A furniture company with many legs T
he company which Kåre Stokke, the only child, joined at the age of 23 in 1960 was one of the most clearly profiled furniture manufacturers in the new furniture region of S unnmøre. Kåre's father, Georg, had just taken the initiative to d evelop and man ufacture reclining chairs in the Star range. At the time the company was also manufacturing furniture on a daily basis both for p ublic establishments and private homes all over Norway. Right from the time he could walk, Kåre Stokke would frequent the factory, and during the holidays he would work in the various d epartments at the factory. By 1960 he had completed his language studies at upper secondary school, he had attended a working c ourse for students, he had studied at the Army Ordnance Officers' Training School and he had studied economics for one year in E ngland. All his further education was carried out at the company which his father had started and for which he had the primary responsibility. Stokke had proved itself to be a company that was willing to try new ways. One of the first deliveries made by the company, which was formed in 1932 under the name of Møller & Stokke, was bus seats. Møller & Stokke was also one of the first furniture man-
ufacturers to employ female workers. Georg saw that women were stable workers and well suited for work being planned by the company. It was also noted in 1954 that Georg Stokke employed a newly qualified designer, Arnt Lande, thus becoming the first furniture manager in Sunnmøre brave enough to take such a step. Taking on an in-house designer showed that the company was willing to engage in the untraditional practice of rejuvenation, a practice that Stokke continued to adhere to during the following decades. Stokke had previously also used a professional designer. The company's 1942 product catalogue features Model 202, a simple low recliner with open sides, designed by Bendt Winge.
Limited cashflow At the end of the 1950s, Stokke was influenced by the same circumstances that had created the Sunnmøre furniture industry during the 1930s and '40s. There was a big demand for robust and
The furniture manufacturer Møller & Stokke started operations in the premises that they rented from Erik Foss in Spjelkavik in 1932. The partners Bjarne Møller and Georg Stokke acquired their professional expertise from the workshop of the Danish furniture upholsterer Carl Møller, which was located in Røysegata in the centre of Ålesund. “Furniture was in the air during those years,” says Georg Stokke by way of explanation as to why he had started f urniture production. Depicted here are Bjarne Møller, front left, and Georg Stokke, front right, sitting in one of the company's first chair models. Behind them are their employees, Hans Aasen and Daniel Myren, who joined the company during its first year of operations.
15
