The group hold is consolidated, 1990–1997

Storeide returns

The Stokke group was formed from a number of spin-off companies and around 1990 it consisted of a conglomerate of companies with a low degree of horizontal integration. The group's subsidiaries were generally allowed to manage themselves. As previously mentioned, this was due to limited capacity in the group's administration department, but it was also the company's expressed policy that subsidiaries should be allowed to enjoy a large degree of autonomy. There are many witnesses to the fact that the management and employees in the company's various subsidiaries appreciated the confidence and freedom they were given. Some also attribute the good results they achieved to this very same freedom. “Everyone was given the freedom to do what they did best,” the employees at the Swiss sales office told Stokke in 1997. They maintained that the company's confidence in its employees was the main reason why no one had left their office since it was established in 1988.141 Wolfgang Krüssmann at Stokke GmbH in Germany, Ingemar Almgren at Tranås in Sweden, and Odd Slettaøyen and Terje Klauseth at Westnofa all shared the same views. As far as the latter two were concerned, their freedom of action could be justified both from a professional and a rational viewpoint. It was the team in Åndalsnes that possessed the expertise required for both foam plastics and mattress production. To a limited extent, neither the owners of the group nor a group of commercial managers could have developed this production on a professional basis. Such attitudes were well anchored at all levels of the Stokke group up until the 1990s. This serves to illustrate a corporate culture which to a large extent was based on products and production. It also corresponds with a traditional founder culture and the drive to develop companies which would gradually manage to stand firmly on their own feet. If the company's focus had been directed more towards markets and customers, it could have paved the way for closer integration of companies. This perspective would gradually start to penetrate more deeply at a general group level, but already in 1990 measures were being taken that would give the group management the tools that had so far been lacking. Stokke Industri AS had been established as an overall group company in 1983. Stokke Industri was wholly owned by Kåre Stokke who was the only person in the group administration. Even though the legal group structure was in place in 1983, it did not result in operational consequences for the group's subsidiaries. When Kjell Storeide returned from his position at Sunnmørsbanken in 1989, the parent company was strengthened. Storeide took over new duties as

In August 1988, Stokke moved the bulk of its production and administration operations to Håhjem. It was then clear that the plant at Spjelkavik could be more profitable if it were adapted for commercial purposes.

Executive Chairman of the Board of Stokke Industri AS and the Board of Stokke Fabrikker AS. Kåre Stokke continued as the Managing Director of Stokke Industri until further notice. In 1990 they switched roles at the initiative of Kåre Stokke. At the same time, Kjell Storeide was offered a 9 % stake in the group. At that point in time he was 37 years old and faced another 10–15 years of employment with Stokke. His prospects for finding another top job in industry after the age of 50 were limited. The confidence invested in him by the Stokke family on his return led to his decision to continue with the company. He could now start to transform the Stokke group into a collaborative organisation in which those involved would work on the basis of jointly defined objectives. The tasks which the new Director and co-owner of the group chose to prioritise were as follows: ■ Improve financial management. ■ Put Vågå Møbler on the right track. ■ Improve earnings for Vatne Lenestolfabrikk, which had been acquired in 1989. ■ Sort out the rental situation relating to the company's former factory facilities at Moa. ■ Clean up financial operations. Consolidate loans. ■ Systematise management developments.

For an economist like Kjell Storeide it was natural to be interested in the underlying cash flow of the group. The question which had to be asked was: what did the group earn money on and where was that money going? Despite the fact that around the year 1990 the group had several promising business concepts and companies which were making a sound profit, its finances were still strained. The accounts of the parent company showed a deficit in both 1988 and 1989. Although there were no longer any negative numbers on the bottom line in 1990, the group's management and Board thought that the company's profits before year-end adjustments amounting to 5.6 % still represented a return on capital that was too low. In the Directors' Report for 1990 the Board stated, “In the opinion of the Board there is room for considerable profit improvements in several areas of activity which could be achieved by further cultivating the company's marketing concepts”.142

Strengthening the group's administrative personnel by doubling the number of employees, would help to achieve an integrated structure for the family-owned company. But the group was still organised in accordance with a holding company model, which meant that the management rights of the group's subsidiaries remained largely unaltered. Extracting profits from these companies in order to meet common needs was still a problem. It was only when the group was reorganised in accordance with a divisional model, with Kjell Storeide being appointed as Operational Manager in 2000, that the group became a cohesive unit and it became easier to implement general strategic management.

Stokke Fabrikker – a creative organisation

A question of loyalty

Inside the group it was probably Stokke Fabrikker which was the apple of the owner family's eye. This company was the origin and centre around which the group had revolved for many years. Therefore, it was natural that Stokke Fabrikker would be one of the first areas to receive the attention of the new group duo. Stokke Fabrikker had a number of different product areas, and in 1990 as in previous years, there were no doubts in anyone's minds that the Tripp Trapp chair made the greatest contribution to the company's profits. Kjell Storeide wanted to address these different product areas, but this was a foreign concept for Managing Director Roar Hauge- Nilsen, who referred to the situation experienced by the Danish electronics producer, Bang-Olufsen. Like Stokke, this company did not earn the same income from each of its different product areas, but it emphasised that it had an integrated collection and that each part served to support the company's unique and distinctive character. In Hauge-Nilsen's opinion, one product area could contribute most during one period, while at other times other areas might bring in most. He also pointed out that it takes time to incorporate a new chair concept, but once things have been set in motion they can take on their own momentum! Hauge-Nilsen also pointed out that at the end of the 1980s the Tripp Trapp chair was helped considerably in the European markets by all the attention that had been devoted to the company's variation furniture.143 In 1995 researcher Birgit Jevnaker formulated the situation as follows: “From a financial point of view, none of the Balans and other movement models have ever been as profitable as Tripp Trapp. On the other hand, the unique products launched in the 1980s prompted dynamic growth and the development of relationships in new markets.”144 However, as the debate progressed , it was Roar Hauge-Nilsen and his supporters in

Kjell Storeide was involved in the company for two periods and set his mark on the development of the Stokke group. His strength was his analytical personality which was combined with down-to-earth business realism. He had a close relationship with the owner, Kåre Stokke, and together they had the unique ability to put the right people in the right place.

Peter Opsvik has meant more to the development of the present day Stokke than anyone else. He has had a fantastic ability to deliver original products which have appealed to the latent needs of furniture users all over the world.

In February 1991, Tripp Trapp sales exceeded the 1 million mark. In order to celebrate this event, a party was organised for all the employees of Stokke Fabrikker, Tennfjord Møbelfabrikk and Vatne Lenestolfabrikk. At this party, Tripp Trapp designer Peter Opsvik was presented with a gold-plated Tripp Trapp chair in miniature. He is depicted here with his wife, Kari (left), and Turid and Kåre Stokke. (Sunnmørsposten 4.2.1991.)

Ingemar Almgren at Stokke AB in Sweden organised an annual retailer's event in Tranås. The programme contained a number of diverse professional events and a boat trip on the Boxholm. Almgren was a jazz enthusiast and he usually gathered his jazz friends to entertain the guests.

the European markets who were put on the defensive. The disagreement outlined here helped to bring out both professional differences and differences relating to personal chemistry. For Roar Hauge-Nilsen the furniture of the Movement collection was something far more than mere physical products which could provide the group with good financial results. In his opinion Stokke's furniture for movement and variation had provided homo sedens with the help which our bodies required. In the company of Peter Opsvik he had travelled the world championing this message. And it had struck the right chords among the company's enthusiastic sales corps and in the large markets on the Continent. Roar Hauge-Nilsen travelled constantly, visiting the company's export offices where he met people who thought like him. Personal bonds were forged. Roar Hauge-Nilsen enjoyed his role as the front figure of the Stokke movement. Kåre Stokke was the generous owner who had confidence in those who proved themselves worthy of his confidence. He was always a welcome guest on his travels.

They were joined by the economist, Kjell Storeide, who showed just as much interest in the figures as the products. Storeide had set himself the task of improving the group's financial management, and this work included obtaining an overview of the product development costs relating to individual products and product groups, marketing costs and sales results. For a family-owned company like Stokke, short-term earnings and profitability were important. Operating for several years at a loss is not a good recipe when one is dependent on self-generated and continuous profitability in order to ensure adequate operating and investment funds and a return on capital. Storeide felt that alliances were being built between Stokke Fabrikker's administrators and the company's external sales network in order to ensure that its Movement products would continue to receive strong focus in the future. On the other hand, it looked as though even Stokke's distinctive character as a furniture producer was in danger of being overshadowed by shortterm focus on profitability. A gap between the perceptions of the managers at various levels was developing, and this had consequences for the execution of operational strategy. This was not good for Stokke Fabrikker and the group. It was important for the group management and the Board to maintain the company's policy of loyalty to decisions made by superiors. This developed into a power struggle between two factions within the group, and Kåre Stokke was relatively quick to give his support to Kjell Storeide.

Kåre Stokke had experienced his responsibilities as a heavy burden on his shoulders during the years when he, in his capacity as owner, had been the only member of the group management, even though he had had the backing of a Board that was very supportive. When Kjell Storeide returned it was a relief for Kåre. He finally had someone with whom he could share some of his executive responsibilities. Furthermore, the way in which Kjell Storeide tackled Stokke's challenges once again boosted confidence. Kåre Stokke and Kjell Storeide complemented one another in a manner that was to prove beneficial for the Stokke group. They created a basis for the exercise of owner control which had been difficult to practise before 1990.

Even Wahr-Hansen, a lawyer with the BAHR firm of lawyers who had been Stokke's legal advisors since 1980 and who had also developed a close friendship with Kåre Stokke, regarded the re-engagement of Kjell Storeide as a very favourable move at this time: “Kjell Storeide proved to be a fabulous asset and he tidied up things when required. He was absolutely the right man at the right time. He saw clearly that it was necessary to gain an overview of profitability in the individual parts of the production process and the company's other income-generating assets, e.g. its property portfolio. Kjell aided considerably in making Stokke more professional – Stokke had originally been a founder company with just one or two people holding the reins while the company's middle management did not understand, or had no insight into, the overall picture.”145

The outcome of this power struggle between Hauge-Nilsen and Storeide became a foregone conclusion when the owner made a clear choice about which side he was on. During the autumn of 1993, Roar Hauge-Nilsen was forced to hand over his position to Tor Norbye who came in as the Managing Director of Stokke Fabrikker from a sales and marketing background. During a transition period Roar Hauge-Nilsen was appointed as Chairman of the Board of

Tor Norbye took over as the Managing Director of Stokke Fabrikker when Roar Hauge-Nilsen left in 1993. Hauge-Nilsen was then appointed as the Chairman of the Board of Stokke Fabrikker AS. Norbye, who came from a marketing background, was the Managing Director of Stokke Fabrikker until 1998. In 1988 Stokke moved some of its production processes to the industrial area at Håhjem in the municipality of Skodje. Woodworking operations were carried out elsewhere. Assembly, stitching and packaging were carried out at Håhjem. After an expansion in 1997 the company switched over from line production to cell production. Depicted from the left are Torgeir Emaus, Jan-Roger Mauren and Jogeir Vadset in full swing with cell production.

