Sustainable businesspractices have become atrendy topic of discussionamong outdoor-furnituremakers in recent years,but for Hlodver Olafsson,they are the foundationupon which his companyis built.

Olafsson is the general manager ofJensen Leisure Furniture (Henrico,Virginia), an outdoor-furniture man-ufacturer that crafts its portfolio ofdining sets, deep seating groups, andoccasional pieces from two SouthAmerican hardwoods: ipê and roble.

Jensen uses only wood fromforests certified by the ForestStewardship Council, a nonprofitorganization that sets the interna-tional standards for responsibleforestry. It’s that staunch commit-ment to sustainability that not onlymakes Jensen a unique player in thecasual-furniture industry, but alsogives Olafsson a sense of purposethat goes beyond sales.

Olafsson, a native of Iceland whoworked for Gloster Furniture for 14years before coming to Jensen, says,“I would say the most important partof our story is where we come fromand how we do business. This issomething we’re very proud to bedoing, and we hope we can continueto do for years.”

Jensen will undoubtedly succeed,if business progresses as it has been.The company, which was formed inlate 2008, is on track to record 11%to 12% sales growth over last year’s,according to Janet Wansor, vice pres-ident of sales and marketing; sheadds that Jensen has diversified itsclient base this year.

“Every year we’ve been in businesssince we started, we’ve had growth,”she says. “If we’re talking about newdistribution, we’re growing in a vari-ety of markets such as indoor-furni-ture stores, and we’re bringing in

more contract business and land-scape architects.”

Ipê wood is known primarily forits high density; it’s so dense, in fact,that it doesn’t float. It also resistsflames much longer than softerwoods can. It’s very durable, makingit a more popular material not justamong specialty casual retailers, butalso among upscale builders and inte-rior designers.

“Ipê: There’s nothing else like itout there,” Olafsson says. “It’s a differ-ent color, and it’s different from any-thing else in wood furniture. In themarket, there’s no one else doing this.”

The industry is taking notice.Now, more than five years since itopened, Jensen has arrived at thepoint where its customers arebecoming its biggest advocates.

“I’ve found that many new orpotential retailers come to us

through word of mouth,” Wansorsays. “Long-standing retailers sharewith others about our being theirmain wood line. We’ve established alot of really good relationships, andword of mouth from one existingretailer (bringing in a new retailer,to show our line for us) is oftenwhat happens.”

In addition to retailer recom-mendations, accolades are alsostarting to accumulate. At the2010 Chicago InternationalCasual Furniture & AccessoriesMarket™, Jensen received theLillian B. Winchester Best ofShow Award for its Topaz stack-ing sling chair (designed by Ediand Paolo Ciani). Then, in both2011 and 2013, the companysnagged the International CasualFurnishings Association (ICFA)Manufacturer Leadership Award

in the wood casual cat-egory—recognitionthat serves as valida-tion of the design qual-ity that Jensen is bring-ing to market.

Among Jensen’s ipêlines, the Opal collec-tion offers a transitionalaesthetic, while theTopaz collection wasdesigned for those withcontemporary palettes.In roble, the Argentocollection’s weathered-

gray finish is its distinguishing fea-ture, providing an elegant contrastwith darker surroundings.

At this year’s ICFA PreviewShow™, Jensen debuted a new robleline called Tivoli—a contemporarycollection that was designed with themillennial customer in mind. Thecollection includes round, rectangu-lar, and square dining options, as wellas coffee tables, benches, and achaise. Olafsson described the reac-tion from customers at the show asfantastic, with Wansor noting that ifthe line performs well in the market-place, Jensen would consider addingdeep seating to the collection.

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SUSTAINING SUCCESSA commitment to an environmental cause spurs growth at Jensen Leisure Furniture. by JESSE BURKHART

Top: The Argento lounge group

Bottom: The Topaz stacking oval extensiongroup

Wansor reports that Jensen plans toexpand its selection of accent pieces.Citing their increasing popularityamong both specialty retailers andlandscape architects, she says that morebenches, rockers, and Adirondackchairs are in the works.

Jensen was formed when Australia’sJensen Jarrah (headed by Max Jensen)and Bolivia’s Roda Group joined forcesin late 2008. The partnership was bornwhen Jensen, whose company had soldfurniture (made of Australian jarraheucalyptus wood) in the United Statesfor more than 17 years, was introducedto the Roda family, which had been inthe lumber/furniture business in Boliviafor more than 20 years (selling woodenfurniture in the European market).

As using jarrah timber becameincreasingly difficult and the cost oflabor in Australia began to rise, Jensensaw an opportunity to partner with theRoda Group, which had access toBolivian forestry and had ambitions ofbringing its product to the UnitedStates—a sales territory that Jensenknew well. The union, as evidenced

today, was a mutually beneficial one.Olafsson, who was installed as gen-

eral manager once the Roda Groupacquired Jensen’s share in the com-bined company (in spring 2012), isquick to credit the Roda Group for thecompany philosophy that prevailstoday. “Sustainable forestry is some-thing the Roda Group had alreadyestablished, long before Jensen,” hesays. “It already saw the opportunity tohelp the environment.”

Now, with increasing demand for itsproduct, Jensen has begun to stream-line operations. In addition to operat-ing from a public warehouse inCalifornia, the company recentlyopened its own warehouse inRichmond, Virginia, which has afford-ed it more flexibility.

Olafsson says, “By having your ownwarehouse, you can do so many thingsbetter with customer service—fixingproblems and shipping your products.It’s definitely something that we need-ed to do, and I think we can all seethe benefits.”

One notable benefit is that having

the new warehouse has improvedJensen’s product-development process.During the company’s annual meetingof its sales-representative council, heldin January, new-product prototypes arebrought into the warehouse, where theycan be discussed. The warehouse alsoserves as a venue in which additionalproduct testing can be performed. Suchliberties, Wansor says, are not affordedat public warehouses. Most important,the warehouse has simplified the logis-tics of filling orders and improvingservice upon delivery.

“We’re recognized for our quickshipping and our high standard of cus-tomer service,” Wansor says. “That’s

important to the stores that are sell-ing—that they can depend on us forquick shipments and quick resolutionof any issues.”

Indeed, Jensen intends to stay trueto its roots in order to sustain itsmomentum. “We have established our-selves as being a wood company, and wewant to be strong in that area, so we’realways looking out for what that marketneeds,” Olafsson says. “We listen to ourcustomers and representatives in orderto learn what we should be developing.Our goal is to develop, with those twowood species—roble and ipê—newcollections, going forward. I think we’recovering the market quite well.”

50 Patio & Hearth Products Report September/October 2014

w w w . j e n s e n l e i s u r e f u r n i t u r e . c o m Tivoli Rectangular Dining Group

Introducing the new Tivoli

Collection–crafted from 100% FSC® certified Roble

heartwood.

Circle Reader Service No. 50

CORPORATE PROFILE

The Argento square group