IKEA is such a phenomenon that 14,000 Irish people already travelto IKEA stores in Scotland each year, reports Carl O'Brien.
It started as a young man's dream in rural Sweden - now there are 175 stores in 31 countries. It is about to embark on another massive expansion plan and is eyeing up the Irish market.
But why has a flatpack furniture store grown into an international brand to rival McDonald's?
The concept behind its success is simple: make affordable, well-designed, contemporary furniture available to the masses.
Ikea also does things differently. It offers a "shopping experience", not a sales pitch. It employs pink-shirted "co-workers", not employees.
It offers free home-furnishing advice. And it doesn't just promise better furniture - it offers to help people to "create better everyday lives."
P&O Ferries advertise "Ikea day trips" from Larne to Cairnryan, 1½ hours drive from a Glasgow superstore. Ikea even offers home deliveries to people with addresses in Northern Ireland.
In total, the multinational estimates that 14,000 people travel the route from the North and Republic every year.
Globally, the scale of its trade is breathtaking. The Ikea catalogue is the world's biggest annual print run - 118 million copies a year. It sold goods worth €11 billion last year.
The privately owned company doesn't disclose its profits but its owner, Mr Ingvar Kamprad, is estimated to be the 17th richest person in the world, according to Forbes magazine.
Mr Kamprad, who drives a 10-year-old Volvo and travels economy class, has zealously directed its explosion in trade since its foundations as a humble furniture shop..
His vision for the company is one where class conventions are eschewed and hierarchical tiers are absent.
Offices are open-plan and managers work in glass- panelled rooms to ensure visibility and accessibility.
Unlike McDonald's, Starbucks and other global brands, the multinational has not become a target for the anti-globalisation movement.
This may be due to its Swedish roots, but the company is also keen to publicise its funding of anti-child labour organisations and environmental projects every year.
However, the store has been accused of exploiting child labour at factories which supply it in the Philippines and Vietnam.
Mr Kamprad was also an enthusiastic Nazi sympathiser in Sweden during the second World War, but has since described this as "youthful folly" and an episode "best forgotten".
Nevertheless, Ikeas's relentless expansion continues.
A clue to its philosophy can be found in Mr Kamprad's chirpy book on effective management, entitled A Furniture Dealer's Testament: "Happiness is not reaching your goal. Happiness is being on the way."