From the apartment to the continent – the story of Beslag Design

From Köpmansgatan to all of Europe

Beslag Design was founded in 1972 in Båstad, then as a family business in an apartment on Köpmansgatan in Båstad. The former boys' room was an office and the warehouse was located in the basement two flights down. Stig Bergström started the business, his sons Hans and Björn continued the operations, and today the grandchildren Karl and Jonatan are active in the company. Rillan, one of the very first knobs they developed, is still in the assortment – a small but telling detail about a company that does not replace what works just for the sake of it.

"This company has built itself step by step, all the way from an apartment in Båstad, and the most important strength over the years has always been knowing who we want to be – and just as importantly, who we do not want to be. It sounds simple, but in an industry that is constantly changing, it is actually the hardest of all," Pontus explains.

The step into the kitchen industry came early in the company's history and became crucial for Beslag Design's continued journey. It gave the company a position in the part of the home where details actually matter: at the kitchen design, in the meeting with the kitchen seller, in the moment where material choices and design language need to land. That insight has shaped much of how Beslag Design thinks about its business. The product almost always belongs to something larger and therefore must be available right where the decision is made.

The process around e-commerce started in 2015 and was anything but obvious at that time. Many B2B companies in the industry viewed direct sales to consumers with skepticism, sometimes even as a threat to their own reseller relationships. Nevertheless, Beslag Design dared to launch Beslag Online first in Denmark in 2016, followed by Norway and the UK, and then Sweden in 2019. During the same period, Beslag Design continued to expand both geographically and in terms of products, and the new premises were built on Inre kustvägen, where Beslag Design is located today. The digital aspect has since become an integrated part of the business, and the next step is a shared platform in Litium that will gather the entire range and create a modern shopping experience for both resellers and consumers.

"When we started e-commerce, there was very little sales. We learned quickly and realized that it wasn't about choosing between B2B and B2C – it was about being available. Our cornerstone in the entire business model is that we need to be where the products are sold, regardless of the channel," says Pontus.

Today, Beslag Design has a turnover of nearly 300 million kronor, of which e-commerce under the brand Beslag Online accounts for around 75–80 million. Sales occur in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, the Baltics, and England on the B2B side, while e-commerce has also gone live in Germany, France, and the Netherlands. Norway

From wholesaler to designer

Perhaps the most important shift in Beslag Design's history has occurred over the past decade, and it is less about numbers and more about identity. The company has transitioned from primarily being a wholesaler of European products to shaping a significant part of its own range. Today, around half of the products are developed in-house, recently gathered under the concept name Beslag Design Signatures.

"We have one leg where we develop completely our own products and one leg where we work with strong partners. One does not exclude the other – on the contrary. By designing ourselves, we build a clear identity and gain control over quality and expression. At the same time, the partnerships give us access to technical expertise that we could not have built up on our own. It is the combination that allows us to offer a complete solution for the entire home," says Pontus.

The process behind a new product often begins with observation rather than with a blank sketchbook. Trade shows, interior magazines, and actual homes. A product council gathers around early ideas where designer Kristian Gunnemo first sketches and then prints the shapes in 3D to be able to hold them in hand and feel how they actually feel. From there, it moves on to material choices and color palette. It takes about eight months before a new product is ready to meet the market.

At the same time, there is a faster route. E-commerce acts as a test lab where form and color can be tested in real conditions, with real data and real customers. It challenges the traditional way of launching within B2B, and it is a strength that Pontus returns to several times during our conversation.

"We never jump on a trend when it appears. We jump on it when we see that it will become commercial. For example, we were early on the matte black design language when it came, but we were not the first. We want to be modern, not trendy,” explains Pontus.

The design is Scandinavian and minimalist at its core, but the range deliberately includes influences from abroad – Danish and Spanish manufacturers complement their own work and add perspectives that Pontus describes as enriching rather than necessary. In areas like lighting, where technical expertise requires deep specialization, they let partners take the lead. Bathroom accessories, on the other hand, are entirely self-designed, and this is an area that has grown in both turnover and pride. The range now extends far beyond handles and knobs and includes lighting, storage, door handles, sinks, faucets, and other products for kitchen and home.

