Billy (stylised as BILLY) is a bookcase sold by the Swedish furniture company IKEA. It was developed in 1979 by the Swedish designer Gillis Lundgren and IKEA have sold over 60 million units of the bookcases worldwide. Its popularity and global spread has led to its use as a barometer of relative worldwide price levels.
The shelf parts are made of plastic-coated or veneered particle board. The edges are covered with plastic strips. The shelves are placed on metal support, the holes in the side walls have a distance of 32 mm. The shelves are available in several colours and finishes and a width of 40 or 80 cm. The bookshelves can be coupled and optional doors can be added. The bookcases are sold in flat-pack form, to be assembled by the purchaser. Billy is manufactured for IKEA by Gyllensvaans Möbler at their factory in Kattilstorp, Sweden. In 2009, 130,000 bookshelves were produced each week.[1]
History
The bookcase was designed in 1979 by Gillis Lundgren, IKEA's fourth employee. His initial sketches for the bookcase were done on the back of a napkin. When designing the product, emphasis was given to functionality and flexibility recognising that different homes had different requirements and space availability. Lundgren also believed that the bookcase was an item of furniture that consumers may later wish to add additional capacity to as their collections expanded, and wanted to ensure his design was "attractive and timeless" so that the design would remain on sale and didn't fall out of fashion.[2] The name Billy was chosen by Lundgren after an IKEA advertising manager named Billy Liljedahl stated that he wanted "a proper bookcase just for books" to be designed.[3]
The bookcase's first inclusion in the IKEA Catalogue was in the 1979 edition. Initially the bookcases were 90cm wide, but this was revised to 80cm in 1988 following complaints from customers that the shelves bent under the weight of the books and the item didn't fit on IKEA transport pallets.[4]
In 1992, a German newspaper and television station conducted tests on 18 Billy bookshelves and found that the formaldehyde vapour levels released by 8 of them was higher than permitted by regulation. The source of the vapour was traced to the lacquer used by the company on the bookshelf, and IKEA was forced to stop all production and sale of the bookshelves until the problem could be rectified.[5] The cost to IKEA of the incident was estimated to be between $6 and $7 million.[6]
In 2009 Bloomberg instigated a "Billy bookcase index", as an alternative to the Big Mac index, to compare relative price levels in different countries around the world.[7][8]
From 2011 to 2014 Billy was available as a 40 cm deep variant alongside the standard 28 cm deep versions.[9] In 2014, reinforced shelves and rounded edges were introduced.[10]
Sales
IKEA estimates that on average one Billy bookcase is sold every five seconds.[11][12] In 2009, IKEA stated that they had sold 41 million of the bookcases.[2] In 2017 the BBC reported that sales had exceeded 60 million units.[13]
Gallery
Standard model
Corner model
Narrow model
References
^"IKEA". Ultimate Factories. Season 3. Episode 5. 2009-11-05. Event occurs at 12:30. National Geographic Channel.
^ abBILLY the world's most versatile bookcase turns 30!(PDF). Inter IKEA Systems B.V.
^"Ikea's Billy bookcase turns 30". CBC News. 2009-11-10.
^. BILLY & KLIPPAN. Inter IKEA Systems B.V. Archived from the original on 2015-08-25.
^Doppelt, Bob (2009). Leading Change Toward Sustainability - 2nd Edition: A Change-Management Guide for Business, Government and Civil Society. Greenleaf Publishing. p. 111. ISBN9781907643040.
^(PDF). The Natural Step. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 6, 2006.
^"The Billy Bookcase Index". Apartment Therapy. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
^"We Found the World's Cheapest Ikea Billy Bookcase". Bloomberg. 15 October 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2019 – via www.bloomberg.com.
^Kellogg, Carolyn. "Ikea is changing its long-lived Billy bookshelf. Is print dead?". Los Angeles Times. from the original on 2011-12-10.
^Jensen, Dallas. "The Billy Bookcase Grows Up". Slate.
^"IKEA's Billy Bookcase Sells Every 5 Seconds Because People Love Hacking Them – LifeSavvy". www.lifesavvy.com. Retrieved 2023-01-02.
