Armstrong Hardwood Flooring Company Inc history

In 1962 Backstrand became chairman and Maurice J. Warnock was appointed president.

Armstrong invariably promoted from within and, in accordance with this policy, Warnock was succeeded in 1968 by a flooring executive who had spent his entire adult life with the company, James H. Binns.

In 1969 Binns sold the line of cleansers, waxes, and polishes to Chemway Corporation and the extensive packaging operations to Kerr Glass Manufacturing Company.

The production of linoleum was discontinued in 1974, but the company continued to develop new types of resilient flooring, among which Solarian no-wax flooring became a well-known brand name.

In July 1989 Armstrong learned that the Belzberg family of Canada had acquired 9.85 percent of its stock and had announced the intention of gaining control of the company and selling its furniture and industrial products divisions.

Momentous events proved to transform Armstrong during 1995.

When its numbers were adjusted to reflect only these ongoing businesses, Armstrong posted record net sales of $2.16 billion in 1996, while net earnings hit $155.9 million, an increase of 26 percent over the previous year.

Based in Bietigheim-Bissingen, Germany, DLW was the leading flooring manufacturer in Germany and the third largest flooring company in Europe and had revenues of $669 million in 1997.

Late in 1999 Armstrong took a $335.4 million charge to boost its reserves for pending and future asbestos personal-injury claims.

Armstrong also acquired GEMA Holdings AG, a maker of metal ceilings based in Switzerland, in 2000.

To cover the additional liability anticipated by this plan, Armstrong recorded a pretax charge of $2.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2002, leading to the largest loss in the firm's 140-plus-year history, $2.14 billion.

In the meantime, Armstrong posted its third consecutive annual net loss in 2004 as it took a $153 million charge to write down the value of its struggling European resilient flooring business.