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Pure lifestyle
KITCHENS: In the last two years, more kitchens have been sold in Denmark than ever before. The new kitchens signal a relaxed and elegant lifestyle, and Scandinavian design is spreading like wildfire around the globe
Danish kitchens have be come an export success. Each year a dozen or so Danish kitchen companies produce around 100,000 kitchens which find their way to every corner of the globe. It is the quality and the Nordic minimalist look which attract. A lot of care is put into the details, and the design of table tops, lights, fittings and sophisticated features of every possible – and sometimes seemingly impossible – kind have made these kitchens into the most soughtafter choices in modern interior design.
One of these kitchen companies, the fast growing Designa Køkken A/S, is opening a 800 m2 kitchen showroom in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. The shop is owned locally, but supplied directly from Designa’s factory in Kjellerup, Denmark.
“Regarding price we are at the low end in Europe, and in south east Asia we are a western and soughtafter brand,” says Henning Christensen, owner and director of Designa Køkken A/S.
Quality at a low price
Henning Christensen makes no secret of the fact that a Designa kitchen is budget priced. Nonetheless it is a kitchen which can easily compete on quality.
“I produce large batches for stock in contrast to most kitchen factories,” says Christensen. “The vast majority of European kitchen manufacturers produce to order and that compromises not only production price but also delivery times. We are able to supply kitchens at a few days notice, while most others have delivery times of up to 6 weeks. Our entire concept means that we can supply at prices 25–40% below our competitors.” Henning Christensen puts his hand on his heart when he talks of the quality differences between various kitchen brands.
“Strictly speaking there are no differences,” he says. “All manufacturers have the same semifinished components of chipboard supplied from the same factories. The same applies to the doors and fronts which also come from a handful of specialist factories. The competition parameters lie in design, marketing, logistics and price. And we have gained success because we do things more efficiently than most others, even down to the smallest detail.”
Gazelle company
The success of Designa Køkken A/S is reflected by the fact that for six years in succession, it has been named a gazelle company by Denmark’s largest business newspaper Børsen, and Dun & Bradstreet. Since Henning Christensen started as a oneman operation back in 1992, the company has grown to around 170 staff, generating revenues of DKK 300 million (approx. EUR 50 million).
http://www.designa.dk
This page forms part of the publication 'FOCUS DENMARK' as chapter 19 of 21
Version 1. 27-01-2006
Publication may be found at the address http://www.netpublikationer.dk/um/6248/index.htm
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