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Shabby Chic vs. French provincial

French provincial furniture is exactly what its title depicts. Characterized by the styles popular in the French provinces in the 17th and 18th century, this furniture style has a classic yet country feel to it. Ladder back dining chairs with woven seats, simple scalloped carving, large armoires or French sideboards with decorative moldings are all key features of this style.

Shabby Chic furniture, while similar, is more casual and often has a distressed appearance. The Furniture is typically white with a feminine and romantic feel. Like French provincial, this style originated from country houses but incorporates more up-cycling and salvaging of furniture.

French and English Avignon 3-drawer Console Table

Modern vs. Contemporary

Modern furniture originated under the modernist movement in the early

1900’s. It often combines leather, vinyl, steel, moulded plywood and plastics with a monochromatic colour scheme to create sleek and stylish interiors. Big name designers like Herman Miller, Hans Knoll and Charles and Ray Eames are the faces for this design era and you’ll often find replicas of their modern furniture designs on the market today. The Barcelona chair is a timeless example of modern design.

Modern furniture design is a defined style and will always refer to the modernist period of time, contemporary furniture design however, refers to furniture that is popular and used now, in the present. Furniture will often be described as

“modern and contemporary”, which is where the confusion comes in between these two styles.

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Innovation Living Sly Sofa Bed

Task 2. Answer the questions

1.What types of furniture were mentioned in the text?

2.What does an eclectic style combine?

3.How can this style be characterized?

4.Is it easy to define retro style of furniture?

5.How can this style be defined?

6.What are the key features of French provincial furniture?

7.What kind of furniture is shabby chic one?

8.When did modern furniture originate?

9.Who are the designers of this type of furniture?

10.What is the difference between modern furniture and contemporary one?

Task 3. Translate the following words and word combinations into English

Деревенский стол, сделанный из бруса Заостренные формы Декоративный стиль Зеркальная плитка Воображать идеи Зелено-голубой цвет Мебель стиля ретро Стол в форме тюльпана

Стулья со спинкой из перекладин Тканые сиденья Сервант Плохой внешний вид

Декоративное лепное украшение

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UNIT 5

Task 1. Read and translate the text.

HOW TO BUILD A FURNITURE EMPIRE

Since it opened its first store in 1943, IKEA has become one of the biggest furniture empires in the world. The company has made people think differently about the way they furnish their homes, particularly in countries like Germany, the UK and France. Over 365 million people worldwide spend more than 8 billion pounds in IKEA stores each year and the number of customers keeps rising. The best-selling products are bookshelves, sofas, candles, chairs and coat hangers, but perhaps IKEA is most famous for its flatpack furniture.

Flatpack furniture was invented by chance in 1956 by a man called Gillis Lundgren. He lived in a Swedish town called Almhult and worked for a small furniture company. One day Lundgren needed to deliver a table to a customer, but the table wouldn`t fit in his car. “Let`s pull off the legs and put them underneath,” said

Lundgren – that was the moment flatpack furniture was born. From that simple beginning, the small furniture company became IKEA and Lundgren became one of its top designers.

The secret of IKEA success is not just the design, it`s also the price. Flatpacks don`t take up much space, so IKEA can send furniture round the world very cheaply. Also the stores don`t employ lots of sales people to help you find carry things; it seems people don`t mind doing that for themselves. And most importantly, IKEA doesn`t pay anyone to put the furniture together – they let the customers do that. Apparently, people would rather pay less and build the furniture themselves. However, not everyone seems to find this easy. When the actor Russell Crowe was trying to put together some bedroom furniture, he got so frustrated that he attacked the flatpack with a knife. He finally had to ask someone to help him.

There are now over 200 IKEA stores in more than 30 countries and every time a new store opens its front-page news. In 2005, when London`s fourth IKEA opened for business at midnight, there were 6,000 people waiting outside! When people began shopping, the store became so crowded that the manager told the staff to close the doors. Even though the store was only open for 40 minutes, IKEA had already sold all 500 sofas that were on special offer.

