FLEXA furniture adds playful touch to children's rooms
A shift in attitude towards children in the 1970s sparked the origins of award-winning Scandinavian children's furniture maker FLEXA. As children's bedrooms changed from a place purely for sleep into a place to study and play, FLEXA has evolved alongside into a full room supplier of children's furniture and accessories.
"That change in society, where children have their own space, appealed to our founders," says CEO Carsten Madsen. "Creating the right environment for children helps pave the way for better adults. At FLEXA, we design furniture to give children the best possible sleep and, therefore, the best possible learning or playing the next day."
FLEXA designs and manufactures beds, storage units, wall coverings, chairs, carpets and lighting that can accommodate children's evolving needs. Changing tables transform into dressers, baby beds into small sofas. FLEXA's Red Dot Design-awarded high chair has an adjustable seating height that a child can use from six months up to 12 years. The company also uses child-friendly materials such as solvent- and toxic-free lacquer and OEKO-TEX-certified textiles.
"We believe it is important to bring to parents the value that our products last longer," Madsen says.
FLEXA's latest line of products is designed for greater flexibility in customising children's rooms. The colourful FLEXA Play line enables parents to pick individual pieces to mix and match for a more personalised look.
FLEXA furniture is available in more than 30 company-owned brand stores and more than 500 furniture studios in Europe. The company was one of the first to bring European-produced children's furniture to China in 2001. Today, 105 stores in Asia carry FLEXA furniture - 80 of which are on the mainland.
The company is branching out into high-traffic department stores and shopping centres, and aims to increase its footprint in second- and third-tier cities in China through additional franchise partners. FLEXA supports franchisee partners with store concept design, stock selection, point-of-sale system and marketing capability.
"FLEXA has a fantastic foundation in Asia," Madsen says. "FLEXA and Asian consumers share the same values when it comes to what they seek to provide for children - good quality, safety and functionality."