MONROE, Mich., Feb. 16, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- La-Z-Boy Incorporated (NYSE:LZB) today announced it plans to invest approximately $10 million in its England Inc. upholstery manufacturing campus, located in New Tazewell, Tennessee.  The 1.1 million square-foot New Tazewell complex, which began operations in 1964 and was acquired by La-Z-Boy Incorporated in 1995, employs approximately 1,400 people, manufactures a full line of upholstered stationary and motion furniture with the unparalleled industry distinction of delivering custom furniture in 21 days or less, and operates a premier transportation fleet integral to its unique delivery system. 

The scope of the investment includes two projects: an 87,000 square-foot expansion to the existing 400,000 square-foot upholstery manufacturing plant; and the construction of a new 22,500 square-foot corporate office building to replace one destroyed in a fire in May of 2017.  Construction of both projects will begin immediately, with expectations for the additional capacity at the plant to be ready for operation by January 2019 and the office building to be completed in the spring of 2019.  The corporate office will be home to approximately 100 employees and will feature an open concept floor plan. The State of Tennessee is providing financial support toward the projects.

Kurt L. Darrow, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, of La-Z-Boy Incorporated, said, “Ongoing strategic investments across our manufacturing operations is essential as we continue to strengthen our domestic manufacturing platform to grow our business and return value to shareholders.  England has been an excellent performer over the years with consistent increases in sales and profitability.  Increasing capacity at the New Tazewell facility will allow us to answer existing demand challenges and continue to expand the England business.  We would like to thank the State of Tennessee and the City of New Tazewell for their cooperation, support and encouragement on these projects.  We look forward to the plant expansion and hiring additional workers as England continues to flourish.  And, with our commitment to sustainability and environmental stewardship, we intend to construct a LEED-certified corporate office building utilizing recognized sustainable building practices.” 

Terry England, President, England Furniture, said, “This is an exciting time for England as we continue to canvas the United States and add to our dealer network.  Expanding our production capacity will allow us to improve the efficiency of our existing operations while increasing output to satisfy the additional demand we are already experiencing.  We will be methodical throughout the construction process to ensure there is no disruption of service to our customer base and they continue to receive their orders in 21 days or less.”

Forward-looking Information

This news release contains, and oral statements made from time to time by representatives of La‑Z‑Boy may contain, “forward-looking statements.” With respect to all forward-looking statements, we claim the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. 

Actual results could differ materially from those we anticipate or project due to a number of factors, including: (a) changes in consumer confidence and demographics; (b) the possibility of a recession; (c) changes in the real estate and credit markets and their effects on our customers, consumers and suppliers; (d) international political unrest, terrorism or war; (e) volatility in energy and other commodities prices; (f) the impact of logistics on imports and exports; (g) tax rate, interest rate, and currency exchange rate changes; (h) operating factors, such as supply, labor or distribution disruptions (e.g. port strikes); (i) changes in legislation, including the tax code, or changes in the domestic or international regulatory environment (including new or increased duties); (j) adoption of new accounting principles; (k) fires, severe weather or other natural events such as hurricanes, earthquakes, flooding, tornadoes and tsunamis; (l) our ability to procure or transport fabric rolls, leather hides or cut-and-sewn fabric and leather sets domestically or abroad; (m) information technology conversions or system failures and our ability to recover from a system failure; (n) effects of our brand awareness and marketing programs; (o) the discovery of defects in our products resulting in delays in manufacturing, recall campaigns, reputational damage, or increased warranty costs; (p) litigation arising out of alleged defects in our products; (q) unusual or significant litigation; (r) our ability to locate new La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries^® stores (or store owners) and negotiate favorable lease terms for new or existing locations; (s) the ability to increase volume through our e-commerce initiatives; (t) the impact of potential goodwill or intangible asset impairments; and (u) those matters discussed in Item 1A of our fiscal 2017 Annual Report on Form 10-K and other factors identified from time to time in our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether to reflect new information or new developments or for any other reason.

Additional Information

This news release is just one part of La-Z-Boy’s financial disclosures and should be read in conjunction with other information filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is available at: https://lazboy.gcs-web.com/financial-information/sec-filings.  Investors and others wishing to be notified of future La-Z-Boy news releases, SEC filings and quarterly investor conference calls may sign up at: https://lazboy.gcs-web.com/.

Background Information

La-Z-Boy Incorporated is one of the world’s leading residential furniture producers, marketing furniture for every room of the home. The La-Z-Boy upholstery segment companies are England and La-Z-Boy. The casegoods segment consists of three brands: American Drew, Hammary, and Kincaid. The company-owned retail segment includes 147 of the 350 La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries^® stores.

The corporation’s branded distribution network is dedicated to selling La-Z-Boy Incorporated products and brands, and includes 350 stand-alone La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries^® stores and 547 independent Comfort Studio^® locations, in addition to in-store gallery programs for the company’s Kincaid and England operating units. Additional information is available at http://www.la-z-boy.com/.

Contact: 
Kathy Liebmann 
(734) 241-2438  
kathy.liebmann@la-z-boy.com 

Source: La-Z-Boy Incorporated