Consolidated Kitchens & Fireplaces history

Howe had joined Home-O-Nize in 1948, as the assistant to the head of the planning division.

In 1949, Home-O-Nize signed a contract worth $450,000 with Associated Manufacturers, Inc. to produce a newly designed corn picker that attached directly to the front of a tractor.

By 1953, total consolidated sales passed the $1 million milestone and two years later exceeded $2 million.

Proving himself a manufacturing genius and a shrewd administrative leader, Howe shared the founders' vision of growth and had become vice-president of production by 1954.

By 1969, net sales were $25 million.

Corry Jamestown of Corry, Pennsylvania, was acquired in 1972, HON's first venture into the higher priced segment of the office furniture market.

The acquisition of Murphy-Miller of Owensboro, Kentucky, put HON into the wood seating business in 1977.

J.K. Rischel Company, manufacturers of traditional wood office furniture, was purchased in 1982, and the next year, HON acquired 35 percent of Ring King Visibles, a rapidly growing office products company.

By 1987, under the leadership of chairman and president Stanley Howe, HON had become known as the most efficient producer in the industry worldwide, capable of producing a desk every minute, a file every 40 seconds, and a chair every 20 seconds.

In 1991, the company had its first decline in sales in four decades, caused by a flat growth in the office furniture industry and the lowest level of housing starts since World War II.