Swedish furniture producer may need a little French polish to return the gleam to its reputation after spying allegations in France. Police investigations are underway after accusations that Ikea employed private detectives and spied on dissatisfied customers and disgruntled employees. Police raided the Ikea France headquarters in Paris last week, seizing computers and documents.

The scandal centers on Ikea's risk assessment department and its alleged illegal surveillance of customers and employees in dispute with the company. Ikea has launched an internal investigation, several staff members have been suspended or put on 'stand by' and the home of Ikea France's head of risk management was reportedly also raided by police. French unions have filed legal complaints. A statement quoted by AFP from Force Ouvrière, one of the trade unions involved reads, "There is every reason to believe that these practices are more a matter of company policy than the isolated actions of the director of risk management."

So far, there were no accusations of similar practices occurring in countries other than France.

Ikea opened its eagerly awaited first Romanian store in 2007 in Baneasa, Bucharest and although a second store is planned, the company is yet to give details of exactly when and where it will be. The Ikea brand was registered in 1943 in Sweden, being founded by Ingvar Kamprad in the 1930s.

Liam Lever, liam@romania-insider.com