Our Foundation
The history of Svend Nielsen Ltd. finds its roots in its founder – Svend Nielsen. Born in 1930 in the great Scandinavian cabinet-making city of Copenhagen, Denmark, Svend Nielsen took to cabinet-making at an early age, entering an apprenticeship when only fourteen. There, he cultivated a love for wood and fine craftsmanship that would remain with him the rest of his life.
In 1953, shortly after the end of WWII, Svend Nielsen immigrated to Toronto, Canada where he established his family and continued to pursue his career in the cabinet-making industry. In the 25 years that followed, he worked in the twin areas of design and production management, alongside his loving wife, Bodil Nielsen.
In 1978, drawing upon his accumulated years of experience in fine furniture manufacturing, Svend Nielsen launched the company named after him. Beginning with a small rented facility in Mississauga, the company has gone through three expansions over the years, currently residing in its own facility at 55 Penn Drive, Toronto, Canada. The company has grown from a small family concern to include a fine cadre of skilled cabinetmakers, project management team, and office support staff. Svend Nielsen Ltd. services clients across Canada, the USA, and abroad. Reflecting upon the past, we are grateful for the many fine clients that we have had the privilege of serving.
With an eye to the future, we envision servicing our existing and future clients with even greater passion and excellence! We look forward with great anticipation to the opportunity of assisting you with your contract furniture requirements.
OUR VISION
Dominance of the international market for high-end one-of-a-kind custom office furniture
OUR MISSION
We create statement pieces that designers love and the world talks about
OUR CHARACTER
-We are the McGyvers of woodworking
-If it’s not perfect, it drives us insane
-We will never be just another furniture maker
OUR POSITION
We never say it can’t be done
OUR CORE PURPOSE
We live for the challenge of creating furniture that others think impossible.
Every time he drives to work, Derrick Nielsen gets excited thinking about the great projects at hand!
“I’m like a kid watching the Zamboni flood the ice. I love what I do and I want to be the first on. I have such a passion for furniture design and being creative excites me. I live for the challenge of creating office furniture that other think is impossible.”
It’s a family trait that comes from his late father, Danish-born cabinetmakers and company namesake Svend Nielsen, who came to Canada with nothing but a toolbox and seven dollars in his pocket. Through a combination of prodigious talent and economic need, Svend never said no to an assignment- no matter how challenging.
His core belief manifested in Derrick as early as age 8, when the boy would swim 200 laps of the pool in his session. By age 10, Derrick was throwing crushed crackers on strangers’ floors enroute to selling the most Fuller Brush carpet sweepers ever in the province of Ontario.
In his teens, he began working for his father in the family business, later became a European-trained cabinet maker and then assumed the role of Svend Nielsen president in 2010.
The daily mission for Derrick and his team is to create statement pieces that designers love and the word talks about. “We are known for one-of-a kind stuff.
Furniture is furniture, but what we do is the Oscars: statement pieces that anyone who’s seen them never forgets.
What sells these incredible pieces is not a man, but a brand: a reputation for unrivalled quality that brings in enormous repeat business. A brand build not just on history, but also on a factory wokforce of 40 in Toronto and sales forces in New York and Washington selling to global corporations.
At Svend Nielsen Ltd. we are committed to two core values: producing furniture of highest craftsmanship, and working in close collaboration with our clients to meet, if not exceed, project expectations.
With years of experience in the contract furniture industry, we look forward to serving your furniture needs for many years to come.