For most Australians and New Zealanders, IKEA is where you go for a BILLY bookcase, Swedish meatballs and a trolley full of purchases you never intended to make. But in the lead-up to Sweden’s election on September 13 2026, some IKEA stores have taken on an unexpected new role. In Brisbane, Adelaide and Auckland – alongside Hyderabad, India – Swedish citizens were invited to cast their votes inside the furniture giant’s blue-and-yellow stores.
The Swedish Election Authority expanded the number of overseas voting locations for the 2026 election from around 266 locations in 2022 to approximately 290 worldwide. In some places, this meant temporary voting locations at IKEA stores. At one level, using IKEA makes perfect practical sense.
The stores are easy to find, centrally located and familiar to many Swedish expatriates. But convenience is not the only factor. IKEA is closely associated with “home” for many Swedes.
The first IKEA store opened in Älmhult, Sweden, in 1958. The first IKEA outside of Sweden opened in Norway in 1963, and the company reached Australia by 1975. There are now over 500 stores in more than 60 countries.
For decades, IKEA has exported not just furniture but a particular image of Sweden. Walk through one of its stores anywhere in the world and you encounter Swedish names, Swedish colours, Swedish food and a carefully curated vision of Scandinavian life. For migrants, IKEA often functions as a small, familiar piece of home, with a food market stocked with lingonberry jam, crispbread and cinnamon buns.
IKEA is also one of Sweden’s most powerful cultural exports. The company projects values commonly associated with the country: practicality, affordability, simplicity, functionality and an emphasis on everyday life. Sweden’s national brand strategy explicitly names IKEA – alongside the Swedish flag, ABBA and the Nobel Prize – as one of the country’s most recognisable assets for building international distinctiveness.
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