Daily News
From Home Furnishing Business
Ekornes Expands Morganton, NC Assembly Plant
November 5,
2020 by Laurie Northington in Business Strategy, Industry 
Ekornes, Inc. has announced a major capacity expansion at its Morganton, N.C. assembly plant (J.E. Ekornes USA) as an ongoing effort to increase the growth of North American business and reduce lead times to consumers.
“North America makes up the largest market for Ekornes’ global business in terms of revenue and sales potential,” says Peter Bjerregaard, president Ekornes, Inc. “Our Stressless business is thriving, and this expansion is a very positive display of the company’s dedication and support to our market, our retail partners and consumers here in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. We could not be more pleased about this expansion in North Carolina.”
The capacity expansion will occur in two phases. First and immediately Ekornes leased a new external warehouse in order to make room for increased production capacity. The new warehouse will bring an additional 15 or more jobs to the Morganton, NC facility and will increase capacity by mid-January, 2021 by 30 percent more seats per day.
“We are thrilled to be able to hire more local workers for our factory,” says Randy Tallent, vice president, J. E. Ekornes USA. “Not only is it good for the local economy but it will distinguish us from our competitors who only make or source products abroad.”
Phase two of the expansion will begin simultaneously and includes a 100,000 sq. ft. addition to the existing plant. Within twelve months the construction will be complete and that will increase capacity to over 70 percent more seats per day. In addition, Ekornes AS will hire 50 fulltime employees for various positions.
“Being able to produce more Stressless furniture here in the US will reduce lead times to our dealer partners and consumers,” says Bjerregaard. “We know consumers’ threshold for custom furniture wait time is no more than 4 weeks and really, it’s all about delivering the right furniture to the consumer when they want it,” says Bjerregaard. “These new expansions will give us the opportunity to add even more product lines to the capacity here in the USA. The opportunities are endless.”
Currently the Morganton operation produces all Stressless sofas sold in North America, including the popular motorized sofas, as well as Stressless dining chairs and ottomans and accessories.