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Task 2. Answer the questions

1.When was the 1-st IKEA store opened?

2.What did the company make people do?

3.How much money do people spend in IKEA stores every year?

4.What are the best-selling products?

5.Who invented the flatpack furniture?

6.What is the secret of IKEA`s success?

7.Why doesn`t the company employ many people?

8.Is it easy or not to put the furniture together?

9.How many IKEA stores are there in the world?

10.Why had so many sofas been sold?

Task 3. Match the headings a) –d) to paragraphs 1-4.

a)Opening night problems;

b)A worldwide success story

c)The beginning of flatpack

d)Why is IKEA so successful?

Task 4. What does the article say about these numbers and people?

Task 5. Find the English equivalents to the following Russian expressions:

1.Обставлять дома мебелью

2.Империя мебели

3.Тратить деньги на мебель

4.Магазины IKEA

5.Количество потребителей

6.Лучше всего продаваемая продукция

7.Разборная мебель

8.Работать в мебельной компании

9.Доставить что-то кому-то

10.Занимать место

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11.Нанимать людей на работу

12.Собрать мебель

13.Специальное предложение в магазине

14.Заставить кого-то сделать что-то

UNIT 6

Task 1. Read and translate the text

IKEA (Part 1)

IKEA (/aı'ki:ə/) is a multinational group of companies that designs and sells ready-to-assemble furniture (such as beds, chairs and desks), appliances and home accessories. As of January 2008, it is the world's largest furniture retailer. Founded in Sweden in 1943 by then-17-year-old Ingvar Kamprad, who was listed as one of the world's richest people in 2013, the company's name is an acronym that consists of the initials of Ingvar Kamprad, Elmtaryd (the farm where he grew up), and Agunnaryd (his hometown in Småland, south Sweden). The company is known for its modern architectural designs for various types of appliances and furniture, and its interior design work is often associated with an eco-friendly simplicity. In addition, the firm is known for its attention to cost control, operational details, and continuous product development, corporate attributes that allowed IKEA to lower its prices by an average of two to three percent over the decade to 2010 during a period of global expansion. The IKEA group has a complex corporate structure and is controlled by several foundations based in the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein.

As of September 2014, IKEA owns and operates 351 stores in 43 countries. In fiscal year 2010, US $23.1 billion worth of goods were sold, a total that represented a 7.7 percent increase over 2009. The IKEA website contains about 12,000 products and is the closest representation of the entire IKEA range. There were over 470 million visitors to IKEA's websites in the year from September 2007 to September 2008. The company uses approximately 1% of the Earth's wood supply, making it one of the largest users of wood in the retail sector.

Task 2. Answer the questions

1.What kind of company is IKEA?

2.What does it design and sell?

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3.Where and when was it founded?

4.What is the company known for?

5.What allowed IKEA to lower prices?

6.What kind of structure does IKEA group have?

Task 3. Translate the following sentences into English.

1.Компания ИКЕА создает мебель готовую для сборки.

2.Она также продает бытовую технику и аксессуары для дома.

3.Компания является розничным продавцом мебели.

4.Она использует современный архитектурный дизайн для создания

мебели.

5.Кампания постоянно разрабатывает продукцию.

6.Кампания снижает цены из-за большого количества магазинов в мире.

7.Она владеет магазинами во многих странах.

8.Вы можете посмотреть целый ассортимент товаров в интернете.

UNIT 7

Task 1. Read and translate the text.

IKEA (Part 2)

Ingvar Kamprad founded IKEA in 1943 as a mostly mail-order sales business. It began to sell furniture five years later.[9] The first Möbel-IKÉA store was opened in Älmhult, Småland, in 1958, while the first stores outside Sweden were opened in Norway (1963) and Denmark (1969). The stores spread to other parts of Europe in the 1970s, with the first store outside Scandinavia opening in Switzerland (1973), followed by Germany (1974).

