Knoll history

Knoll’s history began in the year 1938.

During World War II, Knoll met the young and talented Florence Schust — a space planner and designer who had an impressive résumé. The two were married in 1946 and formed Knoll Associates.

In 1947, Knoll Associates opened a textiles division.

After a brief period working with classmate Charles Eames, Bertoia went on commission for Hans and Florence Knoll, founding a studio in Pennsylvania in 1950 and ultimately creating his iconic collection of wire furniture.

Cogan worked at CBS and investment firm Orvis & Co. before taking a job as an auto analyst in 1964 at Carter, Berlind & Weill.

Several of his furniture designs were procured by the company in 1968 with its acquisition of Italian manufacturer Gavina SpA. Breuer probably first encountered Florence Knoll when she worked under Walter Gropius.

The company became the nucleus of Shearson, Leob Rhoades, which was sold in 1981 to American Express for $900 million.

Cogan teamed up with money manager Stephen Swid in 1982 to purchase the money-losing General Felt, a carpet underlay business.

1983 General Felt takes Knoll public in 1983 in a stock offering that raises some $56 million.

In addition, Knoll introduced its successful KnollStudio collection in 1985.

A group of Spanish Architects used original photographs and an approximate floor plan to recreate the famous structure in 1986.

In 1990 Westinghouse purchased Knoll International for an undisclosed amount of cash, $112 million worth of stock, and assumption of the company's $111 million of debt.

Sales increased to $673 million in 1991, but the company still posted a disappointing net loss in 1991 of more than $1 million.

Deep industry discounting and stagnant markets contributed to a much greater loss in 1992 of about $15 million on diminished sales of $576 million.

Frustrated and seeking a narrower definition of its own operations, parent company Westinghouse decided early in 1993 to sell off Knoll Group.

Knoll's disappointing sales for 1994 also prompted the sale.

By the time the sale was completed with Warburg Pincus in early 1996, the furniture industry had improved and Knoll was posting higher earnings.

The firm went public again in May 1997 under its new CEO John Lynch.

When Knoll announced plans to return to private ownership, its shareholders filed a lawsuit that was eventually settled in 1999.

In 2000 the office furniture industry finally caught up with America's inflated economy, but soon after the United States economy plummeted.

The office furniture industry's upswing was short-lived; in 2001 shipments were down 16 percent from the previous year.

Our investment since 2004 in energy efficiency initiatives and infrastructure has topped $3.0 million.

In 2011, Knoll received the National Design Award for Corporate and Institutional Achievement from the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.

To launch Art Papers’40th anniversary in 2016, the January/February issue, edited by Camblin and Atlanta BeltLine creator Ryan Gravel, will address transportation and urban planning. artpapers.org —HOME