Twelve cities in less than three years
The Ekornes success in China, with stores dedicated to the Stressless chair, first started in Shanghai in 2007. In 2009 Stressless stores can be found also in Beijing, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Suzhou, Nanjing, Shenyang, Jinan, Chengdu, Huhhot, and most recently, Shenzhen.
Agnes Wu, country manager for Ekornes in China, explains that the financial crisis has not set Stressless back. “Chinese consumers are still very open and willing to accept new things for their real value. They like our Stressless chairs for their unique comfort and stable high quality”.
Norwegian factories, Chinese market
All of the Ekornes factories are located in Norway, and Norwegian production for a Chinese market is an interesting new trend where the opposite so far has been more common.
The Consul General in Guangzhou, Tormod C. Endresen, also sees the Stressless success as a sign of more general tendencies and possibilites: “The Stressless success in China illustrates the significance of China as a market for quality consumer goods. A lot of containers are going out of China bound for Norway. In the years ahead, I believe we will see more containers going the other way”.
Agnes Wu believes there is a higher and higher Stressless brand awareness in China. With the coming extension to the Hong Kong market within the end of 2009, all of the three largest cities in southern China – Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong – will be covered.
The history of the Ekornes company in Norway goes back to 1934, when they started producing mattress springs. Ekornes lounge furniture was launched in the 1960s, and the Stressless brand in 1970. Today Ekornes products are sold in over thirty countries world wide.