Ashley Furniture HomeStores
Private | |
Industry | Furnishings, Franchising |
Founded |
1997 Anchorage, Alaska, U.S. |
Headquarters | Brandon, Florida, U.S., Arcadia, Wisconsin, U.S. |
Key people |
Ronald G. Wanek Todd R. Wanek |
Products | Upholstered furniture and casegoods |
Revenue | $3.3 billion USD |
Number of employees | 4,000 |
Website | AshleyFurnitureHomeStore.com |
Ashley HomeStore is a furniture store chain that sells Ashley Furniture products. Opened in 1997, the chain comprises over 450 HomeStore locations in North America and 520 locations worldwide.[1] The chain has both corporate and independently owned and operated furniture stores.
History
The first Ashley HomeStore opened in Anchorage, Alaska in 1997. Since then, the company has become the #1 home furniture retailer in North America.[2] They have stores located throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, Central America, and Japan.[3]
Though many Ashley HomeStores are independently owned and operated, all of the furniture sold is manufactured by Ashley. The 100th HomeStore store opened in 2003, the 200th in 2005. It became the fastest-growing furniture chain and top selling furniture brand worldwide in 2006 and open its 300th store in 2007.[4]
At the time when Jennifer Convertibles filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in July 2010, Ashley was listed as having a $1.4 million claim against Jennifer. When Jennifer emerged from bankruptcy in February 2011, they controlled six Ashley Homestores in the New York City area.[5]
In February 2014, Ashley Homestores opened its 500th Homestore in Longview, Texas and has since opened an additional 20 stores across the globe.
In April 2015, Ashley Furniture HomeStores made its first incursion in South America by opening its first store in Santiago, Chile.
Ashley Furniture Industries
The parent company of Ashley HomeStore,[6] Ashley Furniture Industries, headquartered in Arcadia, Wisconsin, is the world's largest home furniture manufacturer. Owned by father and son team, Ron and Todd R. Wanek, the company manufactures and distributes home furnishings throughout the globe. The company employs more than 18,000. The company is building a 3.8 million square foot manufacturing and distribution complex in North Carolina.[7]
Charity
Ashley Homestore has raised over $6 million for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.[8] The company hosts the annual Midwest Ashley for the Arts, whose proceeds go towards children's charities, school and other different humanitarian initiatives.[9]
References
- ↑ "Our Story". Corporate.ashleyfurniturehomestore.com. 2008-10-22. Retrieved 2014-02-09.
- ↑ "Ashley unseats Wal-Mart as No. 1 retailer - 2008-08-25 00:00:00". Furniture Today. Retrieved 2014-02-09.
- ↑ "Zimmerman Redecorates Ashley Furniture HomeStores Brand". Reuters. 2009-04-27. Retrieved 2014-02-09.
- ↑ "The Top 50 Retailing Giants". Home & Textiles Today. Hometextilestoday.com. 2007-07-16. Retrieved 2014-02-09.
- ↑ Engel, Clint (23 February 2011). "Jennifer Convertibles emerges from Chapter 11 bankruptcy". Furniture Today. Furniture Today. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
- ↑ "FAQs". Ashleyfurniture.com. Retrieved 2014-02-09.
- ↑ "Todd & Ronald Wanek's Successes". Forbes. Alex Morrell. Retrieved 2013-09-17.
- ↑ "St.Jude dream home". ABC 23. ABC 23. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
- ↑ "Ashley for the Arts". About.com. Judy Hedding.