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Hülsta-Werke Hüls GmbH & Co. KG is a German furniture manufacturer with its headquarters in Stadtlohn, Germany. The company name Hülsta ([ˈhylsta]) (written as hülsta, hülsta-werke) is derived from the name of the founder family Hüls and the company headquarters in Stadtlohn. It is a registered trademark .

The company was founded as a small furniture factory in Stadtlohn (Germany, North Rhine-Westphalia) in 1940 and it is still a family-owned company today situated at the same place. All the company's products are manufactured exclusively in west Münsterland, where the Hüls Company Group has built up a supply industry and delivers its products to furniture dealers all over the world. j Hülsta is a part of the Hüls Company Group, which also includes Rolf Benz (furniture), Ruf Betten (bed manufacturers) and Parador (flooring).

Production and Distribution

Under the brand names of hülsta and now! by hülsta the Hülsta-Werke design, produce and distribute furniture for every room in the home. The company supplies its Premium Dealers with its hülsta brand products, whilst now! by hülsta was designed for the "Young Living" market. Hülsta Brand furniture is sold by 300 dealers. There is a showroom space of around 6,000 m² at the company's headquarters in Stadtlohn, where the company products are on show. Some more product exhibitions are to be found in London, Moscow and Shanghai. The main export regions for the company are Europe and Asia (mainly China and India).

History

Alois Hüls opened a carpenter’s workshop with 10 employees in the Münsterland town of Stadtlohn (North-Rhine Westphalia) in 1940 and with it laid the foundations of the company. Karl Hüls, the son of Alois Hüls, joined the company in 1953. The Hüls-Möbelwerke specialised in the production of bedroom furniture. The brand name of hülsta was established in 1959. After studying to become a wood technician, Karl Hüls took over the management of the company in 1960. The hülsta brand was registered at the Munich Patent Office in 1961.

With its full-width doors in the “Intermat“ wardrobe system, Hülsta replaced the until then customary system of top and bottom wardrobe cabinets in 1962. The hülsta brand was copyrighted internationally in 1964. Hülsta opened a second factory in Heek (North-Rhine Westphalia, Münsterland). With its “Hülstamat“ product, Hülsta launched the first high bedroom wardrobe on the market in the form of an extendable system. Hülsta produced the first slatted base frames under the collective name of “Rumat“ in 1965. Hülsta then opened its third factory in Ottenstein (North-Rhine Westphalia) in 1967. With its “Allwand“ product, the company launched the first living room furniture range according to the endless assembly principle on the market with fronts of variable heights. At the same time, the assembly unit system was initiated with the “Universa“ living room range. Hülsta home factory moved to the Stadtlohn Industrial Estate at Wenningfeld in 1969. Hülsta launched a Youths’ Furniture range on the market in 1970. Alois Hüls died on 28 April 1970.

The first edition of the "Vorbildlich wohnen" furniture book appeared in 1975. The company formed a new training centre for sales personnel and fitters from furniture dealers at its headquarters in Stadtlohn in 1983.

According to a Stern magazine brand study, Hülsta was the best-known furniture brand in Germany in 1985 with a 58% level of recognition. In 1986 the company established its Home Office market segment. Karl Hüls was awarded the Bundesverdienstkreuz first-class, in 1987.

Ludwig Hüls, the third of four sons born to Gertrud and Karl Hüls, joined the Hülsta Works as its General Technical Director in 1993.

Under the name of „now! by hülsta“, Hülsta launched the first cash-and-carry brand furniture range on the market in 1994. The company was also involved as a co-sponsor of the ATP tennis tournament, the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, for the first time. According to a Stern magazine brand study, Hülsta achieved a recognition level of 49% in 1998.

