Steelcase and West Elm Announce Plans to Partner
Leading Furniture Providers Team Up to Help Organizations Create Inspiring, High-Performance Workplaces
GRAND RAPIDS, MI (June 6, 2018) – Steelcase and West Elm today announce plans to combine their expertise to create new kinds of workplace solutions to support the changing preferences of people at work. The two companies are finalizing the details of this new relationship. Steelcase expects to offer a selection of West Elm furniture designed specifically for the workplace through its network of U.S. and Canadian dealers by the end of the year. This partnership builds upon the successful relationship West Elm established in 2015 with Designtex, a Steelcase company, which designs textiles and surface materials, and manufactures and distributes West Elm fabrics.
The two companies plan to design, manufacture and distribute new workplace solutions in West Elm’s signature modern aesthetic, giving businesses easy access to a more expansive array of choices, through the industry-leading Steelcase dealer network and West Elm contract furnishing dealers. This unique West Elm collection would complement an already extensive Steelcase portfolio, which includes a diverse range of options for the changing ways people are working today.
“Steelcase and West Elm share an ethos of improving the physical, cognitive and emotional wellbeing of people at work. Together we aspire to help organizations create inspiring, high-performance workplaces where people can be highly engaged and do their best work,” said Allan Smith, Vice President of global marketing for Steelcase.
“We are delighted to work with Steelcase to create spaces that enhance the total wellbeing of employees and support the varied needs of today’s worker,” said Cheryl Carpenter, Vice President at West Elm. “We are connected to our consumer every day and have a deep understanding of their preferences from lifestyle to workstyle. Together with Steelcase, we will create customer experiences that leverage our differentiated residential design, shared commitment to world class innovation, and Steelcase’s industry-leading workplace expertise.”
Since 2015, West Elm has committed to bringing its residential sensibility to the modern office space and creating contract-grade furnishings for this market. The brand has grown in large part due to its keen understanding of emerging workplace concepts and commitment to three key values that inform its designs: wellbeing, residential inspiration and choice.
Steelcase partners with a diverse network of thought leaders and organizations around the world. West Elm is the latest Steelcase partner in what is becoming the industry’s largest network of makers and creators of products for the workplace.
For more information on Steelcase and West Elm products for the workplace, visit www.steelcase.com/westelm.
About Steelcase Inc.
For over 105 years, Steelcase Inc. has helped create great experiences for the world’s leading organizations, across industries. We demonstrate this through our family of brands – including Steelcase®, Coalesse®, Designtex®, PolyVision®, AMQ™ and Turnstone®. Together, they offer a comprehensive portfolio of architecture, furniture and technology products and services designed to unlock human promise and support social, economic and environmental sustainability. We are globally accessible through a network of channels, including over 800 Steelcase dealer locations. Steelcase is a global, industry-leading and publicly traded company with fiscal 2018 revenue of $3.1 billion. www.steelcase.com
About West Elm
Headquartered in Brooklyn, NY since 2002, West Elm opened its first store in DUMBO, the neighborhood it still proudly calls home. With a mission of harnessing the power of design and human connection to enrich lives, everything West Elm does is designed to make an impact in everyday life, from creating unique, affordable designs for modern living and commitment to Fair Trade Certified, from LOCAL and handcrafted products to community-driven collaborations and events. The brand operates more than 100 retail stores as well as e-commerce websites in the United States, Australia, Canada and the UK, ships internationally to customers around the world, and has unaffiliated franchisees that operate stores in Mexico, Middle East, Philippines and South Korea. In addition to home furnishings retail, West Elm operates in the commercial furnishings industry and announced its expansion into the travel and hospitality industry with the launch of West Elm Hotels. West Elm publishes the blog Front+Main and is part of an active community on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter and YouTube. West Elm is a member of the Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) portfolio of brands.