“From the production of furniture to building relations between children and parents”
Foreword T
here is a saying that the road is forged as one walks. This tends to indicate that it is not always so simple to plot a course and keep it steady until the goal is reached. The same thing could apply to people's lives, but it also includes industrial companies such as Stokke. Some crossroads will be e ncountered when the management of a company have to make decisive choices. What shall we do now? What can we do best? Which path should we take? Stokke has stood at such crossroads. The fact that the company celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2007 indicates that it has fared well as a result of the choices it has made, better than many of its contemporaries in the furniture industry. B ecause today there is not one single family-owned furniture manufacturing company in Sunnmøre that has a company history dating back 75 years. But actually this does not apply to Stokke either, because it is no longer a pure furniture manufacturing company. Of course it still makes both a children's chair and a children's bed, but since 2006 Stokke has been defining itself as a dedicated m anufacturer of equipment for children, one of the most distinctive manufacturers of such equipment in the entire world. This book describes the choices that were made and which caused the furniture manufacturer Møller & Stokke to evolve into the children's equipment manufacturer Stokke AS. It is about three generations of the Stokke family and their assistants, and the work they have carried out in order to create a company which has proved to be vigorous and which has refused to simply manu facture p roducts which could just as easily have been made by others. It is about a company that has sought its own path and that has made unique contributions to Norwegian and international furniture history – a company that has made everyday life easier for many parents and children.
And it is not about just one company, either, but about many companies in just as many local communities. Since the 1960s, Stokke has grown through the acquisition and establishment of enterprises both at home and abroad. In this presentation, the reader will therefore find several company histories in the one. But the common theme is the Stokke family's successful guest for new products and new ways of relating to their surroundings. And, not least, Stokke's history tells of a family company whose owners realised the importance of bringing in outsiders and allowing them to have responsibility and room to manoeuvre. It is about creating the hand STOKKE. The biography of the founder, Georg Stokke, has already been written. In his book entitled “As I remember it”, Harald Grytten paints a vivid picture of the first few years of the company's history. This book therefore takes over from when Kåre Stokke entered the family company in 1960. Nevertheless, in order to present a true picture, we will trace a few threads back in time. The company of Stokke AS in the year 2007 is the result of the collective efforts of many people. So is this book. I would like to thank everyone who has contributed information, and I wish especially to give credit to an interested and knowledgeable Book Committee composed of Kåre Stokke, Rune Stokke and Kjell Storeide. Thanks also to Lars Olausen, who has been responsible for collecting much of the material used and for interviewing key players involved in Stokke's history, as well as to Inge Langlo who has been a source of inspiration and has served as a mentor, providing much good advice en route. Sykkylven, August 2007 Eldar Høidal
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