- Shelves & Cabinets
- Bookshelves
- Wall Mounted Shelving
- Sideboards & Commodes
- Multimedia Units
- Side & Roll Container
- Bar Trolley
- Wardrobes
- Occasional Storage
- Components
- ... all Storage
smow x Vitra
A premium furniture shop without Vitra simply would not be a premium furniture shop. Or put another way, it was clear that the virtual smow story also had to begin with Vitra. And since the very beginning we have had a special relationship, one characterised by close cooperation and shared development.
Andreas is one of the four managing directors and co-founders of the smow online shop. Present from the first hour he is responsible for IT and the set up of the online shop, a task for which Andreas and his team, in contrast to most other online enterprises, develop and programme all solutions themselves and specifically for smow's demands.
In conversation Andreas explains how the online shop started and what smow shares with Vitra.
For Andreas the smow journey began with a call from Michael (Petersen) in which the latter presented his idea for an online furniture shop. A concept that caught Andreas's imagination and saw him he set up the original online shop within six months; a shop which he continues to develop, and whose bespoke tailored IT solutions have proven an important factor in the success of the past 15 years. A decade and a half that has seen the Rostock based smow IT team grow and continually contribute to all aspects of the smow organisation: from shop, through merchandise management, warehousing, 3D configurator developments, right up to hardware and software support for all smow stores in Germany and Switzerland.
smow Managing Director & IT Manager, Andreas Bobek
Vitra is a special partner and much more than just a manufacturer. On the one hand Vitra stands for genuine furniture classics and the special history of collaboration with iconic designers. And on the other with the Vitra Campus and the Vitra Design Museum, with exhibitions, architectural highlights and the design archives, Vitra has also become a cultural institution.
In the 15 years that Andreas has been with the smow online shop there have been many special Vitra moments for him: not least the experience of the first "smow class trips" to the Vitra Campus where Andreas saw for the first time how an open-plan office can work and adapted it for smow: As a manager, not looking at the team from the outside, but instead sitting in the middle of his colleagues, working on projects and being part of the team is an essential part of the work culture at smow.
Andreas from smow with the Eames Elephant from Vitra
If Andreas had to choose a favourite Vitra product, it would be the Eames Elephant. The Plywood Elephant was one of Charles & Ray Eames' first moulded plywood experiments; the three-dimensional shaping of plywood was just one of many novel manufacturing processes and material innovations with which Ray and Charles Eames revolutionised the world of furniture. Vitra further developed the prototype 60 years later and brought the colourful plastic version of the elephant into design-savvy children's rooms.
Further development is also the motivation of smow IT. Andreas and his team and smow want to continue to "get better, try things out and think ahead" for the next 15 years...
Eames Classic Tray
Wire Chair LKR
Panton Chair
Vitra Setting - not just for smow birthdays