Haworth (company)

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Haworth designs and manufactures adaptable workspaces, including raised floors, movable walls, systems furniture, seating, storage and wood casegoods. Family-owned and privately held, Haworth is headquartered in Holland, Michigan in the United States. Haworth serves markets in more than 120 countries through a global network of 600 dealers. The company had net sales of US $1.4 billion in 2005.

[edit] History

The company began in 1948 as Modern Products. In 1954, the focus of Modern Products shifted toward office environments, in response to the development of modular office partitions, the predecessors of today’s panel systems.

In 1976, Modern Products’ name was changed to Haworth, Inc., and the company began focusing exclusively on office furniture systems. In the early 1980s, when office seating was added to Haworth’s product offering being built at the Allegan Michigan Haworth Plant, the company continued its movement toward providing complete workspace solutions. Later in this decade, Haworth pursued an aggressive expansion in North America, Europe, and Asia. During the next two decades, Haworth developed several industry firsts — from the first mobile office system to panel-to-panel cabling systems. Haworth also earned awards for its business and design practices, such as environmental sustainability, leadership, community service, and member job satisfaction.

The company reached $1 billion in annual revenue in 1994, and passed the $2 billion mark in 2000. The acquisitions of SMED and InterfaceAR further strengthened Haworth’s workspace solutions. Today, the family-owned private Haworth, Inc. operates in more than 120 countries and employs nearly 9,000 members. [1]

Founder Gerrard Wendell (G.W.) Haworth died early in the morning on October 25, 2006 at the age of 95. He was an alumnus of Western Michigan University and the namesake of its business school.

[edit] Ownership

Haworth, Inc. is a privately owned company. Based on estimated sales, it is the third largest manufacturer of office furniture behind Steelcase and Herman Miller.