^Harford, Tim (27 February 2017). "How Ikea's Billy took over the world". BBC News. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
January 07, 2023
billy, bookcase, billy, stylised, billy, bookcase, sold, swedish, furniture, company, ikea, developed, 1979, swedish, designer, gillis, lundgren, ikea, have, sold, over, million, units, bookcases, worldwide, popularity, global, spread, barometer, relative, wor. Billy stylised as BILLY is a bookcase sold by the Swedish furniture company IKEA It was developed in 1979 by the Swedish designer Gillis Lundgren and IKEA have sold over 60 million units of the bookcases worldwide Its popularity and global spread has led to its use as a barometer of relative worldwide price levels An IKEA Billy bookshelf Contents 1 Construction 2 History 3 Sales 4 Gallery 5 ReferencesConstruction EditThe shelf parts are made of plastic coated or veneered particle board The edges are covered with plastic strips The shelves are placed on metal support the holes in the side walls have a distance of 32 mm The shelves are available in several colours and finishes and a width of 40 or 80 cm The bookshelves can be coupled and optional doors can be added The bookcases are sold in flat pack form to be assembled by the purchaser Billy is manufactured for IKEA by Gyllensvaans Mobler at their factory in Kattilstorp Sweden In 2009 130 000 bookshelves were produced each week 1 History EditThe bookcase was designed in 1979 by Gillis Lundgren IKEA s fourth employee His initial sketches for the bookcase were done on the back of a napkin When designing the product emphasis was given to functionality and flexibility recognising that different homes had different requirements and space availability Lundgren also believed that the bookcase was an item of furniture that consumers may later wish to add additional capacity to as their collections expanded and wanted to ensure his design was attractive and timeless so that the design would remain on sale and didn t fall out of fashion 2 The name Billy was chosen by Lundgren after an IKEA advertising manager named Billy Liljedahl stated that he wanted a proper bookcase just for books to be designed 3 The bookcase s first inclusion in the IKEA Catalogue was in the 1979 edition Initially the bookcases were 90cm wide but this was revised to 80cm in 1988 following complaints from customers that the shelves bent under the weight of the books and the item didn t fit on IKEA transport pallets 4 In 1992 a German newspaper and television station conducted tests on 18 Billy bookshelves and found that the formaldehyde vapour levels released by 8 of them was higher than permitted by regulation The source of the vapour was traced to the lacquer used by the company on the bookshelf and IKEA was forced to stop all production and sale of the bookshelves until the problem could be rectified 5 The cost to IKEA of the incident was estimated to be between 6 and 7 million 6 In 2009 Bloomberg instigated a Billy bookcase index as an alternative to the Big Mac index to compare relative price levels in different countries around the world 7 8 From 2011 to 2014 Billy was available as a 40 cm deep variant alongside the standard 28 cm deep versions 9 In 2014 reinforced shelves and rounded edges were introduced 10 Sales EditIKEA estimates that on average one Billy bookcase is sold every five seconds 11 12 In 2009 IKEA stated that they had sold 41 million of the bookcases 2 In 2017 the BBC reported that sales had exceeded 60 million units 13 Gallery Edit Standard model Corner model Narrow modelReferences Edit IKEA Ultimate Factories Season 3 Episode 5 2009 11 05 Event occurs at 12 30 National Geographic Channel a b BILLY the world s most versatile bookcase turns 30 PDF Inter IKEA Systems B V Ikea s Billy bookcase turns 30 CBC News 2009 11 10 BILLY Facts BILLY amp KLIPPAN Inter IKEA Systems B V Archived from the original on 2015 08 25 Doppelt Bob 2009 Leading Change Toward Sustainability 2nd Edition A Change Management Guide for Business Government and Civil Society Greenleaf Publishing p 111 ISBN 9781907643040 ORGANIZATIONAL CASE SUMMARY IKEA PDF The Natural Step Archived from the original PDF on May 6 2006 The Billy Bookcase Index Apartment Therapy Retrieved 8 May 2019 We Found the World s Cheapest Ikea Billy Bookcase Bloomberg 15 October 2015 Retrieved 8 May 2019 via www bloomberg com Kellogg Carolyn Ikea is changing its long lived Billy bookshelf Is print dead Los Angeles Times Archived from the original on 2011 12 10 Jensen Dallas The Billy Bookcase Grows Up Slate BILLY Bookcase white 15 3 4x11x79 1 2 IKEA Retrieved 2023 01 02 IKEA s Billy Bookcase Sells Every 5 Seconds Because People Love Hacking Them LifeSavvy www lifesavvy com Retrieved 2023 01 02 Harford Tim 27 February 2017 How Ikea s Billy took over the world BBC News Retrieved 8 May 2019 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Billy bookcase amp oldid 1131183729, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