Amid a high level of success, the company's German executives accidentally opened a store in Konstanz in 1973 instead of Koblenz.[9] Later that decade, stores opened in other parts of the world, such as Japan (1974), Australia and Hong Kong (1975), Canada (1976), and Singapore (1978). IKEA further expanded in the 1980s, opening stores in countries such as France and Spain (1981), Canada (1982), Belgium (1984), the United States (1985), the United Kingdom (1987), Italy (1989) and Poland (1991). The company then expanded into more countries in the 1990s and

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2000s. Germany, with 44 stores, is IKEA's biggest market, followed by the United States, with 40 stores. At the end of the 2009 financial year, the IKEA group operated 267 stores in 25 countries.The first IKEA store in Latin America opened on 17 February 2010 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. As of July 2013, the company's presence in developing countries remains minimal.

The world's five largest IKEA stores are:

1.Stockholm Kungens Kurva, Sweden: 55,200 m2 (594,000 sq ft)

2.Shanghai Baoshan, China: 55,032 m2 (592,360 sq ft)

3.Shanghai Pudong Beicai, China: 49,400 m2 (532,000 sq ft)

4.Wuxi, China: 49,117 m2 (528,690 sq ft)

5.Ningbo, China: 47,505 m2 (511,340 sq ft)

The largest store in the Southern Hemisphere is located in Tempe, Sydney, Australia with a total area of 39,000 m2 (420,000 sq ft). The biggest store in North America is located in Montreal, in the province of Quebec, Canada. The store was opened in 1986 in the Ville-St-Laurent area, and was completely renovated and expanded in 2012-2013. Built in 1986, the store's initial area was 22,062 m2 (237,470 sq ft), while the renovated store now measures 43,636 m2 (469,690 sq ft).

In 2014, IKEA opened its first warehouse in Croatia, near Zagreb. Due to problems with building permissions, the construction was postponed to 28 August 2013. Eventually, the warehouse opened its doors on 21 August 2014. The shopping centre in Zagreb with a total area of 38,000 m2 is one of the 5 biggest in Europe and among the 10 biggest IKEA stores in the world. In 2013, IKEA opened its first shopping centre in Vilnius, Lithuania that is the biggest furniture-selling mall in the Baltic states.

In March 2013, IKEA opened its first outlet in Qatar, after a delay of several months. Like others in the Gulf Cooperation Council, the Doha outlet is operated by the Al-Futtaim Group. In August 2013, the first store in the Baltic States was opened in the Vilnius region of Lithuania. Construction of the 26,500 sq ft (2,500 m2) store commenced in 2011 and the store employs over 200 people.

In July 2014 IKEA announced it would open its first store in India in the city of Hyderabad, where the local government has committed to fast track all the required paperwork and permits, as it is seeking to attract foreign investment. The new IKEA is expected to open in 2015.

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The Ikea Marketplace

The Warehouse

UNIT 8

Task 1. Read and translate the text.

Layout (Part 1)

Older IKEA stores are usually very large blue buildings with yellow accents (also Sweden's national colours) and few windows. They are often designed in a oneway layout, leading customers counter clockwise along what IKEA calls "the long natural way" designed to encourage the customer to see the store in its entirety (as opposed to a traditional retail store, which allows a customer to go directly to the section where the desired goods and services are displayed). There are often shortcuts to other parts of the showroom. Newer IKEA stores, like the one in Mönchengladbach, Germany, make more use of glass, both for aesthetics and functionality. Skylights are also now common in the self-serve warehouses; natural lighting reduces energy costs, improves worker`s morale and gives a better impression of the products.

The sequence first involves going through furniture showrooms making note of selected items. The customer then collects a shopping cart and proceeds to an openshelf "Market Hall" warehouse for smaller items, then visits the "Self Serve"