When Charlotte and Henrik Jorst (pronounced yourst)
came to northern Nevada in 1993, they possessed little
more than a dream to build one of the best fashion
watch companies in the world.
They also brought with them their Skagen (skah-gun)
brand of watches the vehicle they hoped would take
them there.
The couple moved to the United States from
Denmark in 1989, landing in New York, where Henrik
served as the brand manager for Carlsberg, the Danish
beer company, and Charlotte worked as a part-time
model.
After their work visas ran out, the Jorsts met a fellow
Dane at a Basel trade show a famous watch convention
who owned watch factories in Denmark and
Hong Kong.
Working with him, the Jorsts began designing
watches with corporate logos.
People liked the couple's watches so much that they
decided to start their own watch company, Skagen
Designs, Ltd., out of their basement in their tiny New
York apartment. (Skagen is the name of a tiny fishing
village that rests on the northernmost tip of the Jutland
Peninsula in the couple's native Denmark.)
Their situation already difficult because of the
uncertainties of the Gulf War and the couple's lack of
cash became even more so with the arrival of their
first child. Charlotte recalls that they commonly dined
on bread and catsup, while their baby daughter slept in a
dresser drawer that was turned into a crib because the
house was cluttered with watches.
But in 1992, with a $10,000 loan secured by
Charlotte's mother, they were able to produce their first
200 designs of Skagen watches, which they shipped to
small high-end specialty stores. That year Skagen
Designs, Ltd. sold $800,000 worth of merchandise out
of the couple's apartment.
Enticed by Nevada's business-friendly tax system, the
Jorsts brought their watches to Incline Village in 1993.
There the Jorsts continued to sell their watches through
3,000 small retailers.
By 1995, the Bloomingdale's department store chain
began carrying the Skagen line, and the Jorsts found
themselves moving $5 million of product out of their
house.
"There were boxes everywhere," Charlotte remembers.
"Boxes in the bathroom. Boxes in front of the
mirror. It was horrible."
After a few more years of bouncing around looking
for places to run its different departments, Skagen
moved down the hill to Reno where the company operates
out of a 36,000-square-foot facility at the
Southwest Commerce Center business park. The facility
houses its entire business operation, including storage
and freight, as well as a repair center for the lifetime
warranty that comes with all Skagen watches.
Manufacturing continues to be handled in Asia
through the friend they met at the outset of the business.
The Jorsts create a design and e-mail it to the factory.
The factory makes a proof for the couple's
approval. Once the proof is considered perfect, the production
run begins.
The list of 3,000 retailers, however, now includes big
names.
"Once the major department stores saw our distribution
they couldn't ignore us," Henrik said. "We didn't
contact Macy's or Bloomingdale's; they came to us."
In 1998, Inc. 500 labeled Skagen Designs, Inc., then
Jorst International Dizains, one of America's 250
fastest-growing private companies, and in 2000 the
company was selected by MassMutual Financial Group
and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as one of five companies
to receive the national Blue Chip Enterprise
Award, which recognizes entrepreneurs nationwide for
"succeeding in the face of serious challenges and adversity."
They also opened up a second distribution center in
Denmark where Skagen remains the favorite watch
brand among Danish consumers. More than 100 merchandisers
worldwide sell Skagen products in over 25
countries. Its watches have also appeared in Seventeen
and InStyle magazines, and the company has made
watches for Candies, the teen fashion company, and
MTV.
"Skagen watches have a newness to them. A unique,
classy style," said Sean Harmon, a watch specialist at
Macy's in Meadowood Mall. "They are the only ones to
use 100 percent titanium and one of the few to offer
mesh watch bands that make the watch feel as if it's
hardly there."
This year, Skagen is expected to distribute about $30
million worth of product. Its watches can now be found
in major department stores, and is expected to add new
products such as home and office accessories, sunglasses,
jewelry and they continue to make products with corporate
logos.
"We have had to move around a lot," Charlotte
added. "And we are looking to move again next spring
because we have outgrown this place."
The Jorsts credit what Charlotte calls the "Danish
spirit" that is evident in all of Skagen's products for its
success. "It's doing more with less and keeping it simple,"
she said.
"We try to keep it as simple and beautiful as possible,"
Henrik added. "That's what we try to do with all
of our work. Keep it plain, like an art piece."
And the Jorsts have certainly done a lot with less,
seeing their dream in a tiny New York apartment
mature into a multi-million dollar reality.
"I think it's a trait in us," Charlotte said. "Most people
wait for someone to do something, but we move."