Hülsta established its so-called "soft technology" for the automatic, low-noise closing of drawers and doors in the year 2000. Karl Hüls was awarded the Großes Verdienstkreuz of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2001 and died on 5 October that year . Hülsta enlarged its collection to include furniture for dining rooms with its collection of dining room tables and chairs in 2002. The Gerhart-Hauptmann-Straße in Stadtlohn was renamed "Karl-Hüls-Straße“ in 2003. Hülsta became the first and only furniture manufacturer to be awarded the "Premium Quality" seal for highest quality and perfect service by the Bavarian LGA in 2004“.

The Location Initiative "Germany – Country of Ideas" under the patronage of President of Germany Horst Köhler gave Hülsta the award of "Selected Site in 2007"“. The furniture manufacturer was one of 365 selected organisations, one for each day of the year, who were said to represent innovative strength and future sustainability in Germany.

In the course of a period of re-orientation Hülsta amalgamated some factories in 2008/2009 and, according to company sources, a part of its production was outsourced, including veneer manufacturing and cutting. During the course of this restructuring programme, some suppliers took on some of Hülsta’s own previous employees. A company-group owned veneer factory took over the work of several smaller suppliers.

An international advertising campaign was carried out in the print and radio media in 2010 to mark the 70th anniversary of the brand. The Hülsta Works are now managed by the third generation of the Hüls family. Ludwig Hüls is the Managing Director responsible for the technological sector of the company.

Marketing

Hülsta invests around 6% of its turnover (2009) in Marketing and Sales Promotions. The Marketing mixture consists of furniture books with a lifestyle oriented design, print media campaigns in the form of advertisements and supplements in the national and international press as well as websites. The company carried out two TV advertising campaigns in 2003 and 2006.

The core target group of the hülsta brand are potential buyers from the age of 40 years upwards who place value on long-lasting, timeless furniture in the medium to upper price categories. With its cash-and-carry units, now! by hülsta is primarily aimed at first home owners aged between 28 and 35 years. Both brands are marketed separately with their own individual campaigns.

Apart from this, the furniture manufacturer also organises planning events with its dealers. For example, at the company headquarters in Stadtlohn there is the so-called "Day of the Living Room", which is aimed both at dealers and end consumers.

Another feature of the marketing mixture are some sponsoring activities in the field of art, music and sport. According to a survey, Hülsta is the best-known brand furniture manufacturer in Europe (source: GfK, Nuremberg). On the German market its recognition level now lies at around 60% and as high as 80 % in the premium market segment (source Allensbach Institute).

Corporate Design

The Hülsta company brand logo consists of the name "hülsta" in black lettering on a white background and a stylised H in white on black background. For its “now! by hülsta” range, the name "now! by hülsta" is used in white lettering on a black background. The brand lettering is in minuscules, the range names from the conventional Hülsta collection are offset in majuscules (capitals).

Patents

Hülsta owns more than 220 national and international patents for inventions on the furniture market. These include, for example, a cushioned automatic closing bracket for drawers based on easy-running guide rails with so-called Quadro ball bearings, a device which Hülsta markets under the name of "hülsta-SoftFlow". In 2008 Hülsta registered a patent for a high-gloss lacquer surface that hardens in a matter of seconds under the effects of UV light. This lacquering technique known as EverGloss set the standard for the serviceability of high-gloss surfaces.

Awards

The Hülsta collection has been awarded the Blue Angel label and the "Premium Quality" seal by the Bavarian LGA. In the year 1982 eleven products were awarded a "good" mark by the Stiftung Warentest. Among some of their test winners were the All Flex base frame in 1999, the Children's and Youths’ desk Xpert ("very good" mark) in 2006 as well as the Top Point 4000 mattress in 2009.

Weblinks

• Hülsta-Werke
• Ümit Oktay Memili: Aufbau einer Luxusmarke in Japan: Praxisstudie: Hülsta Japan
• Carsten Dierig: Ansprüche der Käufer wachsen. Welt am Sonntag vom 23. September 2007.
• IHK Nordrhein-Westfalen: "Bilder des Erfolgs: innovativ und international: Wirtschaft im Münsterland." Ausstellungs-Flyer, Seite 2 (PDF)