China - November 05, 2024 China to become top market for Norway's largest furniture producer (Voice_over) One of the world's most-sold chairs is looking for new markets. Given the global economic slump, it's increasingly challenging to sustain high manufacturing costs in Norway. (Sound_bite) Havar Kjersheim, Ekornes Employee: "This chair is very time-consuming - it takes approximately 20 minutes to fully assemble because it needs precise craftsmanship." (Voice_over) During the COVID pandemic, lots of people redecorated their homes... but then furniture sales went down and are only slowly starting to pick up. Norway's largest furniture producer Ekornes is hopeful its top-line turnover will increase by 40 percent in the next four years - thanks to Chinese customers. (Sound_bite) Tine Hammernes Leopold, CEO, Ekornes: "We have very strong relationships with many dealers in China. And now we also see that the opportunity is greater beyond what we've been able to do so far." (Voice_over) China could soon become Ekornes' number one market - which doesn't come as a surprise since the company was bought by the Chinese Qumei group six years ago. (Sound_bite) Tine Hammernes Leopold, CEO, Ekornes: "Particularly the Chairman of the Qumei group has a very good eye for quality furniture and we feel very strong support in our development." (Voice_over) Meanwhile, Ekornes is modernizing parts of its 'Stressless' product line, focusing less on leather. (Sound_bite) Tine Hammernes Leopold, CEO, Ekornes: "We see a strong trend in moving more towards textiles, particularly for sofas." (Voice_over) One thing, however, remains the same... The production and assembly will continue to be based on the Norwegian west coast. [Restriction: No access Chinese mainland]