Stokke Fabrikker, but it soon became clear that this was a position with no real management opportunities, even though he was also given responsibilities relating to product development at the company. In 1995 Roar Hauge-Nilsen left the Stokke group after nearly 20 years of consecutive service. Harald Brathaug, the Chief of Finance, was deputised as the Managing Director of Stokke Fabrikker until Tor Norbye was able to take up his post. Brathaug was well liked by the employees and he was a unifying force during this turbulent period. After this interlude, Brathaug returned to his duties as Chief of Finance, which he continued to perform in a sound and loyal manner until 1996.

Still variation

These changes in the top management of Stokke Fabrikker were not motivated by financial and business-related developments at the company. Stokke Fabrikker's 1992/1993 profits were markedly better than they had been for many years. The company's operating income had increased from NOK 159 million the previous year to NOK 189 million, and pre-tax profits were up from NOK 17.7 million to NOK 19.5 million. Stokke Fabrikker was seen as being an export company with over 90 % of its sales going to export markets. Its 1993 annual report emphasised the fact that the Tripp Trapp chair had made the greatest contribution to these good results. These latter two pieces of information contain the key to the change of Managing Director. As already mentioned, the owner and group management were keen to define clear result criteria all the way down to product line. They thought this was a necessary prerequisite for being able to interpret market developments and to best manage the company's resources. In order to achieve this, a good, open dialogue between the group management and the company's marketing and sales network at home and abroad was needed.

Tor Norbye's main task was to create calm renewed motivation within the organisation. His specialist skills in personnel relations proved to be very useful after the change in the Managing Director, something which came as a surprise to many of those who worked for or were connected with Stokke Fabrikker. One of those who had enjoyed a very close relationship with Roar Hauge-Nilsen was Peter Opsvik, who in 1993 was responsible for approximately 90 % of Stokke Fabrikker's production portfolio. As far as Opsvik was concerned, Hauge-Nilsen had been his guarantor for ensuring that the company would continue to invest in its Balans products and the other furniture for movement and variation. The change in director created a certain amount of insecurity, but initially there was little reason for this. In 1993/94 no questions were being asked about the company's commitment to its Movement range, and the 1993 annual report reported that developments in the functional furniture segment were good.146 In the 1994 annual report the Board defined Stokke Fabrikker as “a highly profiled international supplier of furniture for movement and variation.”147 Product development work continued at a high tempo, and during this period several new versions of the Balans were launched. In 1994 a new children's chair model, the Sitti, was launched, although it never became the sales success hoped for. At the time of Hauge-Nilsen's resignation, there were no signs to indicate that a change of direction in models was imminent, but the process served to increase awareness of how dependent the company was on one designer. In 1995 the Managing Director of Stokke Fabrikker, Tor Norbye, stated that Peter Opsvik thus far had served as a sort of court purveyor for the company. “What we are now trying to do is to present ourselves as a slightly broader group to a slightly wider market.”148

The stabiliser

Within the Stokke group it was Stokke Fabrikker and the mattress section of Westnofa Industrier which were the prime movers and which made the greatest contributions. In 1995 the group's turnover amounted to NOK 497 million and its consolidated profits amounted to NOK 30 million. The turnover of Stokke Fabrikker amounted to NOK 267 million and it made a profit of NOK 22.7 million. Although

no direct entries appeared in the accounts, it was no longer a secret that Stokke Fabrikker's high profits were primarily due to the production and sale of the Trip Trapp chair. Tripp Trapp was also awarded the prestigious Klassikerprisen (Classics Prize) by the Norwegian Design Council during the annual Design Day in the autumn of 1995.

Most of the production of Tripp Trapp took place in Slovenia, but growth in both this and other product areas at Stokke Fabrikker, meant that the company's production plants in Tennfjord and Håhjem had become too small. In 1995 the company started planning to expand production capacity. One alternative had been to move all production from Håhjem to Tennfjord, but the final result involved expansion at both places. The expansion at Håhjem was necessitated both by general production increases and the switch from so-called line management to cell management. Cell management entailed production being divided into cells whereby employees were given increased responsibility for ensuring that production targets were achieved. Cell management was also used for meeting the requirements which resulted from constant increases in order-managed production. It was suitably flexible. Otherwise, emphasis was placed on the fact that it provided employees with more interesting and more varied working days, with a greater degree of job rotation than had previously been the case. The employees looked favourably on, and contributed towards, the change-over to cell production. For many years, Stokke Fabrikker had placed emphasis on involving and engaging the company's employees in shaping the working environment and the organisation of their working lives. Stokke Fabrikker was cited as role model by the national labour organisations.149

The company's reorganisation of its distribution system for furniture exports to Europe was also responsible for its decision to extend its building-related capacity at Håhjem. Up until 1997, Stokke had warehouses located in several places in Europe. After the expansion, its central warehouse for Europe would be located at Håhjem and orders would be dispatched from there as they were received.150 The new building at Håhjem was inaugurated in October 1997. Tor Norbye was brought in as the Managing Director of Stokke Fabrikker in an attempt to stabilise the organisation's personnel, and he was largely successful in this respect. Norbye came from a sales and marketing background and spent much of his time travelling around Europe in order to develop the company's marketing and sales apparatus there. The outer structure of the company's European sales network was more or less in place when Norbye was appointed, but the move from being a sales company to having a position on the market still required a lot of work. People with the right backgrounds needed to be recruited, new procedures were required and specific marketing work needed to become operational. Last, but not least, these threads needed to be connected to the group administration office at Håhjem.

When Norbye was appointed as Managing Director in the autumn of 1993 it was basically assumed that once he had settled in he would move to Ålesund so that he could develop a more stable relationship with the company's surrounding environment. However, this was not what happened. Norbye continued to live in the Oslo area where he was established with his wife and two small children. Frequent business trips and long-distance commuting resulted in Norbye being slightly on the peripheries of the Stokke environment at Håhjem and in Ålesund. This probably meant that Norbye was both a breath of fresh air and a transitional figure in the Stokke group. There were several in-house employment alternatives available for Stokke Fabrikker when Norbye was employed in 1993, and one of these involved appointing the group's Managing Director, Kjell Storeide, as the Managing Director of the subsidiary as well. However, since there had been conflict between Storeide and the former Managing Director, Hauge-Nilsen, this was not considered to be a good solution. In retrospect Kjell Storeide has expressed the following view: “We needed someone who had not been involved in the conflict, someone with good motivational skills and someone with good marketing experience in order to boost turnover.”152

Life-cycle analysis of the Stokke chair

Stokke was an industrial pioneer in the county of Møre and Romsdal according to life-cycle analyses of products. Since the middle of the 1980s Stokke had had customers who were particularly conscious about the environment, and in response to calls from retailers in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium, Stokke entered into a joint venture with Møreforskning (Møre Research) in 1996 so that a life-cycle furniture analysis could be performed. This analysis mapped how the materials and production processes used affected the internal and external environment. The Balans product Thatsit was used as a guinea pig in the project. This product's subcontractors were asked all sorts of questions about production conditions, questions that they had never been asked before. Speaking about the project to Sunnmørsposten, product developer Merete Hagen said that Stokke would make active use of this lifecycle furniture analysis in its marketing. Stokke's customers wanted guarantees that environmentally friendly production was behind the furniture they bought.151

Stokke on the Internet

Stokke was not the first furniture company to present itself on a website. Once it decided to take this step in 1996 the website it set up was carefully planned and professional. Just a short time after Stokke's website was launched, it was nominated as the best website of the day by “Regia of the Day” in New York.

Stokke's Roar Nord Jensen was responsible for creating the company's website. He had been working for Stokke for many years, starting in the Production Department in the 1970s. He returned to Stokke after acquiring graphics design qualifications.

During its first year Stokke's website contained 107,000 entries and had more than 15,000 hits. In 1997 Stokke's Information Manager, Dag Lausund, reported that one of the most popular entries was the one entitled “How to make a purchase.” Since Stokke did not sell goods on the Internet, this entry referred customers to the company's nearest sales outlet.

One challenge of online marketing is that it is difficult to channel information in order to ensure that it has maximum impact. The Internet is wide open to anyone with access to it, and Stokke received several enquiries from customers in the USA asking for more details about the company's products. This was considered to be distracting because Stokke was not focusing on making sales in the USA at that time.

Stokke's website was nevertheless regarded as being useful and cost-effective. Online marketing was far less expensive than advertising in the printed media, and its reach was wider. Of course, sometimes it was a bit too wide!.

Wynand Mens was a creative director for the Stokke Movement range from 1997. During his time as Director, Movement's head office was moved to the Netherlands, where Mens lived. After he resigned from his position the following year, the head office was moved back to Håhjem.

The Stokke School was set up in 1995 to provide marketing employees and retailers with the best possible insight into Stokke's product philosophy. Herleif Ulstein, who was involved in this initiative, says that the company had sales employees in Denmark and Norway who were recruited to the school. Under a two-year plan, they were unified and motivated to renew their efforts on behalf of the company which was providing people all over the world with unique chairs. Depicted here are students from the School during a visit to Peter Opsvik (on the left). Rune's wife is third from the right at the front, with a jumper over her shoulders.

The Japanese market showed an interest in Stokke's innovative furniture collection. In 1989 Stokke set up a joint venture with the Japanese Matsuya warehouse. Matsuya owned 90 % of the sales company Scandex, while Stokke had a 10 % stake. In November 1995, Kåre and Turid visited Japan in order to meet their important Japanese contacts. This photo was taken at the reception. In front from the left: Mr. Katsuhiko Furuya, President of Matsuya, Turid and Kåre Stokke, Mrs. Keikko Furuya. Behind, from the left: Wolfgang Krüssmann, Kathrine Norbye, Tor Norbye, Elsa Krüssmann and Mr. Shioga, Director of Matsuya.

Japanese sitting customs are different to West European customs. This challenge was met in different ways by the members of the Stokke delegation who visited the furniture exhibition in Tokyo in the autumn of 1995. From the left: Wolfgang and Elsa Krüssmann, Kåre and Turid Stokke.

