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Well, that's a matter for dispute.

IKEA might like "IKEA"
but the NYTimes sticks with "Ikea"

but I recall the NYT
refused to print "ACT UP"
prefering "Act-Up"

Guido, I have always used "Ikea," under the assumption that the company name wasn't an acronym and thus shouldn't appear in caps.

However, a quick Google search turns up this:

IKEA stands for "Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunaryd."

So there you have it. If you follow the dictum that acronyms should be in all caps (with the exception of some well-known ones, like scuba, radar and snafu), it should be IKEA in print.

I can't be arsed to check the AP Stylebook, but

ACTUP stands for
AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power
also an acronym

The NYT does go for all caps on AIDS, tho
(that's Aquired Immune Diffenciency Syndrome,
as if anyone needs a reminder)

so far, Ingvar Kamprad doesn't rate

Bet the NYTimes never prints a center computer producer as Ibm !!!

oops -- meant "certain computer producer . . ."

The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage says: "When an acronym serves as a proper name and exceeds four letters, capitalize only the first letter." That means four-letter acronyms get to be all caps (RAND Corporation, AIDS, etc.) but longer ones do not (Unicef, Alcoa, etc.).

If the Times really does style it "Ikea," it makes me think their reporters and copy editors don't know that IKEA is an acronym. And to make it worse, every time a copy editor runs across the name, he or she searches the archives to see what previous copy editors did, thus perpetuating the same mistake.

keri inspired me to google:

"Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunaryd" means
"Swedish home furnishings retailer"

I feel disappointed for some reason.

Would the fact that IKEA is a foreign-language acronym have any bearing on whether the word is capitalized in print? Mebbe a question for Bill Walsh at TheSlot.com.

According to the fembot Anna on the Ikea website,

The name IKEA was formed from the founder's initials (Ingvar Kamprad) plus the first letters of Elmtaryd and Agunnaryd, the farm and village where he grew up.

Oops. Fembot Anna trumps acronymfinder.com and anyway, her version is better.

looks like acronymfinder.com is trying to have a sense of humor

Is there babelfish for more languages?
(they have romance languages, Chinese, and Russian)
I (heart) translation software.

Since each letter relates to the seller's name etc it is IKEA. Plain and simple.

The link that Maxwell provided led to the "full story" which says: The name IKEA was formed from the founder's initials (I.K.) plus the first letters of Elmtaryd and Agunnaryd, the farm and village where he grew up.

I can't parse information on the internets, and "Swedish home furnishings retailer" seemed perfectly plausible considering IKEA's (got it) aura of unembellished utility. MY BAD!