La-Z-Boy to buy 9 Ohio stores

Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, August 20, 2012

MONROE, MICH. - La-Z-Boy plans to acquire nine La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries stores and a distribution center in southern Ohio from the two owners of the business, who are retiring.
     The stores - four stores in Cincinnati, three in Columbus and two in Dayton - had combined 2011 revenue of about $30 million, the company said. Terms of the deal, expected to close in October, were not disclosed, but will be spelled out when the company releases fiscal first quarter results this week.
     The transaction is a result of the planned retirement of owners Elliott Hilsinger and Walt McBeath and "the mutually agreed-upon decision that selling the stores to La-Z-Boy would be in the best interest of their employees while providing for the greatest stability and continuity of the longstanding southern Ohio business," La-Zboy said in a release.
     The stores and distribution center will become part of La-ZBoy's retail operation, bringing its company-owned store count to 94.
     "Throughout their tenure as part of the La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries system, the owners did an excellent job building the brand and business in their markets over more than 35 years. The enterprise has consistently been a solid performer, and we expect it to be accretive to our earnings," La-Z-Boy Chairman, President and CEO Kurt Darrow said in a release.
     In addition, Darrow noted La-Z-Boy's long-term strategic initiative to serve more stores from company-owned distribution centers and said the southern Ohio facility "will fill a void in our current footprint." It will serve about 25 to 30 network stores over time, including three new stores La-Z-Boy plans to open in Pittsburgh over the next 12 months, he said.
     Chuck Hausfeld, a 25-year veteran with the southern Ohio operation, will become the market sales manager for the area, reporting to Dan King, vice president of La-Z-Boy's retail business. Hausfeld will oversee sales, staffing and training for the nine-store operation.
     Darrow said the company expects a smooth transition that will be seamless to consumers.