When the President of Matsuya, Mr. Katsuhiko Furuya, visited Ålesund, he and his wife, Mrs. Keikko Furuya, were invited to Kåre and Turid's home. The Japanese returned their hospitality when they visited Japan during the autumn of 1995. The fact that the President of Matsuya opened up his home in this manner received some attention, because this is extremely unusual in Japan. However, it looks as though the guests and hosts got along well. From the left: Ellen Bjørneby, wife of the Ambassador, Jon Bjørneby, Turid and Kåre Stokke, Elsa Krüssmann and Mr. Furuya.

New change in management

Tor Norbye achieved good results in what he had defined as his areas of commitment. As regards Stokke Fabrikker's product philosophy he supported a continuation of the foundations which had been laid in 1986/87 with the focus on Peter Opsvik's furniture for movement and variation. In 1995 he made the following statement about what he perceived to be the company's strongest feature: “Our main and strongest feature is everyone's understanding of and belief in the importance of making a product that encourages the body to engage in movement and variation. This is something to which we are all deeply committed.”153 Another unique feature of Stokke which Norbye wanted to continue developing was the company's international relationships and the network which connected it to motivated retailers in many European towns.154 When he resigned in 1998, Stokke Fabrikker had a welldeveloped retailer network with 2000 sales outlets spread across Europe's most populated areas. Stokke had also gained a good foothold in Japan, but was still waiting to see what happened in the American market following the company's negative experiences there approximately ten years earlier.

In 1997 Stokke Fabrikker's business areas were split into two following a new strategy review which had been co-ordinated by the Swedish professor of economics, Jan Erik Vahlne. The company was divided into two divisions, furniture for children and furniture for movement and variation. We will come back to the motives which prompted this division in a subsequent chapter on group development. Here we will only describe one effect of the reorganisation which was carried out and resulted in the marketing activities of Division Movement being moved from Håhjem to Tilburg in the Netherlands. One of the main reasons for the move was that the Dutchman, Wynand Mens, was appointed as the Manager for the new Movement Division. He had previously been the Manager of Stokke's office in the Netherlands, and lived in the vicinity of Tilburg. Another important reason for moving the Movement base was that the sale of Movement products took place mainly in the company's export markets, with the Benelux countries and Germany as the core areas. Having the head office in the proximity of the company's most important customer groups was regarded as being future-oriented.

During the following year the Movement administration in Tilburg implemented a number of measures relating to the retailer network which were not advantageous. Many stable and dedicated retailers were cut out, and this resulted in a sharp decline in sales. Ambitious marketing projects were also started which proved to lack cost control. The group management saw that the Managing Director for Stokke Fabrikker had failed to take adequate steps regarding this situation. This resulted in the group's Managing Director, Kjell Storeide, and the Board of Stokke Fabrikker AS having to step in. Their first move was to dismiss Wynand Mens, and then at a Board meeting on 26 August 1998 a few other important moves were made: the resignation of Tor Norbye was accepted and Steinar Loe was brought in from his position as the Director of Westnofa in Åndalsnes and appointed as the new Managing Director of Stokke Fabrikker AS. In addition, the Board recommended to the company's management that the divisional office for Movement should be moved back from Tilburg to Håhjem. Finally, the Board requested that the re-profiling work started by Wynand Mens should be reconsidered.155

Manager development

Seen from the outside, the turnover of managers at Stokke Fabrikker might appear to be abnormally high. The Director of Stokke AB in Sweden was among those who reacted: “Our customers were wondering what on earth was going on. When new people arrived they asked: “How long are you going to stay?”156

Nevertheless, the personnel policy of the Stokke group was not affected by these rapid replacements, even on the management side. On the contrary, there was a large degree of stability in the highest positions. The trio consisting of Kjell Storeide, Steinar Loe and Roar Hauge-Nilsen came to the group in around 1977, and right up to the middle of the 1990s they were all still in leading positions. As we have mentioned on several occasions, Kåre Stokke stood for a management philosophy which was characterised by the transfer of responsibility. He was a competent headhunter and had a unique ability to find employees who fitted in with what at all times was Stokke's prevailing strategy. On the product side this could vary, but there was always stability in the fact that the company had the will to focus on innovative and creative solutions and leading products that encapsulated new trends. Those who wished to work with such products were usually knowledgeable and strong individualists, cf. our description of the company's retailer corps in Germany. Their work benefited from their willpower which was a strength and a recipe for success when their course matched that of the group, but it could be destructive when there was a difference in direction. For a few decades Stokke had been undergoing a relatively continuous reorganisation process which had demanded a high degree of adaptability on the part of employees and managers at different levels. Therefore, development of the organisation and its managers was a priority throughout the 1990s. As far as Kjell Storeide was concerned, management change involved new thinking, freedom of action and the ability to face the consequences of poor decisions: “One of the things that has made Stokke distinctive is its ability to change all the time. To go new ways, try new things. This involves a fairly high level of risk, with a fair number of mistakes being made at all levels. The problem is not making mistakes, but dealing with and correcting them and finding

solutions that allow you to move on. If this doesn't happen then management loses the confidence of both the owners and employees lower down in the organisation and changes consequently have to be made.”157

Stokke Fabrikker's former Managing Director, Tor Norbye, thought that the company's ability to find different types of people was one of its characteristic strengths: “If you take a look at the company's employees, you will find a colourful mixture, ranging from business intellectuals to creative 'madcaps'. So it is a strong unit that sometimes pulls in many directions, but it is generally organised in such a way that everyone is keen to promote our main concept.”158

The company's personnel policy was largely connected to its distinctive products, paving the way for new conceptual leaps rather than conventional solutions. It is not easy to say which came first: the hunt for creative, individual employees or the company's distinctive products? Perhaps the owner family's keen eye for original products with a commercial advantage was behind this.

However, original products and creative people are not enough to create a successful company unless the right conditions exist for good teamwork. It was recognition of this fact that was behind the systematic work on managerial and organisational development that was implemented by Stokke during the 1990s. Kjell Storeide justifies this work as follows: “We realised that it was not enough to employ young, clever people. They also needed to be provided with common leadership values and a conceptual system for communication, decision-making and management behaviour. Our first supporter was Knut Åsebø from Nordvest Forum. Through him I came into contact with Ingeborg Baustad and later on Åge Sørsveen. From around 1995, and to an increasing degree during the following years, they became advisors and supporters with respect to managerial and organisational development in the same way as that adopted by Jan Erik Vahlne, Kjell A. Nordstrøm and Nils Høegh-Krohn with respect to strategy, Peter Opsvik with respect to product development and SINTEF's Jan Ola Strandhagen with respect to production and logistics.”

Stokke's most important input factor was human capital, and the company thus placed top priority on personnel development and team-building. Talented people working together in a dynamic organisation can achieve great things. In an interview with Stokke's Internal Life magazine in 1997, Jan Erik Vahlne said: “There is a lot to be gained from freeing up human energy and creativity.”159 Another challenge faced by Stokke was encouraging people from different geographical areas and cultures to pull in the same direction. One of Baustad's and Sørsveen's most important contributions was to provide key Stokke employees with a common language and a common perception of the situations facing the company. This work made it easier for Stokke to overcome the demanding challenges presented to the company after the turn of the millennium.

Exit Vågå Bruk

Turnaround operation

Vågå Bruk joined the Stokke clan in 1965 as a result of expansive founder activity. Georg Stokke, who had transferred owner responsibility to his son, Kåre, when he became ill in 1964, returned when he had fully recovered from his illness and was given the opportunity to follow up some of his industrial entrepreneurship dreams. One of these dreams involved building a factory which could make traditional Norwegian furniture and which would be based in a municipality where there was good access to raw materials and which was hungry for new jobs. Vågå Bruk was the result.

Gradually, as the Stokke group intensified its search for its own image, its distinctiveness, Vågå Bruk became even more marginalised than before. Bjørn Gjerde, who had served as the company's Assistant Director since 1983, was not someone who advocated extremes in respect of definition of the company's image. However, he also realised that Vågå Bruk had became too peripheral in relation to Stokke's core values, despite constant efforts being made to vitalise and modernise the company's products by promoting simpler lines. For example, the Furumo and Troll series (1979 and 1981), both designed by Arnt Lande, added a new dimension to the Vågå collection due to their light, modern lines. The Troll-Ess reclining chair (1984) was clearly evocative of Stokke's other collections. This was probably the first rotating recliner to appear on the market with a pine chassis and side members. However, reclining chairs were no longer Stokke's main area of focus, so neither good sales results for Troll-Ess nor other features in the Troll series were able to strengthen the Stokke management's belief in the future of Vågå Bruk.

Bjørn Gjerde understood the owners' reasons for initially becoming involved in the production of pine furniture, i.e. their desire to have as much complementary production as possible in

Vågå Bruk only manufactured pine furniture, and its emphasis was on advancing traditional Norwegian crafts. However, this company was not afraid to try out new designs either, something which was illustrated by its Sekstett range of cupboards. Design: Fritz Johnsen.

This was probably the market's first rotating recliner with a pine chassis and side members. Troll-Ess was designed by Fritz Johnsen and was one item in the Troll range which also consisted of wall units, bureaux, plank beds and tables.

order to ensure a strong relationship with the retailer network and to make maximum use of the company's marketing and distribution network. But the price for acquiring such a position on the market was too high and Gjerde believed that this was the situation that applied to Vågå Bruk.160

Vågå Bruk's days under Stokke ownership were numbered in 1989 when Kjell Storeide returned to Stokke after his period with Sunnmørsbanken. Storeide undertook a full review of the group's various commitments and activities and it became clear that the time was ripe to deal resolutely with Vågå Bruk. The first step was for the owner of Stokke, Kåre Stokke, to acquire control of Vågå Bruk. Up until 1990 the Stokke group owned just 40 % of Vågå Bruk, and this company was not included in the accounts of the Stokke group.161 The remaining shares were owned by the municipality of Vågå and Georg Stokke. In 1990, Stokke Industri AS subscribed to NOK 800,000 in new shares in Vågå Bruk, thus increasing its ownership stake to 66.7 %.162 The following year, Stokke Industri increased its ownership stake to 100 % by buying out the other shareholders. In 1993 the plant section was floated off as a separate property company, to which the operating company paid rent. In August 1991 Stokke employed Tor Lillebostad as the new Managing Director of Vågå Bruk. He came from an equivalent position at Vatne Lenestolfabrikk, a company which had also been forced to implement tough reorganisation measures in order to turn around a negative trend. In his capacity as a trouble-shooter, Lillebostad dealt assertively with the situation at Vågå Bruk, and accompanied by his new Marketing Manager, Bertil Olaissen, he helped to inject new life into the company.

Employees at Det Norske Møbelsenter in Vestby on a visit to Vågå Bruk in June 1990. Depicted on the right is the Managing Director of Vågå, Åge Dalheim.

