Here's what the first Ikea store looked like when it opened in Sweden more than 60 years ago

Ikea

Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad at the opening of the first IKEA store on October 28, 1958 in Sweden.

• Ikea, the Sweden-based furniture store chain, operates 430 stores in 52 markets around the world across nearly 50 countries.
• Ingvar Kamprad founded Ikea in 1943 when he was 17 years old and originally sold pens, wallets, and picture frames.
• The first Ikea store opened in Älmhult, Sweden in 1958. The chain expanded to the US in 1985. Here's what the store looked like when it first opened.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Ikea is the world's largest furniture retailer, according to Forbes.

Known for its flat-packed furniture that can be self-assembled, the Sweden-based company operates 430 stores in more than 50 markets, many of which are home to food courts that serve a mixture of Swedish and local cuisine.

Read more: IKEA food courts have different menus across the world. Take a look at 11 cuisines you can get outside the US.

Today, Ikea is listed as one of the world's most valuable brands. But the story of the furniture chain had a simple start: Ingvar Kamprad founded the company in 1943 when he was just a teenager.

Here's what the chain looked like when it was just getting started, from its first catalog in 1951 to the opening of its first American store in 1985.