Bolia

About

Bolia is a Danish design company that develops and sells furniture, lighting and home textiles for residential and commercial interiors. It was established in 2000, and its international headquarters are in Aarhus, Denmark, in historic buildings dating back to 1862. The company trades as BOLIA International A/S and is registered at Værkmestergade 11 in Aarhus C under CVR number 25451996. Bolia has been part of Lars Larsen Group since 2001, the year the Danish group's own timeline records an investment in the company and its business-area page gives as the year of acquisition. The group lists Bolia among its business areas and names Lars Lyse Hansen as chief executive; Bolia's own chief executive page states that its chief executive has led the company's creative direction and international expansion since 2005. Lars Larsen Group traces its origins to the first JYSK store, opened in Aarhus in 1979 by Lars Larsen. Neither company's site names an individual founder of Bolia, and neither publishes the size of the group's stake. Bolia does not operate its own factories. It develops the collection itself and has the designs produced by outside manufacturers, stating that its furniture is made by craftspeople in Europe and that 88 per cent of its designs are produced there. Furniture is made to order rather than held in stock, and buyers configure pieces, including sofa size and shape, fabrics and leathers, before production begins. The company works with more than 50 designers from 19 countries, ranging from established studios to newer practices, and describes its design position as New Scandinavian Design. Since 2007 it has run the Bolia Design Awards, an annual open competition for designers, with entries considered for inclusion in the collection and participating designers paid a royalty on sales. Products that began as competition entries include the Latch coffee table by Dazingfeelsgood and the Bronco vase by Fabio Vogel, both from 2017, and the Zen rug by Emily Broom from 2020. The range covers sofas and modular seating, dining and occasional furniture, storage, accessories, rugs and cushions, lamps and an outdoor collection. Bolia states a ten-year warranty on every design in the collection and supplies care products, care guides and replaceable spare parts; sofa covers are removable and can be changed. Bolia publishes the standards its products are tested and certified against. It states that it uses only FSC-certified wood along with other controlled materials, that it is a member of FSC Denmark, and that all its fabrics, rugs and its Soft Collection carry OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100 certification. Its rugs carry the Care & Fair label, and its manufacturers work to the amfori BSCI Code of Conduct, with production sites monitored through third-party assessments. The EU Ecolabel applies to specific products rather than the whole range, covering the Seed garden chairs and the Vega storage series. The company further reports that 65 per cent of its designs have been tested to and passed EN norms for strength, durability and stability and 4 per cent to BIFMA norms, that designs containing MDF and plywood are tested for compliance with TSCA Title VI, and that down and feathers are processed to EN 12935. Distribution runs largely through Bolia's own retail network. The company operates its own concept stores, stating nearly 100 stores in 13 countries, alongside online shops in around 30 countries and more than 600 retailers in over 50 countries; its parent group describes more than 90 concept stores across European markets plus stores in Australia and Singapore. Bolia states that it began in 2000 by selling its full collection through its website alongside physical showrooms, and that in 2005 it stopped selling generic products and started designing and developing every piece itself. Alongside the consumer business, Bolia runs a professional arm aimed at contract projects. It publishes a professional collection for office, hospital and education settings created with the workplace furniture manufacturer Steelcase, which carries a selection of Bolia sofas, armchairs, chairs and tables together with Steelcase x BOLIA items available only through Steelcase. It also presents hospitality specifications covering lounge and lobby areas, hall and wardrobe, guest rooms and suites, restaurants, restrooms and meeting rooms, and handles contract sales through a dedicated wholesale contact.