Sweden’s Ikea is known around the world for its chain of stores selling inexpensive furniture. As the firm says: “Rather than selling expensive home furnishings that only a few can buy, the Ikea Concept makes it possible to serve the many by providing low-priced products that contribute to helping more people live a better life at home. The Ikea Concept guides the way Ikea products are designed, manufactured, transported, sold, and assembled. All of these factors contribute to transforming the IKEA Concept into a reality.”

Now, Ikea is looking to branch out and is partnering with Marriott International to develop a hotel chain.

As reported by Alexandra Berzon and Kris Hudson for the Wall Street Journal: “Ikea has made a booming business out of cheap, stylish prefabricated furniture, much of it designed for tight spaces. Now, an affiliate and Marriott International are looking to create hotels in the same mold — joining a race by hotel companies to saturate Europe with low-cost rooms.” Marriott recently announced “designs for Moxy, a new hotel brand it is developing with a subsidiary of Inter Ikea Group, the parent company of the Ikea furniture brand. Inter Ikea is investing around $500 million for around 50 budget hotels in Europe in the next five years, Marriott executives say, in a partnership with the Bethesda, Md.-based hotel company and a European hotel operator.”