SIFAB’s offices are located at Viktoriagatan 24 in Gothenburg – right in the same place they have been ever since the company was first established back in 1963. This is where you’ll find us, Johan and Markus Låstbom, brothers and the third generation at the helm.
People often ask us what it’s like to work with your brother – they wonder if it ever leads to any problems or if we get on each other’s nerves. The truth is that we haven’t experienced a single drawback or negative aspect of it. There is a certain sense of security that comes from working with someone you trust, with a person who takes the same kind of responsibility and who actually knows you better than you know yourself – especially in a small company like ours. It also gives our customers a great deal of comfort to know that should anything happen, there is always at least one other equally committed person ready to step in.
Since 1963
SIFAB has always been a huge part of our lives. We have grown up next to the industry and watched the company and sector grow and expand right before our noses. SIFAB is one of the oldest suppliers of hotel interiors on the market and that legacy is something that we make sure to nurture and develop every single day. The company was founded by our grandfather Alf Låstbom, a crafts teacher who proved himself to be better at selling furniture than making it himself. He started off selling textiles, rugs and furniture to local municipalities, county councils and offices before later going on to specialise in the restaurant and hotel sector. SIFAB then became the main supplier to the ESSO Motor Hotel chain, who at the time established new hotels all over Sweden. SIFAB later picked up projects outside of Sweden, in places such as Norway, Gran Canaria and Gambia. Our father, Bengt Låstbom, began working for the company around that time and later went on to take over the business completely. With Bengt at the helm, the company continued to take on jobs all over the world, from Svalbard to Qatar, and he also began to collaborate more closely with the interior architects. There was also a shift within the hospitality industry at this time, with the clients coming to expect an ever-greater degree of responsibility from interior supplier. It became the norm to expect that a single turnkey supplier would deliver the complete overall service, from the initial idea, concept and design through to project management, production and installation. And that’s the same model that we work with today.
We are proud of our history and the long list of merits that the company has racked up through the years. We have developed many strong and lasting partnerships over the years, with Rezidor Hotel Group and Nordic Choice Hotel featuring among our primary clients over the last decade.
The experience we have acquired ourselves and the knowledge we have inherited from our father and grandfather have given us a great understanding of the hotel industry and what guests hope for and expect when they come to stay. These are valuable insights that we take with us into each and every project we work on.