Ekornes

Ekornes ASA

Type	Public
Industry	Furniture
Founded	1934
Founder	J.E. Ekornes
Headquarters	Ikornnes, Norway
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Olav Holst-Dyrnes ( CEO)
Products	luxury Furniture Recliners Sofas Beds
Revenue	NOK 2,611 million (US $429 million) (2013)
Number of employees	1600
Website	ekornes.com

luxury Furniture
Recliners
Sofas

NOK 2,611 million (US $429 million)

Ekornes ASA (: ) is a Norwegian furniture company. It is principally known for its luxury line of reclining armchairs and sofas sold under the trademark Stressless. The patented mechanism of knob-controlled friction sliders on steel tubing allows the recliners to adjust to shifting sitting positions. They are the only recliners endorsed by the American Chiropractic Association. Founded in 1934 by J.E Ekornes, Ekornes is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange and, as of 2011, employs more than 1600 persons worldwide. Ekornes is based in Sykkylven, Møre og Romsdal, Norway.

Ekornes ASA is the largest furniture manufacturer in the Nordic region and owns such brand names as Ekornes, Stressless and Svane. Stressless is one of the world’s most famous furniture brands, while Ekornes and Svane are the best known brands in the Norwegian furniture market. Products are manufactured in Norway and marketed across large parts of the world by a network of national and regional sales companies. Ekornes ASA is the parent company in the Ekornes Group. The group’s production facilities are organised according to its product areas: Stressless, Ekornes Collection (furniture) and Svane (mattresses). Ekornes ASA provides all shared services, including group management, marketing, purchasing, accounting and finance, as well as product development for Stressless and Ekornes Collection.

1934
Production at the J.E. Ekornes Fjærfabrikk started in 1934, with three employees and German engineered machinery. Furniture manufacturing had just become established in Sunnmøre, and this provided the founder, Jens Ekornes, with his first customers. It didn't take long before these springs for furniture and mattresses were sold throughout Norway.

Greater challenges were to come. Once the production of the springs was established, it was only natural that he would develop an interest in the mattresses themselves as well. He wanted them to be different from the traditional heavy steel-spring mattresses fitted onto wooden frames by means of unsatisfactory lacing. At an exhibition, Jens Ekornes saw a British mattress whose interior consisted of a large number of springs linked together on both sides by steel coils. He understood at once that this system could also be used inside an ordinary mattresses. As soon as he got home he started to try this concept with factory foreman Nils Sjøholt, and before long they are able to present the first Svane mattress. This was followed quickly by new products, new factories and a steadily increasing workforce.