "The 'refurbish' (reform) represents 10% of our sales," they explain.
The purchase process is completely digital, agile and simple, making a budget available to the client in 24 hours, sending samples to their homes and expert advice via video calls. Their objective, they clarify, "is to challenge the belief that you have to visit a physical store to buy a kitchen and that you have to invest a lot of money to access high-quality design and materials."
How do you reconcile exclusive design and high quality with the Ikea standard? To begin with, says Pont, “Ikea has entry-level products, but also other very good ones with a 25-year guarantee; We work with the highest quality materials and a level of efficiency in the use of resources above that of traditional carpenters. Overall, we achieved a better price than the top-of-the-range brands in the sector, which are our true competition. Instead, in some way we provide Ikea with a part of their purchase receipt”. In some cities, the startup is even in charge of buying the Swedish furniture directly and assembling it at home with its own fronts.
In addition, adds the businessman, “our client grew up with Ikea, and he likes it, but he is at a vital moment where he aspires to have something more and begins to look around. We keep him in the ecosystem of the Swedish company when he might have gone to other brands”. Cubro makes close to 50% of its sales in the domestic market and the rest in France and Germany. In its first three years of life, it billed seven million euros and expects to bill another seven in 2023 alone, with the aim of reaching 50 million in 2026.
Finally, Cubro is also a commitment to Spanish design, since production is carried out in associated workshops in Madrid, Bilbao, Toledo and Andalusia. According to Pont, in fact, “Spain is ideal as a base to attack other international markets, because there are excellent professionals, but the costs are still very competitive. In addition, Made in Spain is gaining an important foothold internationally and should no longer have complexes towards Italy or Denmark in the manufacture of designer furniture”.
