La-Z-Boy history

Things have really evolved since La-Z-Boy first introduced the recliner in 1928.

The men attended their first furniture show in May 1929 and returned with more orders than they could fill.

In 1933 the first floor of their factory was converted into a showroom.

Business was so successful that in 1935 the partners opened a new showroom.

Completed in June 1938, the new mechanism was so different from the original that all new patents were required.

The licensing agreements came to an end in 1939, and all manufacturing operations returned to Floral City Furniture.

In order to separate the manufacturing and retailing functions, the La-Z-Boy Chair Company was incorporated in May 1941.

At the war's end, the company reverted to civilian trade, and production of La-Z-Boy recliners began at the new building in 1947.

The platform rocker was introduced in 1951.

1952: The first La-Z-Boy recliner with built-in footrest is introduced.

In 1959 the company built a loveseat designed to look like a car seat.

Late in 1960, the partners introduced the Reclina-Rocker.

In order to keep up with increasing production and to help the company expand into the national market, La-Z-Boy opened its first factory outside of Michigan in Newton, Mississippi, in 1961.

In 1969, after years primarily as a manufacturer of recliners, La-Z-Boy started designing other products including reclining sofas, sleep sofas and modular groups.

1970: The company offers recliners with electric controls.

In March 1972, the company went public, and, in the first year, 600 people bought over 320,000 shares in over-the-counter trading.

1975: The company introduces recliners that move away from walls.

The company introduced a sleeper sofa in 1977 that represented the first major departure from La-Z-Boy's popular recliners.

In 1979, the company purchased Deluxe Upholstering Ltd., a company that had previously manufactured La-Z-Boy products under a licensing agreement, and formed La-Z-Boy Canada Ltd. as a subsidiary.

In 1980, La-Z-Boy's sales of $160 million were derived almost exclusively from recliners.

1981 sales were $150 million.

In 1982, the company reached a major turning point when Patrick Norton of Ethan Allen, renowned for its marketing savvy, was made senior vice-president of sales and marketing at La-Z-Boy.

In 1983, La-Z-Boy introduced its first line of stationary sofas and occasional chairs, later offering a full line of home furnishings.

Knabusch resigned as chairman of his concern in 1985.

1986: The company introduces power recliners and power-assisted lifts.

1987: La-Z-Boy begins trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

In 1989, the company became a target of a hostile takeover by its largest institutional investor, Prescott Investors, which owned 5.6 percent of the shares.

LADD was the third-largest American maker of furniture for homes, with over $600 million in sales, when it bought six Maytag businesses in 1990.

In 1991 the company launched the largest ad campaign in its history without using a single television spot.

By 1993 the company was operating 63 La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries and planned to transform many La-Z-Boy Showcase Shoppes into galleries.

La-Z-Boy sales rose 10 percent to $805 million in fiscal 1994, which represented the company's 12th straight year of record sales.

LADD Industries moved from High Point, North Carolina to Grandover in Greensboro, North Carolina in November 1997, becoming the first company to locate its headquarters there.

In September 1999, La-Z-Boy, at the time the largest American upholstered furniture manufacturer, bought LADD, the seventh-largest American furniture maker, for $197.8 million in stock and $101.5 million in assumed debt.

Saul Cutler of BDO Seidman said the deal "sets up La-Z-Boy as an industry behemoth." The deal, approved in January 2000, gave La-Z-Boy $2 billion in sales and made it one of the country's two largest furniture makers, Furniture Brands International being the other.

On July 23, 2001, La-Z-Boy announced the LADD name would cease to exist.

Irwin, Tanya. "Designs on a La-Z-Boy." Adweek (midwest ed.), February 11, 2002.

The Todd Oldham collection debuted in 2003 and built further buzz around La-Z-Boy's evolution; advertising on behalf of the prominent new line retained the tagline "The New Look of Comfort."

American of Martinsville was sold to Hancock Park Associates in November 2006.

Also sold was the Sam Moore division, in February 2007 to Hooker Furniture.

UK ProminenceLa-Z-Boy did come not to the UK until 2009, working with Furnico Ltd as their UK partner to channel their furniture across the country.

By 2010, La-Z-Boy began to adapt to the digital age introducing the first mobile site, Ipad app, and 3D room planner.

Unlike other companies making headlines due to corporate conraversies, CEO scandals, bailouts, and bankruptcies, Forbes identified La-Z-Boy Incorporated in its 2013 list of America’s most trustworthy companies.

Late in 2014, La-Z-Boy announced the closing of Lea after an unsuccessful attempt to find someone to buy the company.

More recently, La-Z-Boy has been branded to appeal to a younger audience, with Brooke Shields appearing in US TV commercials for the company over 2015/16 and a redesign has taken place across the company’s US stores for a “hippier” vibe.