Jensen Leisure expands presence at Chicago and Atlanta markets

Adds veteran production chief at Bolivia plant

-- Casual Living, 6/29/2009 8:05:00 AM

Bucking the economic downturn, Jensen Leisure Furniture is positioning itself for the coming recovery by opening two new permanent showrooms.

Atlanta Showroom

Jensen will open its newest showroom this month in a 1,750-sq.-ft. space on the 17th floor of the Merchandise Mart in Chicago. The Riverside, Calif.-based outdoor furniture company opened its first showroom in January at the Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market in the newly completed West Wing of Building Two. 

“The Altanta Gift Mart and the Chicago International Casual Furniture Market represent the two principle venues for outdoor furniture in the USA,” said Max Jensen, president and CEO. “We are building a sustainable business from the ground up and felt these two markets were ideal for presenting our Wood for a World of Difference line of premier FSC ipe garden furniture. We just want to be positioned at the top when things finally begin to turn around.”

Olafsson, left; Jensen, Right

Jensen also announced Hlodver Olafsson has joined Jensen Leisure Furniture as managing director of its manufacturing facility in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. With more than a decade of experience in product development and production management of high-end garden furniture as production manager at Gloster Furniture, Olafsson will now concentrate his efforts in assisting Jensen in creating a premier line of FSC ipe garden furniture for the U.S. and European markets.

“Classic wood design will always hold a strong position in the casual furniture market,” Olafsson said. “The incredible quality of our premier wood species, ipe, along with the key product attributes of design, durability and sustainability promise to position our new Jensen FSC collection as one of the market’s top wood collections.”

For more information about Jensen Leisure Furniture’s Wood For a World of Difference FSC Ipe collection, visit www.jensenleisurefurniture.com