Home Furnishing Retailer IKEA Korea Names CEO, Chief Sustainability Officer: 4 Things to Know

IKEA Korea has named Isabel Puig as chief executive officer and chief sustainability officer (CSO), effective September 1, 2023.

Puig succeeds Fredrik Johansson, who shifts to a new role as the global business operation manager at Ingka Group.

Here are four things to know about Puig's experience and IKEA's sustainability strategy.

1. Business Focus and Scale: IKEA Korea is part of Ingka Group -- which operates 379 IKEA stores across 31 markets. IKEA entered Korea in December 2014. In addition to an online store, the company's offline stores operate in Gwangmyeong, Goyang, Giheung and DongBusan. IKEA Korea total retail sales were KRW 663.4 billion (US$500 million) in fiscal year 2020. The Korea business supports roughly 12.3 million in-store visits and 44.7 million website visits per year, as of 2020.

2. Sustainability Updates: IKEA Korea is striving to become climate-positive by 2030. Key priorities include expanding the use of renewable energy and increasing deliveries via electric vehicles (EVs).

Meanwhile, the chief sustainability officer role is a key one at the company -- across the globe and within specific countries. The anecdotal evidence: 

• Karen Pflug is chief sustainability officer for IKEA's global business;
• Javier Quinones is CEO and chief sustainability officer for the USA business; and
• Selwyn Crittendon became CEO and chief sustainability officer for the Canada business in August 2023.

Those three executives plus Puig are listed in our Chief Sustainability Officer database. Also, IKEA's annual sustainability report is here.

3. Isabel Puig's Experience and Focus: Puig joined IKEA parent Ingka Group in 2014 as a global co-worker relations leader, following her career as a lawyer and legal advisor in Spain and the United States, IKEA Korea said. She later served as an area manager and country people & culture manager at IKEA Belgium for three years. More recently, she was deputy retail manager at IKEA France -- overseeing retail operations and all business areas.

4. Executive Perspectives: In a prepared statement about her new role, Puig said: "I am excited to take on this new role in Korea, one of the most dynamic markets demonstrating new possibilities of home furnishing. I am committed to ensuring that inspiring IKEA home furnishing products and solutions, developed over eight decades, with our strong focus on people and the planet, will firmly take root in the homes and lives of many Koreans."

IKEA Korea's New CSO: Why Technology Partners Should Care

By 2027, 25% of Global 2000 companies will have assigned a chief sustainability officer (CSO) responsible for meeting their organization’s ESG goals and making ESG-related IT purchasing decisions, according to IDC.

Technology partners need to extend their sales, marketing, engagement and support strategies to successfully fulfill those CSO needs, Sustainable Tech Partner believes.