The colors on the exterior of the IKEA store are the blue and yellow of the Swedish flag. Inside, customers buy furniture, accessories and food with Swedish names — even Swedish meatballs.

But the work force at Atlanta's IKEA store in Midtown is anything but Swedish — yet it reflects the Swedish company's values and global presence.

LEITA COWART/Special (ENLARGE)

IKEA aims to have a work force that reflects the diversity of a community. Atlanta IKEA employees include Christopher Smith (from left) from Atlanta, Shyra Hayes from New Orleans, Billy Brooks from Detroit, Jazmine Howard from Sweden, Angelica Bahn from Brazil, assistant manager Mark Fitzsimmons from Iowa and Jasmine Shah from India.

"We want to reflect the community we do business in," said Mark Fitzsimmons, assistant manager of Atlanta's store.

The ethnic mix on the sales floor looks like Atlanta: whites, African-Americans, Hispanics, Asians.

The store offices also have an international flavor.

Fitzsimmons pointed out that the store's logistics manager is German. The service office has workers from Guyana, Denmark, Spain and Canada. And there even is a Swede, the manager of interior design.

So what's Swedish about IKEA?

"Swedes are very welcoming," Fitzsimmons said. "That's true of us, too."

At IKEA, diversity is not a separate goal but part of a larger commitment to values.

Store manager Jim Anastos said the company's stated goal is to do good business while being a good company.

"Diversity is one facet of that," he said. "It does go back to our Swedish roots, being very accepting of different cultures."

Anastos and Fitzsimmons said that IKEA's corporate values also include being humble, cost-conscious and environmentally committed.

"It's a more human way of doing business," Fitzsimmons said.

Having a diverse work force — all employees are called co-workers, even managers — helps the company direct its products toward its target customers: people who are cost-conscious as well as stylish.

"We're for the masses, not the classes," Fitzsimmons said, repeating a company mantra. "We're for the many.

"We find people who fit our values. We want a variety of people from different backgrounds. They help strengthen us as an organization and make us a strong company, because we have access to more opinions and ways of doing things."

A company statement on social and environmental responsibility reads: "Straightforward, down-to-earth people from different backgrounds are given the opportunity to grow and take responsibility. The corporate culture encourages co-workers to question accepted solutions and test new ideas and teaches them not to be afraid of making mistakes. Shared values — such as respect, simplicity and cost-consciousness — help us all to develop together and contribute to a better everyday life for the many people."

Anastos added that prospective employees need more than retail experience. "We want the right fit," he said.

The store manager said he is required to have "my store mirror the local market. We take our culture and values very seriously."

The stores hire locally. When a new store opens, managers from similar stores in the same country usually get the new operation rolling.

The Atlanta store has been open about two and a half years and still is in its first generation of managers. Fitzsimmons, 46, came to Atlanta from an IKEA store in Philadelphia.

Anastos, 49, has spent half of his 27 years in retail at IKEA. At traditional department stores, he said, the focus was only on results. At IKEA, he said he is evaluated on meeting goals for results as well as for leadership and culture.

Fitzsimmons said one of his duties as a manager is to make sure doors to promotion are open to all workers.

Egalitarianism is a mark of the IKEA store's offices.

Only the human resources manager, who must safeguard the privacy of records, has a separate office. Fitzsimmons and Anastos have adjoining desks in the middle of an open administrative office. Lockers for all co-workers and an employee cafeteria — where the meals are subsidized — are down the hall.

Everyone dresses casually, usually in logo golf shirts and jeans. There are no ties or titles, and people call one another by their first names.

Bulletin boards are full of names and pictures of people who have been promoted or recognized for accomplishments. And the company encourages participation in charitable work in the community.

There is an international drive under way to give stuffed animals to needy children, and the company as well as individual employees have contributed to causes such as UNICEF, Habitat for Humanity, World Wildlife Federation and Save the Children.

Fortune and Working Mother magazines have recognized IKEA as being among the best companies for which to work.

The company also proclaims its social and environmental responsibilities. Its most recent annual responsibility report reads, "Keeping prices low is a cornerstone of the IKEA business idea, yet our low prices must never be at the expense of people or the environment."

Among its concerns are using sustainable resources and preventing child labor. While many of its products are made from wood, the company tracks the forestry practices of its suppliers to make sure none of the wood comes from endangered forests.