Home Office Furniture Manufacturer

Ashley Furniture Industries, Inc. is a furniture manufacturing company headquartered in Arcadia, Wisconsin. The company is owned by father and son team Ron and Todd Wanek. Ashley Furniture manufactures and distributes home furniture products throughout North America.

The Ashley Companies (Ashley Casegoods, Ashley Upholstery, and Millennium) offer bedroom, dining room, and home office furniture. It is the largest furniture manufacturer and top selling brand of home furniture in North America. It licenses its name to more than 300 stores in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Central America, and Japan. It maintains a manufacturing facility in Whitehall, Wisconsin.

History

Carlyle Weinberger founded Ashley Furniture in Chicago in 1945 as a sales operation. Specializing in wooden occasional furniture, Ashley marketed goods made by local companies. Later the company opened a branch in Goshen, Indiana. In 1970, Ashley invested in the Wisconsin-based Arcadia Furniture, founded by Ron Wanek, who had begun his career in a furniture factory owned by Eugene Vogel. When Wanek moved to Arcadia to open his own factory he took with him Eugene Vogel's son, Chuck. The two began doing production work for Ashley Furniture. Even though Arcadia started out as a small production plant for Ashley's lines in 1976, Wanek and group of investors bought out Weinberger, taking control of Ashley Furniture. At first the two companies maintained their separate identities, with Arcadia focusing on production and Ashley on sales.

By 1982, the merged company's annual sales reached $12 million and it had moved its corporate headquarters from Chicago to Arcadia. By the mid-1980s, Ashley offered a line of roughly 350 different furniture products, and had turned its design and manufacturing away from "heirloom pieces" toward products aimed at middle-income buyers. The company's growing network included wholesalers such as Levitz Furniture and mass-retailers such as Sears, Kmart, and Montgomery Ward, in addition to smaller retailers. Sales had climbed to more than $44 million by 1985.

In 1994 Ashley acquired upholstery manufacturer Sklar-Pepplar, and by the late 1990s the company was operating assembly and distribution plants in Seattle, Washington; Pomona, California; New Brunswick, New Jersey; and Orlando, Florida. Gambling that motion furniture was a strong growth area, Ashley acquired Gentry Furniture, of Ripley, Mississippi in 1999. That same year the company also branched out into retailing, licensing Ashley Furniture HomeStores to independent dealers. The chain grew in its first year to approximately 40 stores.

By 2000, Ashley Furniture Industries employed more people in Arcadia than the town's population. The plant in Arcadia had grown from 35,000 square feet in 1970 to 1.5 million square feet. Today the company maintains plants across the United States and operates several factories in Pacific Rim countries. Ron Wanek is still co-owner of the company with title of Chairman of the Board. Wanek's son, Todd, is currently co-owner and CEO. Wanek's daughter, Shari Wagner,is the Vice President of Exports. The company has received offers to take the company public, but its owners prefer to keep it under local control.

Millennium Line

In 1986, when Wanek and his designers determined that a new style of furniture would better serve the market, Ashley introduced its “Millennium” line, which had a polyurethane finish that gave the wood furniture a luster. The company produced very shiny black furniture in its occasional and bedroom lines, and began adding other colors, such as emerald green. The Millennium line remains an integral part of Ashley’s business.

Ashley Furniture HomeStore

Ashley Furniture HomeStore is a chain of independently owned and operated furniture stores licensed to sell Ashley Furniture products exclusively, including mattresses and accessories. As of September 19, 2008, there were 371 Ashley Furniture HomeStores operating worldwide.

Memorial Park

As part of Ron Wanek's philanthropy, he has designed and built Memorial Park in Arcadia, Wisconsin, with donations from Ashley Furniture. The park is dedicated to the soldiers who have served in wars throughout the history of the United States. The walkway in the park serves as a time line, beginning at the founding of the United States and proceeding into the future. A monument is located for each war at its place in time.

Customer relations

Ashley Furniture Industries is a Better Business Bureau accredited industry, and has received an A+ rating from that organization.

References

1. ^ http://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/21/privates08_Ashley-Furniture-Industries_2WP0.html
2. ^ http://www.furnituretoday.com/article/35122-Ashley_adds_case_goods_to_Signature_Design_line.php
3. ^ http://www.allbusiness.com/company-activities-management/sales-selling/6248134-1.html
4. ^ http://www.hoovers.com/ashley-furniture/--ID__55652--/free-co-profile.xhtml
5. ^ http://www.answers.com/topic/ashley-furniture-industries-inc
6. ^ http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=7940469
7. ^ http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/55/55652.html
8. ^ http://www.jigsaw.com/scid9225046/shari_wagner.xhtml
9. ^ http://www.arcadiawi.org/Memorial%20Park%20Brochure.htm
10. ^ "BBB Reliability Report for Ashley Furniture Industries, Inc.". Better Business Bureau . http://www.bbb.org/wisconsin/business-reviews/furniture-manufacturers/ashley-furniture-industries-inc-in-arcadia-wi-15008534/ . Retrieved 2009-09-28 .  

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