The Metal Office Furniture Co. is incorporated after Peter M. Wege moves to Grand Rapids, Michigan. With the help of 11 investors, Wege's dream of competing in "The Furniture City" amongst wood furniture...
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Date | Title | Category | Image |
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03/16/1912 |
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Company | ![]() |
1914 |
The introduction of the Victor, a steel wastebasket, is a win-win for all parties. This fireproof product quickly becomes a top seller for Metal Office Furniture Co. Due to the low manufacturing costs...
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1915 |
Our product line offerings in 1915 are safe deposit vault equipment, lockers, strong boxes, steel shelving, and wastebaskets. However, this doesn't stop Metal Office Furniture Co. from submitting a bid...
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Products | ![]() |
1921 |
Turner Advertising in Chicago promotes the Steelcase® trademark to emphasize the durability of Metal Office Furniture Co. products and adds the tagline, “Found Where Business Succeeds”— an advertising...
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Company | ![]() |
1926 - 1958 |
The new plant (pictured in the background) is built adjacent to Terrell's Equipment Co. (later called Plant #3), with whom we had formed a partnership. This second plant provides over 97,000 square feet...
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Company | ![]() |
1937 |
Frank Lloyd Wright-Designed Furniture for S.C. Johnson Wax Building Metal Office Furniture Co. manufactures office furniture for the S.C. Johnson Wax Building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in Racine, Wisconsin. As a result of a two-year design and production partnership...
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Products | ![]() |
1953 |
Sunshine Styling Color an Industry First Metal Office Furniture Co. expands the palette for metal office furniture with Sunshine Styling. The new colors, inspired by David D. Hunting’s trip to Arizona, are Desert Sage, Blond Tan, Mist Green,...
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Products | ![]() |
12/01/1954 |
Company Name Change: Steelcase Inc. The Company name officially becomes Steelcase Inc., differentiating it from competitors who use variations of “metal office furniture” in their names. This change allows us to capitalize on our successful...
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Company | ![]() |
1968 |
Steelcase introduces the Mobiles office suite – merging Multiple 15, Sunshine Styling and Convertibles. Coupled with Movable Walls (panels that efficiently divide space for workers in an open office...
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06/1972 |
With the purchase of Hardwood Designs in California and plans to build a wood furniture plant in North Carolina, Steelcase prepares to introduce Designs in Wood.
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Company | ![]() |
1973 |
Steelcase introduces Series 9000®, soon to become the world’s leading systems furniture line and garnering multiple awards. With the explosion of the "white collar" worker and computerized offices,...
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Products | ![]() |
08/05/1974 |
Steelcase/ Strafor S.A. Joint Venture Formed Steelcase, in a 50% joint venture agreement with Strafor-Facom (a division of Forges de Strasbourg), forms Steelcase/ Strafor S.A. This new arrangement allows for the manufacture of Steelcase chairs in...
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Company | ![]() |
1983 |
44th Street Corporate Headquarters Opens Steelcase's new Corporate Headquarters opens in Grand Rapids and is lauded as "a textbook example of how to organize human resources in the optimum work environment." Located at 901 44th Street SE, the...
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Company | ![]() |
1985 |
Stow & Davis Furniture Co. Acquired Steelcase acquires Stow & Davis Furniture Co., a well-respected manufacturer of wood office furniture, based in Grand Rapids, MI. The acquisition provides us with an additional 1 million square... |
Company | ![]() |
1986 |
The Sensor® chair is introduced at NeoCon. An ergonomic chair scaled in three sizes, Sensor is designed to sense and support the body’s movements. Developed in concert with West German designer Wolfgang...
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Products | ![]() |
1987 |
Steelcase opens the fully restored Meyer May House, located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to the public. Designed for Meyer S. May by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1908 and completed in 1909, the house is an outstanding...
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1993 |
Turnstone® is founded as a subsidiary of Steelcase to cater to the needs of small business and home office workers. The name comes from the Ruddy Turnstone (depicted in the current logo), a small, hardworking...
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Company | ![]() |
1994 |
The new Steelcase Lifetime Warranty sets an industry standard and highlights the durability and longevity of our products.
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Industry | ![]() |
1996 |
Steelcase makes an equity investment in IDEO, located in Palo Alto, CA. In 2007, IDEO will begin a 5-year buy-back program.
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Company | ![]() |
02/18/1998 |
Steelcase becomes a publicly traded company, listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SCS.
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Company | ![]() |
1999 |
Leap®, a revolutionary, high-performance task chair, is introduced. Leap seating technology has 23 issued and pending patents. Because of revolutionary LiveBack® technology that separately supports the...
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Products | ![]() |
2000 |
Steelcase University Learning Center Opens The Steelcase University Learning Center opens. A former manufacturing site, the facility is a showcase for our products and insights about learning, collaboration and increasingly mobile work.
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Company | ![]() |
08/27/2001 |
Steelcase acquires PolyVision®, which allows us to offer a greater variety of visual communication tools, from standard whiteboards to fully interactive plasma displays. The acquisition also sets the...
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Company | ![]() |
10/2001 |
First U.S. LEED-Certified Manufacturing Plant Opens Our wood facility in Caledonia, MI opens and becomes the world's first manufacturing plant to receive LEED Certification for Environmental Excellence by the U.S. Green Building Council. Silver certification...
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Sustainability | ![]() |
2002 |
Steelcase partners with IBM to create BlueSpace, a "smart office" that combines advanced technology, architecture, and furniture. It was designed as a "prototype of the future."
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Products | ![]() |
2003 |
Steelcase reaches a key environmental milestone by eliminating the emission of almost all volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from its metal finishing operations based in Michigan. This is the result of...
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Sustainability | |
2004 |
The Think® chair is launched at NeoCon in the U.S. and at Orgatec in Germany. Marketed as "a chair with a brain and a conscience," this 99% recyclable chair is developed by a project team made up of Steelcase...
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Products | ![]() |
03/28/2005 |
As part of Steelcase's goal to build a lean, more flexible industrial system, we announce plans to consolidate West Michigan manufacturing operations on the Kentwood Complex and move toward the sale of...
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Company | ![]() |
2006 |
Steelcase International WorkL@b Opens in France WorkL@b, the new Steelcase International Headquarters, opens in Strasbourg, France. The facility is designed to foster innovation, support the international culture of the Company and improve employees'...
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Company | ![]() |
04/2006 |
Nurture® by Steelcase Launched Nurture® by Steelcase launches to provide user-centered solutions in healthcare. Nurture views the healthcare environment as an integral part of the healing process and provides holistic solutions that...
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09/14/2007 |
To help Steelcase meet the needs of our large and small customers throughout Asia, we acquire the Ultra Group, one of the leading furniture manufacturers in China. Ultra Group was founded in 1993 with...
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Company | ![]() |
05/2008 |
Responding to blurring distinctions between office and home as places for work, Steelcase launches Coalesse, a new premium brand that provides products for work/life settings. It’s a...
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Company | ![]() |
06/2010 |
The node® chair, a collaborative effort between IDEO and Steelcase, launches. The first product from Steelcase Education Solutions, it is an active learning classroom solution by enabling mobility and...
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Products | ![]() |
06/2010 |
Steelcase begins using Ecovative Design's EcoCradle packaging, made with agricultural byproducts like seed hulls and mushroom roots, EcoCradle requires very little energy to produce and it provides the...
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Sustainability | ![]() |