This break with IKEA’s traditional strategy has paying off. Between 1990 – 1994 IKEA’s North American sales have tripled to $480 million, and they nearly doubled again to about $900 million in 1997 and reached $1.38 billion in 2000. The company claims it has been making a profit in North America since early 1993, although it does not release precise figures and does admit that its profit rate in lower in America than in Europe. Still,the company is pushing ahead with plans for further expansion in North America,including a goal of opening 15 new store between 2000 and 2005, which will bring its total to 35.