Feting four decades of modern love
Nienkamper began as licensee but soon evolved
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Kelvin Browne, National Post
Published: Saturday, April 05, 2008
You can be talented and well-trained but that will not ensure success in the design business. Many factors -- most outside your control, such as the economy, the current style, public relations -- must align if you're going to make it. That said, a Canadian icon in the design world, Klaus Nienkamper, is celebrating 40 years of success in the furniture business. This kind of longevity is unusual in design-related enterprises.
"When we started out on King Street," Mr. Nienkamper says, in talking about his building at King Street East and Berkeley, "there was no one else around. Today, it's a design-focused area. It's nice that people like Italinteriors are across the street from us." The King Street store is now a retail operation managed by his son, Klaus Jr., and the manufacturing operation is in the suburbs. (It's not just a factory; it's a 120,000-square-foot environmentally friendly facility for the firm's 200 employees.)
The business has changed over the years, Mr. Nienkamper says, in that the knowledge and interest people have in contemporary design has exploded. His store was one of the few outposts of modern design when I was studying architecture in the 1970s. Hearing this, he laughs, acknowledging that you were either in the design business or born in Europe if you cared about what he was selling then. And now, modern has become mass market.
The story begins in 1968 when Klaus and Beatrix Nienkamper purchased 300 King St. East with Don Wallace, and restored the 1845 building as their first showroom.
In 1976, the Canadian government, with architect Arthur Erickson, commissioned Nienkamper to build the furniture for Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's office. In 1989, Mr. Erickson commissioned furniture from Nienkamper to outfit his new Canadian embassy in Washington.
In 1994, Nienkamper expanded its marketing and sales operation in the United States by joining the ICF group. In 1999, the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design held a Nienkamper 30-year retrospective.
The invitation to the anniversary party documents his tradition of staying contemporary by working with the leading talents of the moment.
For instance, in 2006, Nienkamper added designs by Karim Rashid, and collaborated with Daniel Libeskind to create the Spirit House chair for his addition to the Royal Ontario Museum in 2007. Prior to this, Nienkamper worked with Thomas Lamb, George Yabu and Glen Pushelberg, Mark Saffell and David Ritch, and Brigitte Shim and Howard Sutcliffe.
How has Mr. Nienkamper prospered all these years? Being flexible seems key, as does recognizing the need to change course. "I recall a turning point years ago," he says. "We were selling mostly European-manufactured furniture. A young couple ordered a sofa from Italy. By the time the sofa arrived, they were divorced. We knew we had to start manufacturing in Canada. We initially began as licences for European companies." In 1970, Peter and Robert Haussmann provided the first Swiss-designed pieces to be manufactured under licence in Canada. In 1974, Nienkamper began to manufacture for Knoll, with the relationship continuing until 1987.
The business has gone beyond our borders: "We sell about 85% outside of Canada," Mr. Nienkamper says. But how can anyone manufacture in Canada and be competitive? "You have to be productive, of course, but price sensitivity is not the only concern. Innovation is essential. For example, we're leaders in conference table design and manufacture. This is furniture that responds to how people work in an office today, including its adaptation to communication technology. There's a large market, as it's also the kind of product that works in educational facilities and libraries." In other words, being the cheapest doesn't have to be your only selling advantage if you're the leader in a field.
What's his secret of survival, especially during tough times? "We always believed in what we did. We still are enthusiastic about what we do."
I think he's being modest. Many designers believe in what they do but can't make a decent living. Architects typically don't get good commissions until they've done smaller jobs for decades, and many can't hang on that long. Perversely, the art world tends to not make people wait for success but gives it to them in their 20s -- and then defies them to be relevant 10 years later. Gain, then pain.
Whatever the design business, one's time in the sun can be brief, if it comes at all. What a rare amalgam of ability and good fortune to succeed in it for 40 years.