Vågå Bruk had undergone a series of expansions ever since it was first established in 1966.

With its Furumo dining room suite, Vågå Bruk was back on its original track, with solid pine furniture with a modern design.

Sale to Talgø

In order to strengthen attempts to create a solid basis for continued pine furniture operations, plans were drawn up for the acquisition of the pine furniture producer Krogenæs. Georg Stokke was behind this initiative. Initially, both Kjell Storeide and Kåre Stokke were willing to listen to Stokke senior's arguments in favour of large-scale operations in the pine furniture segment. It was hoped that a merger with Krogenæs, which had a strong, positive brand name in respect of traditional pine furniture, would place Vågå Bruk in a firm position in Norway's leading pine furniture constellation.

The third generation member of the Stokke family, Rune, had completely different views about this approach. He had limited confidence in the future prospects of the pine furniture market and thought that Stokke should in future limit its focus in this respect rather than become more deeply involved in a field which was on the peripheries of Stokke's core competence. Father and son had a discussion about this matter, and the son made it quite clear what the consequences for him would be if Stokke were to purchase Krogenæs. His message was understood and Stokke abandoned its move towards Krogenæs.

In 1993 Vågå Bruk's annual accounts showed an independent profit of NOK 700,000, the first time that the company had posted a profit for a long time.163 It was during this phase that the company made contact with Finn Talgø, the owner of the pine furniture producer Talgø in Todalen in Nordmøre. Talgø realised that his company could benefit by strengthening its position in what was to become its specialist field, and a contract was signed between Stokke and Talgø for the sale of Vågå Bruk with effect from 1 January 1994.

Finn Talgø succeeded in fulfilling Georg Stokke's vision, and Vågå Bruk became part of the largest pine furniture group in Norway. This resulted in a substantial increase in activities at the plant during the following years. During the period up until 1998, there was a multi-million krone increase in factory turnover, partly because Talgø's collection gained a foothold in several export markets.164

In 2001 the company suffered a fire. This, combined with a downturn in the market for pine furniture, resulted in a decision by Talgø to discontinue furniture production at Vågå in 2002.165 Despite persistent efforts on the part of the municipality, all efforts to recommence furniture production at the factories failed. These factories had been solely dedicated to the mass production of pine furniture, and the market for such did not improve.

Tennfjord has always made the curved sections for the Tripp Trapp chair. Depicted here is a series of sections heading towards the drying tunnel after being varnished. Application of adhesive to plywood sheets at Tennfjord Møbelfabrikk. The next phase in the production process involves lamination in a high frequency press.

Tennfjord Møbelfabrikk – a lamination specialist

Laminated wood had been a dominant type of material in Stokke's production processes ever since the 1980s. This is because laminated wood was eminently suitable for what would become Stokke's basic values, i.e. a commitment to products with a high design profile and a product philosophy incorporating the concept of movement. It was easier to mould laminated materials than ordinary wood. When lamination technology was introduced to the Norwegian furniture industry in the 1950s, designers acquired far greater design freedom than previously. It was also the elasticity and flexibility of laminated materials that encouraged designers like Peter Opsvik to develop furniture that could mould itself to the human body, and which was dynamic and movable, but nevertheless warm and inviting.

Tennfjord Møbelfabrikk was able to adapt itself to accommodate Stokke's sharp profile and product commitment. Lamination was defined as one of Stokke's core activities, and it was Tennfjord's objective to be the leading company in this sector in Norway.

The fact that Tennfjord Møbelfabrikk was able to specialise its operations in order to accommodate laminated deliveries to Stokke, also resulted in manufacturing profits for the company. Although Tennfjord suffered a fire at its plant and a 4-week shutdown in 1983, the company achieved substantially increased profits for the year, with its profit before year-end adjustments amounting to NOK 1 million, based on a turnover of NOK 11 million, i.e. more than the average profits being made by companies in the Stokke group at that time.166 80 % of Tennfjord's production volume consisted of laminated components for Stokke Fabrikker, most of which were intended for the Balans collection. The remaining 20 % consisted of sub-contracts for other furniture manufacturers. This success continued during the following year, but then levelled out slightly, in line with the downturn in demand for Balans products.

Ole Bolle was the Operations Manager and Managing Director of Møbelfabrikk AS up until 1988 when he retired. Lars Petter Ranheim was employed as the new Operations Manager of the laminating factory with effect from August 1988.

After the laminating factory at Tennfjord was expanded and modified in 1998 it became Norway's most modern manufacturer of laminates. The organisation of production was changed from line to cell production, exactly in line with the changes made at the Håhjem factory at the same time.167 This change had a great impact on the working environment at the factory, because the employees acquired a closer ownership relationship with their part of the production process.

Group Director, Kjell Storeide, on the right, impressed his colleagues by presenting a poem he had written himself in honour of Tennfjord Møbelfabrikk when the new building was inaugurated in November 1998. He is standing here in front of festive partygoers with, from the left, Construction Manager Odd Arne Rekdal, Project Manager Svein Parr and Plant Manager Dagmund Hildre.

The former Divisional Manager at Tennfjord, Ole Christian Drabløs, with operator Roar Sæheim and a pressed laminate that would eventually become a Balans chair.

A review in rhyme

Many people saw the Corporate Director, Kjell Storeide, in an unexpected new light at the opening of the new buildings at Tennfjord on 6 November 1998. His speech, in which he summed up major events and the history of the factory, was held in rhyme.

Ute på landet, nesten i det fri låg Tennfjord Møbel, Ole Bolle sitt snekkeri Laga treverk til Vatne og Stokke Måtte no finne på nokke!

Slik gjekk det fram til 1969 då Kåre Stokke kom forbi For Ole kom han som frå himmelen sendt og Kåre endte opp med 67 %

Ole Bolle var av det dyktige slaget og hadde rette handelaget til å utvikle sin gamle verkstad til nokke som vart ei kjernebedrift i Stokke

Samarbeide gjorde dei til han vart pensjonær og Stokke enda som eine-aksjonær Men går eg ikkje litt fort fram no? Eg må tilbake til nittensyttito

Det var året då Hove brann og Kåre og Ole fekk blod på tann I staden for ein gammaldags snekkerfabrikk skulle ein satse for fullt på lamineringsteknikk

I Stokke sin utradisjonelle møbelkolleksjon av artige figurar var det naudsynt med ein treverksproduksjon av dei merkelegaste krummelurar

Og etter kvart som lamineringsteknikken vart Tennfjord sitt særpreg vart kvadratmeter lagt til fabrikken i ulike byggesteg

Men ein skal ikkje misunne møbelgrannar eller gle seg over deira brannar For det som i 1972 vart Tennfjord sitt brød kunne i 1984 lett vorte fabrikken sin død Då gol den raude hanen noko som i Stokke-konsernet ikkje er vanen og i løpet av ei trist brann-natt var einaste vinninga redusert skatt!

Men Tennfjord let seg ikkje falle til fot med leiinga og tilsette sitt pågangsmot hadde dei knapt blitt kalde, gløra før ein hy fabrikk vaks opp i fjøra

Og framgangen han fortsetter Etter han Ole, så med han Lars Petter Stokke Fabrikker sin vekst gir ikkje store valet stadig meir treverk til Håhjem på 90-talet

Til ein dag det vert ein stor diskusjon Kvar skal ein legge framtidig produksjon? Skodje eller Haram, snipp, snapp, snute Skal tru om ikkje ei av kommunane vert ute?

Men ein skal også bere det ein seler og difor er det ikkje for å vere dum At vi har følgt rådet til Ole Brum og sagt ja takk til begge deler

I staden for å bygge kjempefabrikkar som inneheld dei mest ulike teknikkar vedgår vi gjerne at vi har mest tru på anlegg rundt ei teknologisk kjerne

Stokke Tennfjord skal i laminering vere «state of art» Med ein utviklings- og produksjonskompetanse som gir Stokke Håhjem den naudsynte fart til å meistre auka marknadskonkurranse

Det er fabrikken sin misjon og til det må vi bruke vår kreativitet for ein prislapp på nesten 35 million set klare krav til rentabilitet

Sjølv om framtida ikkje alltid let seg lede er i dag likevel mitt siste ord til Dagmund og tilsette i Tennfjord at fabrikken vil bli oss alle til glede!

Tennfjord Møbelfabrikk was modified and expanded in 1998. Depicted here are Dagmund Hildre and Project Manager Svein Parr showing off the new plant.

Vatne joins the Stokke family

Stokke furniture to Vatne

Over the course of just a few years, Vatne Lenestolfabrikk grew to occupy a sound position in the Norwegian furniture industry. It was respected by its colleagues for its consistent quality and valued by its customers who were seeking furniture with a sound, distinctive design. For many years the company had enjoyed excellent co-operation with the designer Fredrik Kayser who created timeless models that had won approval way beyond Norway's borders. The Chairman of the National Association of Furniture and Interior Producers in Oslo, Alf Midtbust, was a demanding industrial boss, but one who could also give praise when he thought that some of the producers deserved it. He always described Vatne Lenestolfabrikk's products in positive terms. The company made discerning and valuable contributions when Norwegian furniture was marketed at exhibitions both at home and abroad. One could always expect to see something new and promising on Vatne's stand.

It was the brothers Knut and Jostein Sæther who laid the foundations for the success of the Sunnmøre furniture industry following its establishment at Vatne in 1946. The company experienced healthy, controlled development over the next few decades and gradually acquired an extensive and rational production plant.

It was this plant in particular that caused Stokke's management to cast their eyes towards Vatne at the end of the 1980s. After moving to Håhjem in 1988 the company had struggled with space problems, even though the carpentry workshop at the old factory

Cooperation with the designer Fredrik Kayser played a part in building up Vatne Lenestolfabrikk's reputation as a quality furniture company. However, the brothers Knut and Jostein Sæther, who established the company, also contributed their own valuable designs. This Manhattan sofa was designed by Knut Sæther.

in Spjelkavik was still operational. The latter was only a transitional arrangement, because in Spjelkavik it was clear that the future lay in using the premises for retail businesses, and not in furniture production. During August 1989 the premises had to be cleared to make room for new commercial activities.168 There were no plans to expand the factory at Håhjem in order to make room for a woodworking and machinery division. The primary alternative was to undertake a major expansion in Tennfjord. Plans were drawn up for such expansion, but the management hesitated to implement them due to the high costs involved in such a project. When it emerged that the Sæther family was open to the idea of selling the operational part of Vatne Lenestolfabrikk, this was regarded as being a better solution. The new operating company, Vatne Møbler, rented the factory plant from the property company which remained in the ownership of the Sæther family. As far as Stokke was concerned there was also another advantage to be gained from this joint venture with Vatne. Although Stokke had been consolidating its collections, its Gavott and Menuett recliners and a couple of other models, including the King Star recliner, still remained. Gavott and Menuett were related to the products in Vatne's collection, and could therefore be included in Vatne's product portfolio without the company's distinctiveness being weakened. The other Stokke models, which went under the designation Stokke Comfort, were gradually phased out or handed over to other producers.169 In this way, the acquisition of Vatne formed part of the highly prioritised “branding” that Stokke had been pursuing with a substantial degree of consistency during the second half of the 1980s.

