Copenhagen steps up youth
By Clint Engel -- Kids Today, 6/1/2006
Copenhagen, Denmark— With youth furniture sales growing right along with the booming economy here, organizers of the Copenhagen International Furniture Fair decided to put some extra emphasis on the category this year.
The early May show at Copenhagen's sprawling Bella Center dedicated a large space near the main exhibit entrance to "Cozy Kids," a display of youth furniture, accessories and gift lines from various manufacturers. Also showcased within that space were the entrees to a "Stimulating Children's Furniture" contest, ranging from a storybook-like chair to a blinking recliner to a bold red rocking chair/hideout tunnel.
For years, youth furniture has been a fairly secondary category for both Danish consumers and manufacturers, said Keld Korsager, managing director of the Assn. of Danish Furniture Inds., which co-organizes the furniture fair with Bella Center. The offerings typically were cheaper than those for other rooms in the home (because that's what consumers wanted) and less time and resources were spent on design.
But for the past three years or so, Denmark's economy has been improving. Danish consumers are better off and spending more money on everything — including furniture for their kids' rooms, Korsager said.
"That's the reason we've chosen to focus on that," he added. Not only are consumers spending more money on youth, they're more interested in the design and quality of children's furniture than they have been before.
The fair addressed this new interest by sponsoring the Stimulating Children's Furniture contest. Organizers invited five designers and design firms to submit their visions of what this would be — focusing not only on the price and functionality elements that are common in youth pieces, but also on design and quality. In addition, they wanted to see furniture that considered the "mental development and well being of children by appealing to and stimulating their creativity and desire to learn," they said.
The winner was something called Pim Pom by design firm GoPingPong. It was a piece of furniture or a toy animal of sorts, depending on the viewer's age, perspective and the way it was placed on the floor. Korsager demonstrated four or five ways on which children could sit and play on the piece, illustrating the way its shape encourages activity and imagination.
Another entry that received a lot of buyer attention was designer Charlotte Friis' My Story, a children's chair shaped like a thick storybook. With the turn of pages, the seat adjusts to different heights for kids ages 1 to 6. It featured storage for toys and other ways for a child to interact with the piece, including places for photos, drawings, pictures and fabrics.
The My Story chair, left, and the Pim Pom were big hits at the Copenhagen International Furniture Fair last month.
