Ikea CEO focuses on customers' needs in hard times

NEW YORK - Well known for stylish but affordable housewares, Sweden's Ikea Group is cutting prices on some big-ticket items as it seeks to outfit more homes around the globe.

That's how new president and CEO Mikael Ohlsson is responding as the global economy sputters.

Ikea has cut prices 2 percent to 3 percent each year in the past decade. Now, though, a sofa that cost $699 a year ago goes for $499, a queen bed frame that went for $299 is $199, and a coffee table that was $20 in the 1990s sells for $7.99.

The 52-year-old Ohlsson's effort to ease secrecy at Ikea led to this month's release of its first public financial summary. Revenue at the big-box chain rose 8 percent this year to about $32.8 billion.

Ohlsson, who joined Ikea in 1979 selling rugs, became CEO last year.