Norwegian Furniture Manufacturer Opens Plant in North Carolina -- First Plant Outside of Europe

Ekornes ASA a Norwegian manufacturer of such brands as Ekornes, Stressless and Svane will be opening a new 100,000 square foot United States Stressless facility located in Morganton, North Carolina.

Ekornes currently operates six production facilities throughout Norway. This will be the first production facility for Ekornes outside of Europe and is expected to greatly reduce lead times on Stressless sofas made for delivery in the United States and Canada.

While the company's internal sofa components will continue to be manufactured in Norwegian factories, the new U.S. plant will receive these components and will then do sewing and assembly in the Morganton.

Retail stores such as LifeStyles Furniture in Davenport, Iowa an Ekornes dealer for over 15 years have welcomed the news of a Stressless sofa plant in the United States. "The U.S. warehouse has always had a strong selection of Stressless recliners however sofas, loveseats and chairs most often had to be ordered out of Norway with 12-14 week lead times. This often made consumers hesitant to commit to a waiting period of months for a custom piece of furniture. The expectation is that these lead times will be greatly reduced once the U.S. plant is running at capacity," said Brian Banks, president Lifestyles Furniture.