America and much of the rest of the world continue to be fascinated by IKEA — you all know of it, right! — the symbol of Sweden for so many…

As a Swede, I don’t know whether to be proud over its world-wide success, but I can’t ignore it, as I think back to May of 1985, when IKEA opened its first store in a Philadelphia suburb.

In its latest issue, The New Yorker devotes quite a bit of space to the Swedish phenomenon under the headline “House Perfect — Is the IKEA ethos comfy or creepy?”

It is, indeed, a fascinating story.