Industry Spotlight: Hestra interiors

With craftsmanship and heart since the year 1900

On the company's website, you can read that Hestra Interiors is a family-owned company driven by the fourth generation of the Petersson family. What began as skilled furniture carpentry has, over more than 120 years, evolved into a very secure and knowledgeable collaborative partner when it comes to interior design for stores, hotels, and restaurants. Johan Petersson, CEO of Hestra Interiors, shares:

"We have a history spanning over more than a century, and this means, among other things, that as a company, we have navigated through two world wars, financial crises, and most recently, a pandemic and a European energy crisis. Of course, we are affected, but for us, it's nothing new, if you understand what I mean."

 

The in-house production is strengthened by local collaboration partners.

Hestra Interiors operates throughout northern Europe and has a presence in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland. When we ask about production, Johan explains that they have their own production but also close collaborations with skilled subcontractors like Swede-Wheel and many others. Many of these collaborations occur in the local vicinity, but Hestra Interiors also has limited production in Asia.

 

To further develop the reasoning and address the question of backsourcing

 "Even before the pandemic, we increased our investments in in-house manufacturing, and we've continued that trend, both in terms of wood and metal production. Regarding outsourced production, we prefer local partners. We've always produced most things locally in Småland, and we've increased that proportion even more in recent years. However, it always needs to be a good business deal, and it can be challenging for some subcontractors to face global competition – many manage, others don't. Our clear ambition is that, among similar suppliers, we choose locally manufactured products."

 

Anticipated challenges for interior manufacturers

Johan believes that the interior design industry will be characterized by continued consolidation, where some players will disappear or be acquired. "This provides opportunities for those of us who remain to increase our market share. In the near term, we will likely see reduced investment willingness from our customers due to economic conditions.

Trends tend to ebb and flow, but currently, the local/regional trend is so strong that we will likely have significantly reduced trade with Asia. I believe that production will be closer to consumption in the coming years. Partly due to political uncertainty and partly due to the environmental aspects of transporting goods long distances."

 

Johan Petersson
CEO, Hestra Interiors