Brand Spotlight - Now Designs

by Billie Ann Woo

NOW Designs is the company behind many of the placemats, napkins and other kitchen linens sold at CTKB and is the subject of our brand profile this week. The company is actually comprised of two different ones - Now Designs and Danica Imports. Their company designs and represents a variety of fun linens and kitchenware and is proudly headquartered in Vancouver, BC.

Now Designs was founded by Don Collins in 1967 in San Francisco. He sold the company to Danica in 1968. Danica was founded by Jan Petersen, a Dane, in 1964. He was working with the Danish Trade Commission and decided to settle in Canada and become an entrepreneur. He was a pioneer in the housewares industry by importing goods from Scandinavia and Europe. He later sold his company in 1984 to Rodney Benson and Jeremy Braude who still run the company today. Previously the two  had just one product - the Hex Modular wine rack before venturing into pot racks and woodenware. The two have grown a company that now represents a wide variety of brands including April Cornell, Zoku and bambu. The company continues to set industry trends for linens and kitchenware goods and have always had a passion for ecologically-friendly innovation. This includes their line of biodegradable serveware and organic cotton. They also implement eco-friendly initiatives in-house, only using used containers to ship their goods.