Beslag Design develops its own products but does not manufacture them in its own factory. Production takes place with specialized manufacturing partners, while Beslag Design is responsible for design, product development, range strategy, quality assurance, and packaging. This is a distinction that may sound like a footnote but is actually central to the business model – it allows them to be quick, flexible, and focused on what they are actually best at.

Families rather than individual products

A shift that has become increasingly clear in the range over the past year is the idea of cohesive product families. A handle that goes with a knob, a hook that matches a towel holder, a whole room where the details speak the same design language. The idea is not new in itself, but it has changed how Beslag Design thinks about its entire offering.

"Handles and knobs account for 60 percent of our sales and our money is in kitchen renovations, but we want to be a bigger part of the home than that. We want to be in the hallway, in the bathroom, in the living room and create the details that tie the experience together throughout the home,” states Pontus.

The target audience is those who want a beautiful home and a safe choice. Mid-to-high-end, focusing on material choices and design language rather than the lowest price. The products should withstand the test of time, not just materially but in their expression. It should be just as right to pull that handle in five years as it was the day you installed it.

"We do not work with price as a motivator, but we work with quality and design. That is what we want the customer to associate us with, and that is the promise we must deliver on every day,” says Pontus.

Sustainability that is visible in the material

The sustainability work at Beslag Design is about concrete choices rather than grand declarations. In 2025, the company reduced its emissions by 15 percent through conscious material changes, renewable electricity in its premises, and electric cars. One of the most important transitions right now is the shift to recycled materials in an increasing number of products – a task that requires close collaboration with suppliers and careful traceability throughout the entire chain.

What makes me most curious during the conversation, however, is what lies ahead. Beslag Design is one of the companies in the industry that has come the furthest in making the climate footprint of products visible, with the goal of being able to show a carbon dioxide equivalent per product directly on the website. All metal alloys are tested and evaluated, and the results will be visible and comparable for you as a customer. For a company with premises on the Bjäre Peninsula and roots in an apartment from 1972, this is an ambition level that says more about where they are headed than any revenue figure could.

Forward with feet in Båstad

Since 2024, Beslag Design is owned by the publicly listed group Volati. The goal that comes with the new ownership structure is clearly stated: revenue should double within five years. However, when Pontus talks about growth, it is not about spreading thin or chasing market shares for the sake of it. It is about digging where they stand and taking one step at a time.

"We don't believe in looking at everything at once," he says. "We believe in staying close to the core business. Doing a proper analysis of what we should sell and how we should sell it." Internationalization should happen in a controlled manner, and new markets will be established only when the conditions are right. The goal is to build relevance first and then scale up.

The product portfolio should continue to broaden, not only through in-house design but by exploring complementary products that strengthen the position in more rooms and environments. The product roadmap extends five years ahead and includes both new categories and new European markets. The digital development runs parallel to all of this. Together with Toxic, the platform in Litium is already under development, and the ambition is for the B2B side to function as a sharp e-commerce in itself and free up time for what is still crucial: building relationships and adding real value to the business.

"The digital part is our big thing moving forward," says Pontus. "We want our people to do the right things – build relationships and add something, everything else should be solved by technology."

Friday evening at home

When I ask Pontus what the ultimate goal is, the one that drives everything else, he responds with a formulation that is as simple as it is difficult to achieve: "We want to be in people's homes on Friday evenings, not as guests, but as that detail you see in the corner of your eye. When people market us without thinking about it, when they show off their kitchen to friends and someone comments on the handle – then we are right."

It's hard not to be a little moved by that formulation. It captures something that I believe permeates the whole of this company, from Rillan in the product range to the new platform that will carry the next chapter. It's all about being the detail that makes a difference without taking over.

From an apartment on Köpmansgatan to homes across Europe, Beslag Design has built its brand on the same principle that permeates their products: that what is made with care lasts the longest. With recycled materials on the way, self-developed product families in the range, and the whole continent on the map, the journey is far from over. Rather, it is just as Pontus himself expresses it – they want to continue changing homes, one fitting at a time.