Norwegian Furniture - Spotlight on Jens Ekornes

Ekornes is a European furniture manufacturer located in Norway. What’s interesting about Ekornes is that it is based in a country with just over four and half million people roughly the same population as the state of Colorado. However, their accomplishments in high-end furniture have become realized across the world. In this article we’re going to take a look at the Norwegian man who founded Ekornes and examine the rich history of a company that started from humble beginnings, endured hardships through world war two and embraced modern technology to create furniture unlike any other.

Jens Ekornes started his business in 1934. He started out in a small building located in Sunnmøre, Norway with three employees and some German made machinery. His business was that of building steel springs for the booming mattress and furniture industry. Business was doing quite well for Jens and he became interested in branching out from building furniture components to actually building the mattresses themselves. Not satisfied with many of the current mattress building techniques, he attended a furniture show where he discovers a British sofa mattress that consists of linked steel springs with coils on each side. He is impressed by this design and believes this same technique can be applied to conventional mattresses. With the aid of his shop foreman he sets out to design and construct a new mattress which would become known by its brand name Svane®.

Between the years of 1935 to 1939 Jens Ekornes made the rounds in showcasing his new design through different furniture shows as well as retailers and steadily his orders and workforce increase for the new Svane® line of mattresses. He soon begins opening new factories to help take on the added business from the new mattress lines and things seem to be going pretty well for Jens Ekornes… until war erupts in Europe. In April of 1940 Norway is invaded by larger and superior German forces. Norway resists but is soon overcome and surrenders several months later. Jens Ekornes and his family live through the occupation. Years of hardships pass for many Europeans including the Ekornes family until finally allied forces arrive and successfully liberate Europe. In 1945 Germany unconditionally surrenders and the war in the European theater ends. In 1946 Jens Ekornes travels to the United States. His brothers watch over the business while Jens is away. He begins work in a mattress factory in the USA to become more skilled in his trade. Impressed by the industrialization and how it will help to reduce the manufacturing costs of his mattresses, he purchases equipment and hires an American expert to travel back with him to Norway to train his workers on how to use the new machinery.

From 1947 to 1959 Jens Ekornes again starts building furniture components for other manufacturers. He opens a new factory to handle wood parts and another for the purpose of creating foamed plastics. In keeping with how he got into mattresses, Jens Ekornes begins designing and building furniture and in 1966 introduces a line of club furniture that would simply become called Ekornes®. This leather furniture was met with much success which may have also been attributed to a national mailer sent to every Norwegian home and soon Ekornes® became a household name in Norway.

1971 marked an important year for Ekornes® as it introduced the leather Stressless® recliner. The success generated by Stressless chairs recliner would lead to an important expansion for Ekornes® in it’s steel and automation departments which would allow it to keep up with growing demand internationally. In 1980 Ekornes® goes global and begins to export the Stressless® line of recliners and furniture throughout the world. With several patented features which include a lower lumbar support, glide system and head feature which moves forward with the individual, Stressless® recliners established themselves with features unavailable on any other recliner in the world. By 1983, 500,000 Stressless® recliners had been sold worldwide. A remarkable and impressive feat considering the competition of high end furniture found throughout the world.

Stressless® and Ekornes® products are currently sold in over 30 countries across five continents. Stressless recliners have been joined by matching sofas, loveseats, chairs and ottomans as well as matching coffee tables and end tables. Ekornes continues to move forward with advancements in industrial technology and creating new features in every pieces of Ekornes furniture. With a rich history dating back to 1934, the legacy of Jens Ekornes lives on today in every Ekornes® Stressless® product.