In 1932, two New Yorkers, Theodore Baumrit and his brother-in-law Nathan Ansel founded The Baumritter Corp, a homeware sales agent. This is what many people think is the worst year of the Great Depression, and unfortunately, people just didn't have extra money for their household items. So at first Baumritter and Ancell eventually lost most of their initial investment in the company. In 1936, they purchased a furniture factory in Beecher Falls, Vermont. Ancell and Baumritter soon fell in love with Vermont. They decided to name their furniture company Ethan Allen after the Vermont Revolutionary Leader. In 1939, their furniture collection debuted in the store.
Their first collection was 28 pieces of early American furniture. By 1962, Ancell and Baurmitter had 14 furniture factories in the east. By the mid-1960s, the Baumritter Corp was by far the world's largest furniture group with more than 1,600 production lines to choose from. Also in the mid-1960s, there were about 700 Ethan Allen stores in the United States. They also owned the Ethan Allen store in Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Australia and Canada. In 1970, Baumritter retired. In 1972, The Baumritter Corp officially changed its name to Ethan Allen Industries and launched their first series of TV commercials nationwide. During the time in the early 1970s, they moved their headquarters from New York City to Danbury, Connecticut. Also, around this time, they started producing enamel, wallpaper, oriental rugs and wide rugs.
1988, M. Fahrooq Kathwari took over as Ancell as Chairman and CEO. Around 1985, when the company realized that early American furniture was no longer in high demand, they began to create new furniture designs that were so successful. To name a few, the American Dimensions collection focuses on outstanding geometric shapes, Country Crossings showcases rustic furniture, and the Legacy collection is based on Italian architecture. In 1991, Ethan Allen began offering wall decorations, bedding, textiles, lamps and other home decorations to their stores.
In 2008, Ethan Allen's products were available for purchase over the Internet. An interesting fact is that more than seventy percent of the cherry, maple and elm wood produced in the United States. Ethan Allen has been a very successful company for many years. As of June 2008, they reported sales of approximately $980 million and net income of $58.1 million!
Orignal From: The history of Ethan Allen furniture
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