Stickley Furniture history

When his parents separated in 1869 his formal education ended at sixth grade and he began training as a stonemason.

He moved with his mother and some of his siblings to Brandt, Pennsylvania about 1875, and began working at an uncle’s chair factory, where he soon rose to manage it.

In 1883 he and his brothers Albert and Charles founded the Stickley Brothers Company in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania.

1891: Albert and John George found Stickley Brothers Furniture Co. in Grand Rapids.

In 1895 he traveled to Europe for the first time and a transformation began.

Stickley, then 41, returned home to Eastwood, New York, where he set up his Craftsman Shops in 1898 and began to experiment with his own distinctive designs.

Brothers Gustav and Leopold opened their own company, United Crafts, in 1899.

The company employed Italian carver Leopold Baillot for three years prior to the introduction of its Mission lines around 1900.

In 1901, perhaps because his firm did not receive the name recognition he craved, he dropped his relationship with Toby and changed the name of his firm to the United Crafts.

The “Bewdley” line, designed by D. Robertson Smith in 1902, drew influence from the English and Scottish Arts and Crafts Movements.

In November 1903, Stickley announced the “Home Builders Club” in his magazine.

1904: L. and J.G. Stickley incorporates.

1905: Both Craftsman Shops and L. and J.G. Stickley introduce Mission Oak at a trade show in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

In what was probably a sound business decision in order to become a national “player,” Stickley moved his magazine, architectural department, marketing and sales operations to New York City in 1906.

By 1907, the American Arts and Crafts movement had taken on a life of its own across the United States, becoming a popular statement against certain aspects of industrialization and a work ethic based on handicraft.

In 1908, the Stickley family moved to a 650-acre farm in Parsippany, New Jersey, where Stickley envisioned opening a school for training craftsman.

His wife Eda and their six children, Barbara, Mildred, Hazel, Marion, Gustav Jr. and Ruth would join him there in the spring of 1910.

To quote from Stickley’s magazine, The Craftsman (November 1911): “There are elements of intrinsic beauty in the simplification of a house built on the log cabin idea.

The “Quaint Manor” line, introduced in 1914, featured slender Austrian Modern lines, cutouts, and caned panels.

Gustav Stickley and his family lived at Craftsman Farms until 1915, when he filed for bankruptcy after several years of financial difficulties.

By the time The Craftsman ended publication in 1916, there were more than 222 different home plans available to Stickley’s subscribers, and his “Architectural Department” would modify an existing design or create new homes on commission.

In 1918, Leopold and John George Stickley acquired Gustav's factory.

John George died in 1921.

1922: Leopold Stickley announces the introduction of the Cherry Valley Collection.

The “Adam Colonial” line, introduced in 1925, was a somewhat informal adaptation of 18th century English and American forms, painted in shades of ivory, “peacock,” and “colonial” blue.

Albert remained the head of the Stickley Brothers Furniture Co. in Grand Rapids until his death in 1928.

1942: Gustav Stickley dies.

1958: Leopold Stickley dies; Louise Stickley takes over management of the company.

Audi had graduated from Colgate University and served three years in the National Guard before becoming president of E.J. Audi, his family's long-established furniture distributorship in Manhattan, in 1968.

In 1973, Stickley called Alfred Audi, son of E.J. Audi, Stickley's largest dealer and a close friend of Leopold, and told him that she was thinking of closing shop.

Privately owned by the Audi family since 1974, the company now operates a facility greater than 400,000 square feet in Manlius, New York, an upholstery plant in North Carolina, and six retail showrooms in New York and Connecticut.

By 1975, the Audis first full year at the helm of L. & J.G. Stickley, the company's sales had more than tripled, but the business was still so undercapitalized that the Audis had to dip into sales and withholding taxes to meet payroll expenses.

In 1984, the Audis began construction on a new plant in Manlius, New York, two miles from the original Stickley factory, and introduced their 18th Century Mahogany line.

The company moved to Manlius in 1985.

In 1989, the Mission Oak line grew to 15 percent of the company's sales of $25 million, helping Stickley boost overall sales 16 percent.

Banks refused to give the revived company loans despite the surge in demand for their product because the Audis were "too new to the business," according to a 1990 Forbes article.

The company was now comfortably profitable and expanding, and in 1992, the Audis introduced coordinating mission-style lamps and accessories, following Gustav Stickley's original designs.

In 1995, Stickley added its Metropolitan line, a contemporary take on Mission Oak in solid cherry and acquired the Heirloom upholstery factory in High Point, North Carolina.

Aminy Audi herself credited the golden rule in a 1999 Leaders magazine interview: "Treat people as you would have them treat you.

In spring 2000, the company introduced museum-quality reproductions of early Colonial designs under the label "Williamsburg Reserve Collection."

In 2002, the company added a 78,000-square-foot showroom in Fayetteville, New York, which replaced the 38,000-square foot-showroom at the Manlius plant.

Alfred Audi passed away in the fall of 2007, but the Stickley legacy is continued by his wife Aminy and son Edward.