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Ikea founder recovering after heart surgery

Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad is recovering after undergoing heart surgery in Switzerland.

Ikea founder recovering after heart surgery

The multi-billionaire businessman is on the mend after the operation in a clinic in Lausanne, according to reports in Swedish daily Aftonbladet.

“I can confirm that Ingvar Kamprad is at a hospital in Lausanne, where he is now recovering after an operation”, Per Heggenes, Kamprad’s spokesman and head of the Ikea Foundation in Holland, told the newspaper.

Heggenes added that it was a strictly routine operation and that the 85-year-old is not in any immediate danger.

“I have not talked to Ingvar Kamprad himself, but I have talked to other people who say that he is feeling well, he’s in good spirits,” said Heggenes.

He could not say for sure when the businessman will be released from hospital, although he said it would probably be on Saturday.

On the latest Forbes Billionaires list, Kamprad dropped from No.11 to No.162, with his personal fortune apparently down from $17 billion to $6 billion.

Kamprad, who sold Ikea to the foundation years ago, gets his fortune from his investment firm, Ikano, which is run by his three sons.

The news of his operation comes during what has been a difficult year for Kamprad, with allegations over his past links to Nazi organisations once again making headlines.

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WEATHER

Danish Ikea store shelters staff and customers overnight during snowstorm

Heavy snowfall left 31 people looking for a spare cushion at the Aalborg branch of Ikea on Wednesday as they were forced to spend the night at the store.

A file photo at Ikea in Aalborg, where 31 people stayed overnight during a snowstorm on December 1st 2021.
A file photo at Ikea in Aalborg, where 31 people stayed overnight during a snowstorm on December 1st 2021. Photo: Henning Bagger/Ritzau Scanpix

Anyone who has found themselves wandering the mazy aisles of an Ikea might be able to empathise with the sense of being lost in the furniture store for a seemingly indefinite time.

Such a feeling was probably more real than usual for six customers and 25 staff members who were forced to spend the night at the furniture giant’s Aalborg branch after being snowed in.

Heavy snow in North Jutland brought traffic to a standstill and halted public transport in parts of the region on Wednesday afternoon, resulting in a snow-in at Ikea.

“This is certainly a new situation for us,” Ikea Aalborg store manager Peter Elmose told local media Nordjyske, which first reported the story.

“It’s certainly not how I thought my day would end when I drove to work this morning,” Elmose added.

The 31 people gathered in the store’s restaurant area and planned to see Christmas television and football to pass the evening, the store’s manager reported to Nordjyske.

“Our kitchen staff have made sure there is hot chocolate, risalamande, pastries, soft drinks, coffee and the odd beer for us in light of the occasion. So we’ll be able to keep warm,” he said.

“We couldn’t just send them outside and lock the door behind them at our 8pm closing time. Absolutely not. So of course they’ll be staying here,” he added.

The temporary guests were given lodging in different departments of the store in view of the Covid-19 situation, Nordjyske writes.

“For us , the most important thing was to take care of each other and that everyone feels safe,” Elmose said.

At least Ikea’s stranded customers and staff had somewhere comfortable to lay their heads.

The same can unlikely be said for around 300 passengers at the city’s airport who had to stay overnight at the terminal.

The airport was forced to stop flights from 2:30pm yesterday amid worsening weather, which also prevented buses from transferring passengers to hotels.

“We have around 300 people in the terminal right now and have been giving out blankets on the assumption they will be staying here tonight,” Aalborg Airport operations manager Kim Bermann told Nordjyske.

READ ALSO: Ikea reopens in Denmark after country’s worst retail month this century

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