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 ekornes asa ose eko 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 m re 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 . history edit this article needs more links to other articles to help integrate it into the encyclopedia . please help improve this article by adding links that are relevant to the context within the existing text . february 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message this article s tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on wikipedia . see wikipedia s guide to writing better articles for suggestions . february 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message 1934 production at the j.e. ekornes fj rfabrikk started in 1934 with three employees and german engineered machinery . furniture manufacturing had just become established in sunnm re 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 sj holt 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 . 1935 38 jens ekornes presented the new idea for internal springs at the major furniture exhibition in lesund . the springs were linked together by steel coils and could be used inside furniture cushions as well as mattresses . the first svane mattresses appeared on the market . they were launched in three versions eva ideal and rekord . 1946 jens ekornes traveled to the usa where he worked in a mattress factory to learn more about the trade . while he was away his brothers martin and leif looked after the business at ikornnes . jens ekornes then bought american machinery for the production of upholstered spring mattresses . this made it possible to rationalize the manufacturing process and consequently sell the svane mattress at a more reasonable price . he also brought back an expert from the usa who helped set up the new machinery and train people in its operation . 1947 the factory began to manufacture the wooden furniture components needed for sofa beds and mattress bases . 1955 mattress production began at ikornnes and as part of the implementation of the northern norway plan in bod as well . 1959 j.e. ekornes as began to produce foamed plastic . this created an important element in the manufacturing process of ekornes own mattresses and furniture as well as production for sale on the open market . 1962 ekornes fetsund was established outside oslo for the manufacture and production of mattresses and furniture . 1966 ekornes launched its first collection of lounge furniture . as the first furniture manufacturer in norway ekornes distributed information about its products entitled svaneinformasjon svane news to every household in the country . this first success has since been followed by the direct mailing of a new ekornes catalog every year . for the first time furniture was launched with a brand name . the ekornes family acquired the public company vik & blindheim m belfabrikk as which became svane m bler as . 1967 ekornes acquired the manufacturing rights for nirva mattresses from dfu and the manufacturing rights for paradise mattresses from steen & str m. production of foamed plastic began at the fetsund factory . a factory was built for the manufacturing of needle felt carpets which were then marketed by tarkett fagertun as . 1969 mattress production was moved from ikornnes to fetsund . ekornes launched its first leather upholstered lounge furniture . 1970 ekornes changed its policy and concentrated on a selective sales strategy in the norwegian market . the number of distributors was reduced from approximately 1 200 to 200 and the name of the local distributors were printed on the catalogs . this year ekornes also applied for a patent for stressless . 1971 the first stressless chairs were launched on the norwegian market . the success of stressless lead to a major expansion and automation of the steel department . this expansion takes stressless and ekornes into the most expansive chapter of its history . 1972 ekornes took over the production of helly hansen s foamed plastic mattresses which were still marketed by helly hansen . 1974 svane m bler as began to work with the stranda lenestolfabrikk as furniture company and acquired 51 % of its shares . in the same year jens and petrine ekornes gave three quarters of the shares in j.e. ekornes fabrikker as to a trust called the foundation established by jens ellingsen ekornes and his wife petrine ekornes to further the aid charity of the norwegian missionary society . 1975 revenue of the ekornes group exceeded nok 100 million . 1976 the fetsund plant was destroyed by a fire . a new factory was built during the years from 1976 to 1978 . svane m bler as became the chief shareholder in gjerde m bler as . later the same year ekornes grod s as was established as the joint chief shareholder with svane m bler as . 1977 the ekornes group was now the largest furniture manufacturer in scandinavia . 1978 ekornes started developing marketing advertising and design with the a. huseby & s nn as furniture company in v ler . ekornes huseby had a joint sales team and permanent operations in oslo and copenhagen . after having run its accounts on a central computer system since 1974 ekornes entered the computer age with earnest in 1978 . an on line computer system was acquired and set up for order processing invoicing statistics and production control . permanent office and exhibition spaces were established ; five in torggata and seven in oslo . 1979 ekornes started to work with p.i. langlos fabrikker as the long established furniture company in stranda and acquired 49 % of its shares . svane m bler as was then re registered under the name ekornes m bler as . 1980 revenue for the stressless collection exceeded nok 100 million and a new milestone was reached . exports showed a positive trend . a three year sales campaign by the export firm westnofa started in the usa . since that time the usa has been the largest export market for ekornes . ekornes moved into its new administration building 2 700 square metres with show room conference room canteen and offices in sykkylven . 1982 83 the ownership structure within the ekornes group was reorganized so the regulations for corporate taxation applied to all the companies . ekornes m bler as which is owned by the second generation of the ekornes family acquired the a shares in j.e. ekornes fabrikker as and additional b shares which belonged to the foundation . these transactions enabled one generation to hand on to the next . ekornes m bler as became the owner of over 90 % of the shares in j.e. ekornes fabrikker as ekornes grod s as stranda lenestolfabrikk as gjerde m bler as and p.i. langlos fabrikker as . a minimum of 90 % is a condition for corporate taxation . the exhibition space at the bella centre in copenhagen was expanded from 820 square feet 76 m2 to 2 300 square feet 210 m2 and ekornes opened a european office under the name j.e. ekornes aps . 1983 exports exceeded nok 100 million and stressless number 500 000 was registered . the conditions were now right for the establishment of the ekornes ltd sales company in the uk . the parent company s progression in the export market received attention and ekornes was awarded the export prize for 1983 . it was then agreed to merge j.e. ekornes fabrikker as and ekornes m bler as . the name of this merger company became j.e. ekornes as . 1984 the company was now 50 years old . the event was properly celebrated by both employees and customers . in the course of the spring 1 500 furniture distributors and sales personnel were invited to the headquarters at ikornnes to be shown the company s products . ekornes acquired the bulk of the shares in velledalen fabrikker as and also purchased 75 % of the shares in ulferts ab in tibro sweden . production at the vik department formerly ekornes m bler as was moved to the velledalen factory in straumgjerde . the acquisition of ulferts ab lead to a doubling of the group s production capabilities a wider selection of goods and access to a complete sales organization in sweden and the uk . by the end of the year the number of employees had doubled rising from 795 to 1 585 by the end of 1983 . 1985 by 1985 there were now eight ekornes factories in norway plus quantity ulferts ab in sweden . in october 1985 ekornes also acquired a furniture company in west germany erpo m belwerk j.e. ekornes gmbh & co. ekornes purchased the remaining 25 % of the shares in ulferts ab from asken ab and was now the sole owner of the company . ekornes established the oy ekornes ab sales company in finland and the ekornes inc. company in the usa . in 1985 ekornes made a capital increase by issuing and selling 250 000 general shares and 250 000 preferred shares preferred shares were sold by the ekornes family . this direction was organized by sunndal & co. in collaboration with the banks sunnm rsbanken as christiania bank and kreditkasse as . it involved a total of nok 100 million which produced a new equity of nok 50 million for j.e. ekornes as . the financial results for 1985 broke the 50 year tradition of annual net profit and showed a loss for both j.e. ekornes as and for the