Can you tell us about Ellen’s Agency and your position within the design and interior industry?
I started Ellen’s Agency in 2010 and became a member of Trade Partners Sweden right from the start. “Ellen” comes from my grandmother Clara Ellen Ekelund. Grandmother had a great interest in clothes, textiles, and trends. Grandmother was always supportive when I tried new things. So to honor my grandmother, I chose her middle name Ellen for the agency. Since I have a great interest in interior design, textiles, and interiors, it’s natural that the agency focuses on products for the home. The agency has a strong customer focus where creating long-term business relationships is important.
How do you select and develop your brand portfolio to meet market demand? What trends do you see in the market right now?
The agency consists of brands that complement each other and consistently maintain good quality. I want to have an attractive portfolio and listen to what customers demand. Sometimes brands contact me, and sometimes I contact them, but it must be a product that complements the rest of the portfolio. Trends I’m seeing now are sustainability and reuse, perhaps due to the global situation where customers choose to spend money on something that feels genuine, feels good in the heart, and lasts long. In the portfolio, I have among others Sthål who manufactures ceramics in stoneware and will become future antiques, Dybdahl’s posters with motifs from antique books printed on quality paper, Nordrå’s textiles made from natural materials in Sweden, and Vondel’s Christmas decorations that consist of 98% recycled glass.
One of your brands has products that are particularly suitable for the upcoming Christmas – can you tell us more about these products and where end customers can find them?
Vondel started in 2017 with a focus on Christmas decorations. With approximately 800 different models in the assortment, there are classic, cool, fun decorations, all made from 98% recycled glass, mouth-blown and hand-painted. Each year, about 250 new ones are added while 250 are discontinued, which has led many to start collecting them. In Sweden, you can find them (with the largest assortment) at places including Flowerteam, Knutstorps Borg, Handelskompaniet in Sälen (year-round), Quinte Mode stores, NK Stockholm/Gothenburg, and Butik Victoria. Outside Sweden, Vondel is found at places including Harrods and Liberty in London, as well as American Anthropologie.
Today, the brand has evolved with products for all year’s festivities, such as smaller decorations for Easter branches and a Homeware collection for decorating the table and home. Last week I was in Amsterdam and got to see spring and Christmas 2025, I can only say WOW!!
Christmas tree decorations from Vondels
How do you work to build and maintain long-term relationships with both brands and retailers?
Regardless of brand or retailer, it’s important to be curious, attentive, and engaged. The willingness to collaborate to make it good for all parties, we all want to move towards the same goal and we must do it together! I want to do what’s best for the store, the principal, and the agency.
You were involved in starting the interior design fair Days of Trade – Interior & Design, which we annually arrange in Malmö and Gothenburg. Can you tell us more about this initiative and why an interior design fair is so important for reaching out to your customers – stores, e-commerce retailers, and department stores? Together with some colleagues, I discussed how we could give something back to our customers. How could we give them inspiration, energy, and community. We then thought we could start a new type of meeting place where stores would get an experience. It was important with the venue we would be in, an inspiring environment, attractive exhibitors, attractive speakers, meetings with other stores, and they should feel like one of the gang, by that I mean one of the industry gang. Together we are Swedish trade! It started as an interior design fair but today we have brands within lifestyle, fashion, bags, jewelry, and more. This meeting place is appreciated by both exhibitors and visitors. I look forward to exhibiting in Malmö at Slagthuset on April 7-8 next year!