Head of Ikea fears closures

The septuagenarian founder of the Ikea furniture empire has said worries that he may have to close some stores have made him "an unhappy man".

Ingvar Kamprad, the 76-year-old chairman of the privately owned Swedish company, said he used to be a champion of rapid expansion, but is now concerned that the economic downturn would mean store closures. The prospect of making staff redundant was making him "scared".

Mr Kamprad - whose IK initials, together with the location of his first store outside Stockholm, make up the Ikea brand name - is famously paternalistic towards his employees and the company he founded 44 years ago. It now has 154 stores in 22 countries and 70,000 staff.

In an interview with Swedish daily Smaalandsposten he said: "I was somewhat of an engine before, but the last 10 years I have in that way become an unhappy man."

Mr Kamprad said he is especially concerned that Ikea's main store in Aelmhult, 233 miles southwest of Stockholm, might have to close some day. "I'm quite scared if the development continues like this. It's been growing very much and that's one of my problems."

A spokesperson for Ikea's British division said Mr Kamprad's comments concerned Aelmhult. "It has no bearing on the UK running whatsoever and we are going ahead with our expansion plans."

Last year the company reported sales of £6.5bn and sales growth of nearly 22%.