Here the takeover of Vatne is marked by a handshake between the Managing Director of Stokke Fabrikker, Roar Hauge-Nilsen, and Per Arne Sæther. Sæther continued as the Managing Director of Vatne for a while after the company was purchased. Photo: Roger Engvik (Sunnmørsposten 21 December 1988).

Vatne Lenestolfabrikk was acquired by Stokke in 1989.

Already the year after Stokke acquired Vatne it became clear that staffing levels would have to be cut in order to make the company profitable again. Downsizing was met with understanding by the employees, who are represented here by, from the left, Arna Skogvoll, Nelly Wahl and former Manager, Per Arne Sæther. (Sunnmørsposten 13.6.1990.)

Emergency aid during the Balkans conflict

Per Arne Sæther, son of one of the founders, Knut Sæther, was employed as the General Manager of the new Stokke-owned operating company that at the time of takeover had 68 employees representing 57 man-labour years.170 Initially production was divided into three parts: the largest part consisted of the Vatne collection of reclining chairs and sofas, plus the models that were brought in from Stokke's earlier collection. The company's third leg involved partial deliveries of wooden components for other units in the Stokke system.

The new operating company had a difficult start, for which there were several reasons. The prevailing economic conditions did not favour Vatne towards the end of the 1980s when income was falling. Furthermore, new factors had been introduced into the production process which were hard to incorporate into the flow. After weak financial results in 1990, a demanding turnaround operation was implemented which was commenced at the end of the year. Tore Lillebostad was hired in to serve as the company's new General Manager for a period. Lillebostad involved the employees in the turnaround process and they helped by implementing specific measures designed to turn around the negative trend and save jobs. In order to avoid anticipated dismissal, the employees offered to work half-an-hour less per day for one year. In addition to eliciting the involvement and motivation of the employees during the readjustment process, physical measures were also initiated in order to improve production flow.171

Tore Lillebostad received excellent support from both the employees and the group management for the measures which were implemented, and positive results started to emerge. However, the turnaround operation was tough and Vatne Lenestolfabrikk's situation was described as being serious in the Stokke group's 1990 annual report.172

In 1991 there was a further change of leadership at Vatne. Tore Lillebostad was required for another clean-up job, at Vågå Bruk, and the third generation member of the Stokke family, Rune, came in as the new General Manager. He came almost directly from MBA-studies at IESE in Barcelona. Prior to studying in Spain he had worked for four years in the corporate finance sector in Oslo. He got a demanding start to his career in the Stokke system. During his first week at Vatne, war broke out in Yugoslavia. Components for the Tripp Trapp chair were made in the northern part of Yugoslavia, and after hostilities commenced, Tripp Trapp deliveries ceased. This was critical for Stokke Fabrikker, because the Tripp Trapp chair was the one product which contributed most to the company's sales and earnings. Fortunately the company had a warehouse containing adequate supplies for three months of sales. The company also had a raw materials warehouse since Vatne had already been involved in contingency Tripp Trapp production. In other words, Vatne, which was Stokke Fabrikker's woodwork supplier, had three months during which to reorganise and increase production in order to produce the group's most important product. Rune Stokke remembers those dramatic days well: “Kjell Arne Reknes – who at that time was Plant Manager at Vatne – Egil Hanken and I worked very hard. There was machinery that needed to be installed, materials that needed to be obtained and not least people that needed to be recruited. Over the course of just a few days people were called back from holiday and the factory was running 24 hours a day. We trawled the industry in Sunnmøre for CNC operators – and tried to entice permanent employees to take on extra work in return for good pay.”173 During the autumn Vatne succeeded in boosting annual production capacity to 150,000 chairs, and this covered nearly all the demand. The unrest in Northern Yugoslavia settled down after a while, and Slovenia was established as an independent nation. Shortly afterwards, Stokke Fabrikker's Tripp Trapp supplier recommenced normal production operations.

Downsizing

The Vatne management, ably assisted by the company's employees, had seen Stokke Fabrikker through a critical phase. However, as far as Vatne itself was concerned, its vigorous production efforts in respect of Tripp Trapp components meant that the company's basic problems were not addressed as early as desired. Rune Stokke explains: “Our focus was somewhat diverted during my first few months as a result of this situation. We lost ground in respect of implementing necessary measures”.

The company's main challenge still concerned increasing sales and adjusting manpower and capacity to suit what was supposed to be the company's viable product range. It was observed that sales of some of Vatne's older models were declining and it took time to boost sales of new models. Stokke and Rune, who had initially supported the idea of taking over Vatne, reflected on the quality of the purchase they had made. Perhaps the company was declining more than they originally thought? Perhaps its brand name was not that strong in the market after all? The company management realised that they could not avoid making drastic reductions in Vatne's workforce, which was artificially high due to production and manning adjustments that had been made following the closure of its woodwork division in Moa in 1989. At that time a lot of the division's machinery and equipment had been transferred to Vatne, and this was accompanied by the employees, many of whom were highly skilled and had been with the company for many years, but not all of them were needed at Vatne. The former Moa employees were also given a contract, stipulating that they would retain the wages they had received at Stokke Fabrikker. Traditionally wages in the regional areas of Sunnmøre had been somewhat lower than in Ålesund. This resulted in substantial overall wage increases at

Rune Stokke was presented with great challenges when he took on the task of General Manager of Vatne Lenestolfabrikk in 1991. Rune believed in the company and went wholeheartedly in for achieving positive results for this quality-oriented company. Kristian Røvreit was the head employees' representative at Stokke Fabrikker when it acquired Vatne Lenestolfabrikk. He was a good conversation partner for Rune Stokke during the difficult processes that followed. Here Røvreit, front left, is presented with a medal for long and faithful service at Stokke in 1997. The others who were presented with medals were, front no. 2 from the left, John Nybø and Alfred Hofseth. Back left, the former Mayor of the municipality of Haram; Margrethe Tennfjord, Svein Vatnehol, Marit Solheimsnes, Per Vatnehol, Anfred Risjord, Hans Barstad and Kjell Arne Reknes.

Vatne. After a while, all Vatne employees moved up to a higher wage level. This coincided with the fact that the market for Vatne's home furniture collection was under pressure. One of the most important, and most difficult, challenges for Vatne Møbler, was therefore to adjust manning to the company's operating level and its ability to pay wages. Over a period of three years, from 1991 to 1994, the workforce was reduced from nearly 100 to 46 persons. During this process, which was undoubtedly experienced as painful for those who were affected, the employees' representative network at the company was a necessary partner. The head employees' representative at Stokke Fabrikker was Kristian Røvreit. He was an experienced negotiator, who showed both firmness and the necessary flexibility in the discussions which were held in connection with downsizing. Rune Stokke gives Røvreit much of the credit for the fact that the company came through the difficult reorganisation process in a dignified manner in spite of everything. This involved obtaining the right balance between necessary and tough prioritisation and the ability to act with compassion.

Kristian Røvreit experienced this integration of two working environments and corporate cultures as a long and demanding process. He was one of the employees who moved from Moa in 1989 and experienced the disintegration of a united and functioning working environment. One of the greatest challenges that he faced in his capacity as an employees' representative, was having to coordinate two different wage systems. At Stokke Fabrikker at Moa the employees had always been paid on a piecework basis. That had been the case at Vatne previously, when large numbers of the successful Falcon model, etc. were being manufactured. Gradually volumes decreased and a fixed wage was introduced at Vatne. Røvreit and his workmates were transferred to a factory where the real hourly wage was NOK 10 to NOK 15 lower than they were used to. Those employees who came from Stokke Fabrikker were not prepared to accept such a reduction in wages, so the merger of the two carpentry departments led to a more rapid rise in wages for the Vatne employees than they would otherwise have experienced. Tackling the problems associated with a surplus of employees was no less demanding. Kristian Røvreit remembers that the principles of group seniority, local seniority, expertise and relevant experience were weighed up and balanced against one another. Some of the company's over-capacity was resolved through natural wastage. Unfortunately they had to let some employees go in order to bring numbers down to the desired levels. Kristian Røvreit respected Rune Stokke for the way in which he tackled these difficult challenges in his capacity as a new company manager: “He was not frightened to get down on the floor and get his hands dirty. He was a mate and a good conversation partner for those of us who were in the thick of it.”

Merger with Møremøbler

Even though the acquisition of Vatne was not an immediate financial success, Stokke once again showed its strengths as a long-term

Inge Langlo is the nephew of furniture pioneer P.I. Langlo from Stranda. He invested a great deal of effort in promoting good design in the Norwegian furniture industry. From 1970 onwards, he and co-owner Olav Nerbøvik built up Møremøbler in Ørsta to become the country's leading contract furniture producer. Here he is together with one of Møremøbler models, the Sevilla chair, which represented Norwegian furniture design during the world exhibition in Seville in 1992. Designer: Svein Gusrud. In 1996 Vatne Lenestolfabrikk organised a retrospective exhibition at Vatne's factory premises to celebrate the company's 50th anniversary. Depicted here is Per Arne Sæther, right, standing next to one of the company's earlier models. To the left, the Office Manager at Vatne for a number of years, Martin Eidsvik and his wife, Solveig.

owner that was keen to explore different options in order to ensure growth and survival for one of its subsidiaries. Once again, Stokke was seeking possible joint venture partners. This time it was Møremøbler in Ørsta that emerged as being the best partner for utilising the resources inherent in the brand name of Vatne and its collection. It was thought that coordination of the two companies could result in a unit with the distribution and marketing power which neither of them could have achieved on their own. Vatne had one foot in the domestic furniture market and one in the contracts market, whereas Møremøbler was the country's leading supplier. Apart from the other benefits of a joint venture, Group Director Kjell Storeide and owner Kåre Stokke thought that the Vatne collection would be more successful in the contracts market if it was included in Møremøbler's distribution system and contact network.174

The industry had known for some time that the two owners of Møremøbler, Inge Langlo from Stranda and Olav Nerbøvik from Ørsta, were thinking about selling the company if they could find an attractive buyer. Both Langlo and Nerbøvik were familiar with the Stokke company. Both Stokke and Møremøbler (formerly Møre Lenestolfabrikk) had been involved in the export organisation Westnofa Ltd. from the start.

