Celebrating Eight Decades Of Comfort

Thursday, March 1, 2007

Celebrating Eight Decades Of Comfort (NAPSA)—Reclining in comfort has not always been as easy as it is today. THEN: In 1927 two young cousins from Monroe, Mich.— Edward M. Knabusch and Edwin J. Shoemaker—created a woodslat chair with a reclining back that would literally sweep the worldoff its feet. On the advice of a customer, the two covered their reclining chair for year-round use, giving it the company’s signature comfort. They then held a contest to nameit, generating such entries as “Sit-N- Snooze,” “Slack-Back” and “Com- fort Carrier,” but it was “La-Z-Boy” that took the prize and, subsequently, the world by storm. In the decades to follow, the company set out to create the most comfortable, high-quality furniture and continually developed new styles and product innovations to evolve with popularculture. The company not only became the best and biggest recliner manu- facturer, but one of the most notable brands in furniture thanks to innovative marketing campaigns and celebrity spokes “people” ranging from Uncle Sam, Johnny Carson and Ed McMahonto two lovable raccoons, Wendall and Al. Bing Crosby and his family presented the perfect picture of the 1950s home, Joe Namath used his appeal to turn 1960s consumers on to the recliners, and in the following decade, the company introduced the world to the armchair quarterback with a series of sports-related ads featuring other football heroes such as Don Shula @ Relax. The world’s most comfortable chair is still around after 80 years of helping people put their feet up. and Alex Karras. In the 1980s and 1990s, the chairs earned raves and retrostyle status among fashion’s most discriminatingelite. The company welcomed fatigued VIPs during New York’s Fashion Week and inspired the creative talents of such wellknown designers as Tommy Hilfiger, Nicole Miller, Todd Oldham, Cynthia Rowley, John Bartlett and Phat Farm, all of whom have lent their signature stylings to recliner designs. In 2002, even Hollywood’s Alist couldn’t resist the La-Z-Boy charm when the recliners were a favorite of the Academy Awards gift basket. And in 2008, the entire cast of NBC’s “Friends” joined the company to raise funds for the Eliza- beth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, designing a one-of-a-kind recliner that was auctioned on eBay. Thechair, favored by character Joey Tribbiani, wasa fixture on the show. Later that year, the company partnered with another style maker, Todd Oldham, to combine fashion with function—creating the Todd Oldham by La-Z-Boy Collection. NOW:This year the company celebrates its 80th anniversary. Headquartered in Monroe, Mich., La-Z-Boy is North America’s largest manufacturer of upholstered furniture and the world’s leading producer of reclining chairs. It manufactures a wide variety of stationary sofas and chairs, reclining sofas, sleep sofas, modular groups and leather upholstered furniture.

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