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People love to eat at Ikea, so it's giving its food courts a makeover

ikea salmon
Salmon at Ikea. Ikea

Ikea has been called the "invisible designer of domestic life" for the way it's revolutionized home furnishing around the world — in 48 countries, at last count

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But in the US, the Swedish company has discovered that customers aren't just coming in for home furnishings.

As Sarah Halzack reports for the Washington Post, Ikea saw its food division (think restaurant offerings as well as
packaged foods like chocolate or sacues) enjoy an 8% increase in sales in the last fiscal year, almost doubling the overall 4.5% increase that the stores in America saw in the same time period.

ikea meatballs
Ikea meatballs. Ikea

(Behold the #ikeafood hashtag on Instagram for further evidence).

So Ikea, whose innovations range from moveable walls to 3D-knitted chairs to lamps that will charge your phone, is doubling down on its food business by turning its food courts into three distinct eateries.

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Halzack reports that there will be:

The revamping, which will reportedly happen across all 41 of Ikea's US stores, will roll out over 2016.

It comes after last year's introduction of vegan meatballs and a recent pledge to make a more "circular Ikea" where customers more readily repair and recycle products

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