Inge Langlo says that he and Olav Nerbøvik had discussed before 1990 what would happen to Møremøbler after they left. Olav Nerbøvik, who was the older of the two, was approaching retirement age. Neither Nerbøvik nor Langlo had successors who wanted to take over the responsibility for operation of the plant. The first time that Inge Langlo publicised the fact that the owners of Møremøbler were wanting to sell the company, was at a seminar organised by Nordvestforum at Ulsteinvik in 1992, which was attended by both Kjell Storeide and Kåre Stokke. A few days after the seminar, Storeide called Langlo and indicated his interest in a joint venture with Møremøbler. Langlo then replied that he would need to discuss the matter with his partner. Nerbøvik was initially slightly reluctant about Stokke's initiative because he was more interested in other possibilities. Amongst other things they had been in contact with HovDokka and several Swedish and Danish companies to sound out the possibilities of a sale. Kåre Stokke was aware of their contact with possible foreign buyers, and this gave him and Stokke an extra incentive as they threw themselves into the fight for Møremøbler. He was realistic and realised that any foreign manufacturers would remove the most lucrative models from the company's collection and close production in Ørsta. As a Sunnmøre patriot he did not regard this as being an attractive option.

Nothing specific emerged from Møremøbler's contacts with foreign manufacturers, so in the end a meeting was held between the management of Stokke and the owners of Møremøbler just before Easter 1992. After this meeting Kjell Storeide took all the relevant documents relating to the overall situation at the Ørsta company to study over the Easter holidays. The parties met again just after Easter and it was relatively easy to reach an agreement

whereby Stokke would purchase 36 % of the shares in Møremøbler immediately with an option to purchase up to 100 % by 1 January 1994.

Co-ordination

Kjell Storeide's and Kåre Stokke's plan was that Vatne should be merged with Møremøbler in order to benefit from the economies of scale which could be achieved. The management found motivation in the accounts to start restructuring and rationalisation measures from Day 1. In 1991 the company had a deficit of NOK 3.3 million, compared to a deficit of NOK 4.5 million in 1990. It was heading inevitably towards a NOK 6 million deficit in 1992 as well. The two Stokke managers realised that something would have to be done – immediately.

Rune Stokke continued as the Managing Director of Vatne up until the end of 1994 when operations had almost returned to a state of balance. Once the merger had been completed, he moved to Oslo, but continued to work on sales and marketing for Møremøbler/Vatne from his base in the capital. In 1995 he took over Inge Langlo's position as the company's Marketing Director. Inge Langlo took up a new position as the Director for Business Development at the group administration office at Moa. The new manager for the contract furniture company at Ørsta was Steinar Gjertsen.

Profitability in respect of Vatne's products for the domestic market continued to be poor. However, the sales figures relating to products aimed at the contracts market showed a positive trend for the parties to the merger. There is reason to believe that the reputation enjoyed by Vatne among purchasers in the public arena contributed to the favourable developments experienced by Møremøbler during the 1990s.

Møremøbler at Gardermoen

After Inge Langlo and Olav Nerbøvik acquired Møremøbler in 1970 the company developed to become an undisputed leader in the contract furniture sector. Inge Langlo was the strategist, who with his contact-making abilities and nose for current trends, should be given most of the honour for the company's achievements. He and Nerbøvik had acquired loyal and interested employees who gradually became Norway's leading team in this product segment. These employees included Arild Bakke, who with his youthful vitality and capacity for work, helped the company to land many good contracts. Also Frode Sporsheim, Olav Haugen and Yvonne Haugen contributed their relevant expertise and contagious enthusiasm for marketing of the company's many exciting products. Per Arne Sæther (product development), Jan Kåre Tvinnereim (sales) and Rune Stokke all came from Vatne. They all helped to keep up the pressure and retain focus on innovative product design and open market communication. Managing Director Steinar Gjertsen held the reins and ensured that the various measures implemented remained within budgetary forecasts. Accompanied by an experienced and motivated production workforce, the people mentioned above contributed towards Møremøbler being able to deliver their chairs and tables to places where people congregated and passed through. They also contributed to Møremøbler obtaining attractive contracts in connection with the Olympic Games at Lillehammer in 1994. Another prestigious project was the delivery of furniture to the waiting areas in the spacious halls in the terminal building at the new airport at Gardermoen in 1997. This furniture was designed by the veteran designer Sven Ivar Dysthe. Dysthe remembers that initially he was not the most obvious candidate to carry out such a project. “Arild Bakke, who is now (2000) the company's Marketing Manager, said a few years ago to my wife, Trinelise, that Sven would now have to accept that greater use was being made of younger designers. During the summer holidays in the same year, Rune Stokke at Stokke Industri, which now owned Møremøbler, called and asked me to design some waiting area furniture for Gardermoen. He thought it could be based on my Kabel model. Our designs were submitted, and when we, in competition with six others, were awarded the contract, Arild called and opened the conversation by saying: “You are the youngest designer we have. Congratulations, we won the contract.”175

Rune Stokke adds: “The Sakron model was submitted first. I had heard in a roundabout way that it was not particularly favoured by the members of the jury, and was not likely to make the grade. Something had to be done. I called Dysthe at his holiday home in Sørlandet and asked him to start designing a less complicated model.” The result was the Gardist model.

Other major projects for Møremøbler included deliveries made to the new extended National Hospital in Oslo and the Vestfold Central Hospital, in addition to a range of cultural centres and cinemas around the country. The most profiled cinema project was without doubt the Panasonic IMAX Theatre at Aker Brygge. Product Manager Arild Bakke said that deliveries of chairs to this Oslo cinema in 1998 were worth NOK 2 million, but that the project was worth far more in marketing terms.176

Møremøbler/Fora Form received a prestigious order when the company was selected to furnish the waiting halls of the new main airport at Gardermoen. Sven Ivar Dysthe designed the Gardist model.

The Collage series, designed by Komplot Design, was launched in 1989. In 2000 this series was awarded the Klassikerpris (Classic Prize) by the Norwegian Design Council. At that time it was Møremøbler/Fora Form's most important commercial product and was responsible for 30 % of the company's turnover. This table series was followed by a similar stacking and conference chair model.

Totem. Design: Torstein Nilse (1984). The designer approached Inge Langlo at Møremøbler with a fan separated by small balls and asked whether he was willing to develop a chair with such a back. Langlo was interested and Totem showed that Norwegian furniture designers and producers can compete with the best in an international context, even in respect of visual expression.

Fora Form

A prioritised field for the management of Møremøbler up until 1997 was the building up of a new brand name and new profiling of the whole company. The company's change of name was not contingent on the fact that its product profile was changed. The foundations, which were laid during the days when Inge Langlo and Olav Nerbøvik were the company owners, continued to apply. Møremøbler had always had some core models, such as Laminette, which ensured a good flow of capital into the company. Good liquidity gave the company the capability to experiment and allowed it to take a chance on young, untried designers who through Møremøbler had their first, demanding meeting with industrial production logistics and rational market expectations.

The main reason why the company needed a new profile in 1997 was because of its export commitment. In 1996, Møremøbler withdrew from the export organisation Westnofa and started developing its own export base in collaboration with the rest of the Stokke group. Møremøbler was not an easy name to market abroad. The double “ø” was confusing for contacts in countries who were not familiar with this letter. Following an extensive brainstorming process, which involved the design agency Anisdahl, Sand & Partnere, the company's new name was launched with considerable panache at a function held on 29 August 1997 at the company's Oslo office. The new name of the furniture producer was to be Fora Form. It was designed to indicate that the company would be focusing on public spaces and meeting places and that the design of its furniture would continue to be exclusive.

At the same time as the new name was launched, Fora Form presented several new products. The company's contract furniture mentor, Inge Langlo, still sat on the company's product board and his hand and influence could still be perceived in the range of specialist designer furniture which was presented. However, there were a few logistical matters which had not been properly addressed in connection with the launch. The problem was that Fora Form was not ready to deliver the new products when they were launched and this resulted in a cooling off of customer interest. Rune Stokke has singled this out as one of the most important lessons he learned during his years at Møremøbler/Fora Form: when a product, or a product range, is launched, everything should be ready. There should be enough products in stock so that everything ordered at the launch can be ready for delivery the following week.177 1997 was an eventful year in many ways for the company now called Fora Form, and the year was looking good on the profit front as well. It was great to be able to post a profit of NOK 700,000 after several years of being in the red. As far as the group management was concerned, this served to confirm the validity of the coordination principle that was introduced at Vatne and Møremøbler in 1992. The best developments occurred in the domestic market, with 80 % of sales made to customers in Norway.178 The company reinforced its attempts to gain a stronger foothold in the international markets, especially Germany and Japan, but was

There were great festivities when the new name and new profile of the former Møremøbler were presented in Oslo in 1997. The name Fora Form was easier to use on the international market, and it showed that the company also wanted to be a supplier of specialist designer furniture for public places in the future. Rune Stokke and Fora Form Director Steinar Gjertsen officiated at the formal presentation ceremony. Key Stokke representatives during the presentation of Fora Form in 1997. From the left: Geir Løseth, Kjell Arne Reknes, Harald Brathaug, Nils HøeghKrohn, Kjell Storeide and Kåre Stokke.

initially forced to accept that its export hopes could not be fulfilled. In 1998 an Export Manager, Axel Holtermann, was appointed by Fora Form, in order to boost export work.179

One product about which the company's management had high expectations in 1997/98 was the Rav chair. It was designed by Fredrik Torsteinsen and was developed especially in connection with the refurbishment of the government's offices in 1997.180 This model attracted considerable interest from other customers on the contract market and was an excellent sales item for Fora Form over the next few years.

