Nielsen Design has now been using aluminium successfully in its picture frames for more than thirty years, making it the world market leader.

In Germany, this year marks the twentieth that Nielsen has been on the market. Pictures with a Nielsen frame - made from aluminium or wood - are sold five million times a year.

The company - which operates all over the world - can look back on constant growth since its formation. This success can be traced back first and foremost to the introduction of the chop service, which enabled framers to offer their clients a much wider range of products and thus expanded the picture frame market enormously, making it all the more interesting for the end consumer.

Sales of picture frames and accessories in Europe have increased out of all proportion, particularly over the last five years. Some 300 people are employed in the factory at Rheda-Wiedenbrück, which extends over about 30,000 square metres in size. Nielsen's own five European distribution firms employ another 130 or so staff.

Helmar Nielsen founded the company in 1971 in Townsend, USA. Ten years later, he joined with Rheda entrepreneur Rainer Mönchmeier to lay the foundation for the current business. 1984 saw the start of in-house lengthpiece production with the purchase of an aluminium press. The Rheda site developed into a modern, industrial production facility for aluminium picture frames whose uniqueness soon saw the Nielsen brand become almost synonymous for picture frames made from aluminium .

At the end of the 1980s distribution of the matboards was taken over by the American parent company Bainbridge. With the development and introduction of Artcare technology, which offers unique product quality, Bainbridge has risen to become the world's second biggest manufacturer of matboards. Today, the Nielsen product range extends from the top-grade real gold LEAF frame through a large selection of ready made wood frames to specialty glass for picture framing.