Flexa opens new Virginia plant
By Jeff Linville -- Kids Today, 1/1/2007
Juvenile manufacturer Flexa Furniture opened a new 88,000-square-foot facility in Suffolk, Va., in December, giving it greater ability for assembly and finishing.
Local and state officials turned out for the grand opening, commending Flexa for investing $6 million into the city while domestic manufacturers are closing plants.
"How many companies can celebrate the 'insourcing' of jobs into America?" asked Peder Sorensen, president of Flexa Furniture, the U.S. furniture arm of Flexa Group that includes logging and bio-fuel businesses in Europe.
Its former distribution center a few miles away had only 34,000 square feet and about 20 employees. This location is big enough to do light assembly and finishing as well as distribution, allowing the company to add workers. Sorensen said he had already begun hiring new people in anticipation of the move and expects to be up to 50 employees soon.
The 9.5 acres in Suffolk Industrial Park has the room to add another 69,000 square feet to the building, which Flexa hopes to do within the next five years, said Claus Johnsen, U.S. production manager.
The U.S. makes up only about 5% of its total sales, and since this is such a big market, the company believes the percentage will grow.
While declining to give its sales figures, Flexa said it is the world's biggest youth bed manufacturer with 11,000 beds a week produced.
Established 1972, the company's products are sold at 3,500 retail outlets in more than 60 countries around the globe.
When he looks around the factory, Sorensen said he sees much more than steel and concrete. He sees maturation, focus and success for the business. He also feels the belief that the parent company has for his division."Sales are brisk," he said. "Stacks are full."
Founder Henning Lykke Jensen said when Flexa came to the U.S. in 2000 he wasn't happy with its location in the northeast. His younger son, Soren Lykke Jensen, scouted sites along the Atlantic coast and liked the Chesapeake Bay area, prompting the opening of the distribution center in Suffolk in 2002.
David Smith, deputy secretary of commerce and trade of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, presented a state flag to Sorensen and applauded the company for its investment in the Hampton Roads region.
Per Lykke Jensen, Flexa Group president, praised Sorensen for his performance since being named U.S. president in 2004.
Flexa plans to more than double its work force at its new plant in Suffolk, Va.
