Jens Ekornes - From steel springs to modern furniture

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Every piece of furniture has a unique story. You may have a sofa, recliner, chair maybe even a table with some sort of history behind it from the manufacturer or individual who made it. Often when we shop for furniture we don't usually look past what is on the outside of the piece of furniture to see what was behind every spring, piece of fabric or bolt that went into it. When shopping for furniture each one has it's own reasons for offering the products that they do. Some companies start out doing what they see someone else do because they want that product's same success. Some companies start out from a need to help people find the product they are looking for. While still others wanted to take a product a make it even better.
Jens Ekornes was someone who always wanted to make it better and help others find a comfort that they couldn't in existing furniture. In 1936 he started out in a small shop in Norway building springs for sofas and mattresses. Often in manufacturing you have smaller companies that supply parts to the larger ones and this is what Jens Ekornes' company did. He had himself, three employees and some German equipment. This in essence was the beginnings of the company that would simply be called Ekornes.

After a few years Jens Ekornes wasn't content with just building springs for manufacturers and wanted to develop a unique line of mattresses. He went to a furniture show where he saw something unique in a British made sofa. They were building cushions using steel springs that were connected together rather than being attached separately to a piece of wood framing like so many others were doing. He thought this was something that could be implemented into mattress construction and began work designing a new mattress system that incorporated connected springs.

He successfully developed his mattress system and it came to be called Svane. In 1946 he visited America to study mattress manufacturing and brought back machinery and people to help train his workers on how to use it. Several unique styles of mattress were designed and with the new construction being used in his mattresses they were soon offering more support and comfort than other mattresses on the market.

Svane was such a success that it quickly became a household name through much of Scandinavia. Stocked in retail stores and sold throughout Europe it was soon being distributed through 1200 different companies and distributors. As successful as Svane was for Jens Ekornes he continued to build furniture components for other companies much like when he started out making steel springs for other manufacturers. Much of his furniture components that he built involved foam plastics and wood components. However he soon felt the need to develop another line of products separate from mattresses and decided to create new lines of home furnishings.

Jens Ekornes in the late 60's introduced a line of club furniture that consisted of sofas, loveseats, chairs and matching tables. These consisted of wood trim, bases and legs. The cushions made use of the advances developed by Svane for its mattresses in the way of foam plastics. The line was successful and helped make Ekornes Norway's leading furniture manufacturer going into the 70's which is when his greatest furniture accomplishments would be achieved.

In 1970 Jens Ekornes registered a patent for a line of reclining furniture that would put Ekornes on the map globally. The name he registered was Stressless. The Stressless recliners would revolutionize an industry with new ideas and concepts in recliner design. The first models of Stressless recliners introduced in 1971 consisted of round chrome bases and featured leather on the chair and ottoman. Ekornes would continue to develop these recliners with new patented features never before offered in a recliner. A glide system was created to respond to the movements of the person moving in the recliner allowing for greater comfort. The Plus System is a unique feature to only Stressless recliners. It automatically provides the correct lumbar support and allows parallel movement with the headrest which adjusts to you as the chair reclines to enjoy perfect support. Jens Ekornes' Stressless products became widely popular throughout Europe and soon were being sold outside of Europe as well. Today these products are sold in over 30 countries and more than four million recliners have been sold world wide since 1971.

The furniture you own today may have a unique and interesting story behind it especially if it is an Ekornes, Svane or Stressless brand piece of furniture. Jens Ekornes is responsible for many of the advances in the brands of products I've listed here in this article and when you own one of these products you are getting a piece of furniture with a rich Norwegian story and history behind it from a man who went out wanting to make a better product that would help change people's lives and did.

About the author: Phil Pendleton is a furniture professional with over 15 years in the industry. He has been involved with furniture sales, distribution and production. He continues to work with other furniture professionals to help promote new trends in furniture. lifestylesfurniture.com.

Copyright Phil Pendleton. All rights reserved worldwide.