In our dutch magazine officenieuws we regularly publish the 50 largest European office furniture manufacturers , based on the reports of the European FEMB. The European top 3 consists of Kinnarps, Steelcase , and Royal Ahrend or Nowy Styl. Kinnarps is the largest with a European turnover of about € 440 million. The American magazine woodworkingnetwork publishes the top 300 furniture companies in the USA every year.
We scanned their list and made a new one , containing only office furniture manufacturers, leaving the domestic furniture out. I should not be surprising this new list is topped by Steelcase, Herman Miller and Haworth. Their turnover is a stunning 6-7 times larger than European leader Kinnarps.
If we take a closer look at the top 25 in Europe compared to the top 25 in the USA, it’s striking that only the turnover of the 15 largest companies differ strongly. Kinnarps wouldn’t make it to the top 10 in the USA, but the turnover of number 16 in Europe is comparable to the turnover of the number 16 in the USA.
Does Europe have more mid-sized furniture companies? Is the USA market far more consolidated? Is growth easier in the USA because of language or less borders? We don’t know yet, but it’s a nice question for a new article.
For now, here’s the list of the 25 largest European and USA office furniture companies.
| Company in the USA | Turnover | Pos. | Turnover | Company in Europe |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steelcase | 2.754 | 1 | 422 | Kinnarps |
| Herman Miller | 2.039 | 2 | 368 | Steelcase SA |
| Haworth | 1.638 | 3 | 280 | Royal Ahrend |
| HNI Corp. * | 1.530 | 4 | 275 | Nowy Styl Group |
| La-Z-Boy Inc. | 1.185 | 5 | 186 | USM Holding AG |
| Knoll Inc. | 1.044 | 6 | 184 | Haworth Europe |
| Global Group | 900 | 7 | 173 | Sedus Stoll |
| Heritage Home** | 675 | 8 | 172 | Vitra Holding AG |
| KI | 585 | 9 | 161 | König + Neurath AG |
| Kimball international Inc | 572 | 10 | 141 | Lienhard Office Group AG |
| Teknion Corp. | 450 | 11 | 136 | Bene AG |
| Lozier Corp. | 450 | 12 | 133 | Martela OY |
| Flexsteel Industries | 450 | 13 | 128 | Interstuhl |
| OFS Brands | 278 | 14 | 128 | SB Seating |
| Virco | 180 | 15 | 127 | EFG Holding AB |
| AIS | 135 | 16 | 122 | Dauphin Office Interiors |
| Kewaunee | 116 | 17 | 115 | VDB Groep B.V. |
| Jasper Group | 113 | 18 | 114 | Senator International Ltd |
| CF Group | 90 | 19 | 113 | Majencia SA |
| Bush Furniture | 90 | 20 | 107 | Herman Miller Ltd |
| Trendway | 90 | 21 | 98 | Assmann Büromöbel |
| American Seating | 90 | 22 | 95 | Topstar GmbH |
| Izzy+ | 90 | 23 | 95 | Wilkhahn Group |
| Group Lacasse | 86 | 24 | 89 | Isku Interior OY |
| Tennsco | 77 | 25 | 83 | Palmberg Büroeinrichtungen |
Notes:
* HNI produces heards and office furniture. The turnover mentioned here is the total turnover of the company
**Heritage Home produces also domestic furniture / home furniture. The turnover above is the total turnover of the company
*** The mentioned USA turnovers are realised in 2016. The turnover of the European companies is the last know, and is not always from 2016
**** All turnovers in million euro – conversion rate : 1$ = 0,9€
***** The Femb had recalculated the turnover of the European companies to sales on the European market only. Export outside the EU is not considered in the mentioned turnovers.
There are also small companies out there that offer good quality furnitures. I take for example Figueroa’s Fine Custom Furniture, http://figueroasfcf.com/
Thank you for this interesting article.
Where I work we do commercial furniture but more the retail stores, for the beverage brands, and not intended for the regular consumer.
http://www.graphtec.ro