Room & Board: John Gabbert. A Broken Deal, a Family Rift, and the Birth of a Furniture Giant
How I Built This with Guy Raz
- Published
- May 11, 2026
- Duration
- 1h 1m
- Summary source
- description
- Last updated
- Jul 5, 2026
Discusses John Gabbert built a massive furniture brand. But in order to do it, he had to defy his family. John…
Summary
John Gabbert built a massive furniture brand. But in order to do it, he had to defy his family. John grew up working at his dad’s furniture store in the suburbs of Minneapolis. It sold classic, American-made furniture, with flowery prints and curved legs. But in 1972, John took a life-changing trip to Sweden, where he discovered an obscure store called IK…
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Show notes
John Gabbert built a massive furniture brand. But in order to do it, he had to defy his family. John grew up working at his dad’s furniture store in the suburbs of Minneapolis. It sold classic, American-made furniture, with flowery prints and curved legs. But in 1972, John took a life-changing trip to Sweden, where he discovered an obscure store called IKEA. It was selling an entirely different type of furniture: simple, modern, and inexpensive, with a manufacturing process they controlled. To J