Westnofa Industrier

Westnofa Industrier at Åndalsnes was a Stokke subsidiary that had benefited well from long-term ownership and which had gained strong market positions for its foam plastics and mattresses. Westnofa was able to present good figures in 1991, primarily as a result of its mattress expansion. Its annual profit amounted to NOK 9 million based on a NOK 109 million turnover, compared to figures of NOK 3.4 million and NOK 95.7 million respectively the previous year.181

Mattresses for export

Mattress production was a space-intensive production process, which initially occurred at the main factory at Øran Øst. In the middle of the 1980s capacity problems led to production operations being moved to premises at Øran Vest. After a few years, this building also became too small, and in 1991 the factory's managers presented proposals to expand the premises. The Board wanted something that they believed would be a more future-oriented solution and cast its gaze on the empty bakelite factory that had been occupied by Dynoplast during the last few years. This was the option chosen, and Stokke joined forces with the municipality of Rauma to form a property company which took over the existing loans of the former bakelite factory. The building was modified to accommodate new operations and was ready for production in February 1993.182

Westnofa's mattress collection quickly became established as the leading mattress collection on the market in Norway. The company's mattress department also grew relatively quickly, from

Steinar Loe and Odd Slettaøyen with customers on Westnofa Industrier's stand at the Sjølyst exhibition in October 1990. In the background: Malvin Vegsund, who was a faithful representative of the Stokke group from the time he joined the company in 1968 and up until his retirement. Westnofa Industrier was awarded EMAS Certification in 1997, something that showed that the company took its environmental challenges seriously. Depicted here is Director Steinar Loe as he accepts the Certificate on behalf of the company's employees. The former Regional Director of the Confederation of Norwegian Business and Industry, Magne Skudal, is on the left of Loe. Otherwise, from the left: Kollbjørn Megård from the Environmental Division of the Office of the County Governor, Ola Fremo from the Møre and Romsdal branch of the Norwegian Society for the Conservation of Nature, Torbjørn Bruaset, the Mayor of Rauma, Atle Storås, Dovre Certification, Ove Søvik, Plant Manager, and Roger Grande.

making a modest contribution to the company's turnover at the beginning of the 1980s to becoming a dominant contributor ten years later. Of a total turnover of NOK 40 million in 1983/84, mattress sales were responsible for NOK 9 million. Odd Slettaøyen says that in 1998 the company's mattress budget accounted for NOK 157 million of its total budget of NOK 218 million. He confirmed that mattress production had progressed from being a secondary commitment to becoming a serious area of focus.183

In 1996, Westnofa Industrier was ready to branch out on the international market with the establishment of a sales office in Sweden.184 In 1997 three of Westnofa's 173 employees worked there. The plant management had high expectations about the company's foreign commitments and Director Steinar Loe told Åndalsnes Avis in December 1996 that he hoped that it would be possible to win new market shares in both Sweden and Denmark. In 1996 sales in Sweden and Denmark accounted for approximately 9 % of the company's total turnover. In 1997 the company attended the Copenhagen exhibition for the first time where most focus was placed on its flagship item, its adjustable electric bed, the Activ. The exhibition marked the first phase of an extensive marketing campaign that was conducted in Denmark and which entailed advertising in weekly magazines and on Danish TV. Activ was also offered as the main prize in several quiz programmes broadcast on Danish TV.185

The company's expectations relating to increased sales in Sweden and Denmark were realised, and in January 1998 it embarked on an export drive in Finland and Iceland. During this period Westnofa was at its peak in terms of its turnover, its earning ability and the size of its workforce. Growth had been considerable over a period of just 20 years: in 1981 the company's turnover amounted to NOK 20 million, while in 1997 it was NOK 198 million. In 1981 the company had 55 employees, while in 1997 it had 173, and it was the mattress division that accounted for the lion's share of this growth.186

Environmental beacon

Westnofa was an independent unit within the Stokke group, enjoying considerable freedom to stake out a course which its local management deemed to be best. As already mentioned, group control was strengthened after Kjell Storeide returned in 1989 and particularly after he took up the position of Group Managing Director in 1990, but Stokke's well-managed activities in Åndalsnes were not something that the group management initially felt a need to address. They were run in accordance with sound business principles involving continuous focus on product development, rationalisation measures and marketing work. This operational latitude was also felt and appreciated locally. Odd Slettaøyen formulated it thus: “We did not keep running to the owners to ask for their permission!” Despite this freedom, a corporate culture of loyalty to Stokke developed which permeated management thinking and attitudes. Some of these ideas were directed at the environmental image which the Stokke group was hoping to cultivate. By focusing on ergonomic furniture designed to promote correct body posture during the 1980s, Stokke had tapped into a dawning environmental awareness that was prevalent among broad

groups of purchasers, particularly on the Continent. Customers were becoming increasingly interested in the products that furniture was made from, and gradually also in how production was organised and how furniture companies dealt with the treatment of hazardous waste, etc. Westnofa's environmental image was put to the test because of the problem substances that were used in the production of foam plastics. The management of the company met these challenges with the implementation of a three-year plan designed to satisfy the requirements of the EU's environmental management system, EMAS. The company's environmental escalation plan was initiated in 1997 and had an ambitious programme, including the complete segregation of steel and other metals at source, the replacement of all solvent-based glue with water-based glue or hot-melt adhesives and a 50 % reduction in the waste resulting from the raw materials used in plastics production.187

Steinar Loe, who was involved in setting up this environmental project, handed over completion to the former Chief of Finance at Westnofa, Jørn Nes, when he took over from Tor Norbye as the Director of Stokke Fabrikker in August 1998.

The other Stokke companies, Stokke Fabrikker AS and Stokke Tennfjord, were also granted EMAS certification during 1997.188

Moa becomes a shopping centre

Just after Stokke Fabrikker completed its final major building phase at Moa in 1977/78 it looked for a while as though the company and its owners had taken on too much. The building project was more expensive than originally planned and it had been completely financed by loans. However, after just a few years the Stokke family started to realise that it might actually be a small gold mine, and this was not primarily because the plant was eminently suitable for furniture production, but because the area in which the plant was located was to be deregulated from being an agricultural and industrial area to becoming Sunnmøre's most expansive shopping centre.

Town versus countryside

Local historian Harald Grytten writes that the first offshoot of the commercial town of Moa developed during the 1900s. In 1917 the municipality of Ålesund purchased some land called Åsemyrane. This area consisted of rough grazing ground belonging to the farms of Åse, Furmyr and Nedregarden (later called Langelandgården). Under work schemes for the unemployed the area was cultivated and developed to become a farm which the municipality ran for several decades with the assistance of hired labour. Over the years, a series of plans were launched relating to possible uses of this area, e.g. airport, railway station, agricultural college, landfill site. Politicians and local government officials were quick to realise that the area might at some time be useful as a relief area for the city centre, e.g. as a residential area and for facilitating traffic flow in the area.189

The farm that was subsequently named Moa Farm remained intact for a long time, but in 1970 the politicians in Ålesund made a decision about how to use the area. It was then regulated for business and public purposes. The development area was located in its entirety to the north of the main road, extending from Spjelkavik primary school to Vingårdsskiftet. Stokke Fabrikker's plant was located to the south of the main road on land which was not initially included in the development plans.

The first public building to be erected was the Moa Health Centre. It opened in 1979 and contained a doctor's surgery, a senior citizens' centre, a pharmacy and a library. The next construction phase included a traffic terminal and shops. The bus station opened in October 1982 and the first shops in the centre, which was later named StorMoa, opened in May 1983.

Not everyone approved of the emergence of a new commercial centre on what had previously been green belt land. Protests were received from people with agricultural interests and from others who were concerned that children and young people would lose their football pitches and playgrounds. However, the most violent opposition was voiced by residents who were worried about the impact on shops in Ålesund's city centre. During the first stage of the Moa development, it was not easy to protest without being accused of indulging in pure selfishness. Up until the 1970s, extensive building activities had taken place in the area surrounding the former Moa Farm. At Åse, at Lerstad, in Breivika and elsewhere people were keen to have a variety of shops and other service institutions in their vicinity. The development of business and service enterprises at Moa therefore came in response to the changes in settlement patterns which occurred in the municipality of Ålesund, especially as a result of its merger with the municipality of Borgund, in 1968.

The shopping centre at Moa soon proved to be a success and it was clear that the shops in the area were attracting more shoppers than those who could walk to the centre! The Moa centre was one of several such projects which were developing on the

Aerial photo of Spjelkavik. In the middle of the photo is Stokke's new plant which was built in 1948. Just below is Spjelkavik Skofabrikk, where just a few decades later a large shopping centre would be developed.

outskirts of towns of all sizes throughout the country. These shopping centres all had one thing in common, i.e. they were located in the same building, thus enabling shoppers to walk from shop to shop without getting their feet wet, regardless of the weather. They were also designed to ensure that there was at least one shop offering products from each of the segments that consumers normally expected. Due to the fact that much focus was placed on the efficient use of time, the shopping centres could easily sell their argument about people being able to do all their shopping quickly and efficiently under one roof. The fact the customers would spend a lot of time on transport to and from centres was not something that was openly communicated. On the contrary, easy access and good parking facilities were yet another argument in favour of the shopping centres. They were located on the outskirts of city centres, and while city shops were suffering from a lack of car parks and long walking distances from any such parks, the centres were able to attract customers with offers of free parking in large indoor and outdoor car parks right on the premises.

The strong growth in trade at Moa and the equivalent decline in business in the centre of Ålesund centre during the early 1980s, were used as arguments against the expansion of shopping facilities at Moa. Traders in the city had good allies in political circles and several of them were active in local politics. In particular, the city traders were strongly represented in the Conservative Party, and this obviously affected the Municipal Council's subsequent discussion on the question of deregulation of the area to the south of the main road in order to accommodate commercial activities.

Attractive rental income

The first time that the rental of the buildings at Moa for other than industrial purposes was mentioned in Stokke's annual report was in 1984. It was then reported that several long-term leases had been entered into with banks and insurance companies which would increase the company's rental income considerably. In 1983 the rents received by the property company Stokke Industri AS amounted to NOK 2.7 million. In 1984 this income had increased to NOK 3.4 million, with NOK 1.4 million of this sum being paid to companies outside the group.190 The main tenant was still Stokke Fabrikker AS. In 1985 it was stated in the annual report that rental income had increased to NOK 3.7 million and that all unoccupied areas were being rented out to external interests.

In its rental practice, Stokke was obliged to observe the development regulations that applied to the area and which were different to those which applied to the area on the other side of the road, just fifty metres away. The area where Stokke Fabrikker was located was regulated for industrial and service purposes. Renting out premises for banking, insurance and office purposes was straightforward, but ordinary retail trade was not permitted. Until well into the 1980s the authorities thought that Moa at that time was big enough and that further expansion would be inopportune since it might upset the balance thought to be necessary between capacity in the city and at Moa.

During these years, Kåre Stokke spent much of his time on plans to rent out many of the buildings at Moa. He, and the Board of Stokke Industri AS, were aware of the potential income they could receive by renting out buildings to shops of various kinds. It was possible that the income from such activities might exceed the anticipated income generated by furniture production at the same premises. The alternative would then be to build up production capacity further away from the centre in an area less attractive than the lucrative area that Moa had become.

Slow administrative proceedings

Kåre Stokke and the Board worked on several fronts at the same time. They actively lobbied politicians and the municipal authorities in an attempt to bring about regulatory changes, and they sought to attract potential tenants who could take over much of the company's factory premises.

