Ekornes Reports 11% Increase In Revenues

Furniture World Magazine

In the first half of 2005, Ekornes, Inc., the North American sales division of the Norwegian furniture manufacturer, reports an 11.7% revenue increase over the same period last year. The popularity of the company’s Stressless® sofa collection has contributed greatly to this increase, as has the company’s efforts to further expand their Canadian market. “We have been working hard to develop more Canadian dealers and are seeing a nice, upward trend in the region. These efforts, coupled with our intensified marketing activities in both the US and Canada, have played a large part in providing a good foundation for the further growth of our products line,” says Peter Bjerregaard, President of Ekornes, Inc. He continues, “In a very difficult marketplace, with retailers’ and suppliers’ margins being under pressure, we are quite pleased with the results for the first part of the year.” The Stressless® sofas, which feature high-back, individually reclining seats, are increasingly popular choices for home theater rooms. The positive consumer response to the sofas has led to the company producing a low-back version of the Stressless® sofa. The first design, Paradise, was rolled out in North America in April 2005 and quickly became the fastest selling sofa design in the company’s history. Ekornes, Inc. is now the largest Sales Division within Ekornes ASA, the parent company.