Establishing contact with potential tenants was quicker than gaining the support of the development authorities. In 1987 a contract was entered into with the wholesale company Joh. Johansson from Oslo relating to rental of the areas used by Stokke Fabrikker. The plan was then to move all woodworking operations to Tennfjord Møbelfabrikk, while the administration, upholstery and sewing departments were to be moved to a plant acquired by Stokke at Håhjem in the municipality of Skodje.

Kåre Stokke and the group management were playing for high stakes. The contract with the grocery wholesaler Joh. Johansson was based on the assumption that Stokke would ensure deregulation of the area. The fact that such a contract was entered into indicated that they were relatively certain that the matter would be resolved quickly. It was not that simple. It took a long time before the matter could be clarified and presented to the politicians on the Municipal Council for a decision. And when the case came up there was a majority of 32 to 28 in favour of rejecting the application for regulatory changes.191 Kåre Stokke remembers that the members of the traders' lobby in Ålesund were very active in the wings and they succeeded in gaining political support for their views, including the support of the Conservative faction. Kåre Stokke was himself a member of the Conservative Party, but he resigned from the party in protest against the fact that 11 out of 16 Conservative councillors voted against regulatory changes. Kåre Stokke clearly remembers the reactions of a former Board member of Stokke

The flag flying at full mast when the Moa Syd shopping centre was opened after many years of struggling to have the area deregulated for shopping and service purposes.

Fabrikker, Svein Tømmerdal (a lawyer), when Kåre told him that he had signed a contract with Joh. Johansson relating to renting out the plant for a grocery shop and other shops: “There's no way that will work out for you” Tømmerdal's statement indicated that there were strong forces at work trying to protect business interests in the city. For Kåre Stokke it was an unusual experience to meet opposition from a former Board member of his own company. As far as he and the other members of the management were concerned, this was a matter of justice. They referred to the fact that the property of other building owners in the area had been deregulated from industrial use to use for trade and service purposes in accordance with public approvals. They also thought that it was unfair that a random boundary had been set along a road to mark where groceries and other essential articles could be sold. As a Conservative, Kåre Stokke thought the demands of the market should be heard, and he was in no doubt that in this case the customers in the district wanted a larger shopping centre at Moa, and that this would in turn attract more customers to all the shops in the municipality of Ålesund. As he viewed it, the traders in Ålesund would not suffer from such a development, in fact quite the contrary.

Those responsible for the project within the Stokke group were both discouraged and surprised by the outcome of the case in the municipality of Ålesund. They had already devoted considerable resources to their plans, including the acquisition of a new plant at Håhjem, so turning back was not really an option. In August 1988 Stokke Fabrikker transferred its stitching, upholstery and cutting departments, as well as its warehouse and its entire administration department, to Håhjem. This occurred before any clarification had been received regarding future utilisation of the premises at Moa. In order to enable the company to move on, Joh. Johansson was released from its contract and Stokke turned instead to individual enterprises in the service industry. Service was a flexible concept and also included companies that sold (electronic equipment) and building materials. The first company in this category that Stokke rented out to was Elkjøp, followed by Jysk, Teppeland and Bolighuset – Kristian Westad.

Higher employment with shops

Spjelkavik Skofabrikk (a shoe factory) was on the same side of the main road as Stokke Fabrikker. After shoe production was discontinued, the owners started to develop their building into a shopping centre. Several traders from Ålesund joined in this project: Gullsmed Stamnæs (a goldsmiths), Arne Nilsen (a shoe retailer) and Anton Oskar Dale (a retailer). In 1972 they opened their shops in Moa Varehus. So not all Ålesund traders had turned their backs on Moa.

Around 1990 the Ekornes family took over the former shoe factory – and called the site MoaGaard. A grocery shop was opened there by Rema 1000. The MoaGaard site was also located outside the boundaries of the land that had been deregulated in 1970 for business purposes and which had the same planning status as the premises of Stokke Fabrikker. This move established a new practice and Stokke took advantage of it. Stokke's management contacted the Berg Jacobsen group in Molde, and they agreed to open a Rimi shop on the site that subsequently became known as Moa Syd. This move was followed by new shops selling different products: a flower shop, a sports shop, a watchmakers and a café. Gradually as time passed the municipal development plans had to be adapted to accommodate the actual reality of the situation. Kåre Stokke remembers that Ålesund's Chief Municipal Building Control Officer, Kjell Fjærtoft, made the adjustments that were necessary. In its annual report for 1989, Stokke Industri AS reported that the municipality of Ålesund had made a decision in principle regarding deregulation of the area for trade purposes.192

The municipality had therefore not taken the initiative in respect of developments at Moa. One could safely say that the path was staked out as events progressed and that the conditions for the development had been drawn up by the business interests involved! Transport and traffic issues were also a long-term challenge for those who were responsible for trading activities at Moa. Access to the buildings had not initially been designed to cope with the large volumes of traffic that suddenly appeared. During 1987 a roundabout was built to improve the difficult exit from the shopping centre, swimming pool and cinema located to the north of the main road. Later another roundabout was also built at the crossroads by the petrol station located to the west of Stokke's former factory premises.

The problems associated with these formal regulatory amendments meant that progress in renting out Stokke's remaining premises at Moa was slower than anticipated. Stokke Industri therefore missed out on the large rental revenues that the company was planning to spend on important reorganisation work elsewhere in the group. The acquisition of Vatne Lenestolfabrikk was one of the things which proved to be particularly demanding on group resources. In 1990 the Board of the property company was able to report that all of the 7,500 m2 main factory had been rented out to 10 different shops. In 1990–91 Stokke invested NOK 10.9 million on modifying premises so that they were ready to accept business employees and customers. In 1991 the newly-established shops were already employing more staff – 140 – than had ever been engaged in furniture production.193

While working on modification of the factory plant at Moa for trade purposes, Kåre Stokke had received excellent assistance from a firm of architects called ARCESS and Jakob Storlykken (an architect). After 1985, ARCESS was the firm used for the architectural work involved in connection with the factory expansions in Åndalsnes, Tennfjord and Ørsta.

Moa shoppingcentre – for enjoyment and benefit

During the following years Kåre Stokke and his children continued to follow up developments at the trade and service centre at Moa, even though they sold the former factory plant in two stages. The first stage was in 1996 when they sold 60 % of the shares in the property company owned by the wholesale company Giørtz AS. Giørtz sold half of its shares to the Berg Jacobsen group. After that, Stokke was left with a 25 % ownership stake in Moa Syd. Stokke's neighbour, a local landowner called Rolv Langeland, received a 15 % stake in return for transferring the plot of land between Statoil and Moa Syd to Stokke. The existing shopping centre was extended onto this land in 1999 with the addition of a 3-storey building incorporating several shops and an underground car park. Stokke was also involved in building a bridge between the shopping centres on each side of the road between Moa Syd and StorMoa. This bridge was completed in time for the Christmas shopping season in 2000. The building then looked more compact than previously, like an El Dorado for shopping enthusiasts from the whole of Sunnmøre, a magnet for the enjoyment and benefit of people living in the municipality of Ålesund.

Complaints from the traders in the city centre could still be heard, but with diminishing intensity. People were starting to realise that the two arenas, Moa and the city centre, complemented rather than threatened one another. This was the image presented by the Project Manager for the new development at Moa Syd, Lars Stendal, when the centre was extended in 1999: “It is now time that Ålesund looked upon itself as a regional trade centre, with Moa and the city centre forming a unit. Seen from this perspective, Moa is a power centre, and not an unpleasant competitor of the city centre.”194

Kåre Stokke felt that he had attained his objectives as regards the transformation project at Moa in 2003. By this time the former industrial area had been transformed into a place teeming with eager, adventurous shoppers from all over Sunnmøre. Accompanied by Kjell Storeide, Kåre sought out potential buyers for the shares in the property company which he and his family still controlled. They approached both Giørtz and the Berg Jacobsen group, but both declined the invitation. In the end the shares were sold to the Amfi chain and the Thon group which were about to build up a nationwide network of shopping centres, the so-called Amfisentrene. Lars Løseth from Surnadal was the Managing Director of the Amfi chain. Kåre Stokke rang him one day early in January 2003 and stated his business. After listening to him for a while, Løseth exclaimed: “This is the most interesting phone call I have had in a long time!” They agreed to meet at Moa later in the month – at 12 o'clock on 24 January, and Løseth turned up on the dot at midday. The two men got along very well and agreed to meet again in Oslo on 8 February. The last pieces in the puzzle fell into place when Amfi Eiendom held a Board meeting in Ålesund on 19 March the same year. In addition to a good cash settlement, Stokke received payment in the form of 50,000 shares in the Amfi company. The Stokke family retained these shares for two years. When they sold them they had doubled in value. “A great deal”, according to Kåre Stokke.

The meeting place

The shopping centre at Moa has been Sunnmøre's most expansive shopping centre ever since the first shops were opened in 1972, not least thanks to the contribution made by the Stokke group. This trading and service conglomerate has clearly been an attractive facility for local people. We are probably talking here not just about the calculated fulfilment of people's demands for cheap and fashionable goods, but also about additional values of a less material kind. The shopping centres at Moa have served as meeting places where people can gather, regardless of whether or not they need to go shopping. Pensioners go there to meet old friends – something that Stokke's founder Georg Stokke has been accustomed to doing for years – school children go there to swap the latest news with their friends, and mothers with small children from Sykkylven and Ørsta go there to meet other mothers with small children over a cup of coffee and a cake in one of the centre's cafés. And if you just happen to be in Ålesund on a Saturday, you might just as well stroll along the pedestrian precinct and soak up the atmosphere, and then go and sit on a bench by the harbour with a bag of prawns on your lap …

Not everyone is attracted by the rather unoriginal shop facades at Moa which they regard as being an expression of vulgar commercialism. One of these is the author Stephen J. Walton. When his book on the Americanisation of Europe during the post-war years was published in 2006, he made the following comment about the shopping centre at Moa: “The town planners have committed collective hara-kiri. The best architects in Europe came here and built a fantastic town, and then its roots start to rot because some idiots want to build Los Angeles in Spjelkavik. No, as a matter of fact, delete that – I actually like Los Angeles. I can't think of anything bad enough to compare it with.”195

Even though academics like Walton will still continue to bypass Moa on their way into the centre of Ålesund to experience the city's Jugend style of architecture, the Moa centres will still attract customers from far and wide because people enjoy being with other people – and because they appreciate being able to do their shopping without having to battle against changeable weather conditions.

For the last few years the dispute between those responsible for the shopping centres at Moa and the shops in the centre of Ålesund has abated somewhat. Most of them now realise that Moa and the city centre form a collective unit in a regional commercial centre. At present there are more people employed in commercial firms than there were furniture workers in former times.