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Events

1 - 27 of 27

Date	Title	Category
03/14/1912 - 01/15/1914	A.W. Hompe Elected President Two days prior to the official founding of the Metal Office Furniture Co., Alexander W. Hompe, president of The Macey Co., is elected president and chairman of the board. He resigns in 1914, handing... View	Leadership
03/16/1912	MOFC Incorporated 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... View	Company
1915	First Desk Sale 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... View	Products
1922	Dealer Network Launched Metal Office Furniture Co. is one of the first companies known to build an official dealer organization. Our first dealer is in St. Louis, Missouri. By 1968 we will have nearly 900 dealers in all 50 states... View	Industry
1924	Desk Strength and Durability The 621 desk is designed to be fireproof and because of our manufacturing process, is able to support up to 6,000 pounds. Steel furniture is gaining acceptance, and this is Metal Office Furniture Co.’s... View	Products
11/26/1928	Entrance into the International Market The Steelcase trademark makes its first appearance in Argentina, with brochures for 1200 Line file cabinets printed in Spanish. This marks our entry into the international market. View	Company
1932	“Century of Progress” Desk The "Century of Progress" desk is designed for the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago. It introduces the island base. View	Products
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... View	Products
1939	Our First Chairs Metal Office Furniture Co. begins chair production in a section of the Desk Plant (Plant #2). Since 1926, we had been sourcing chairs for customers; this is our first entry into the manufacture of our... View	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,... View	Products
1954	First to Add Typewriter Auxiliary Unit Metal Office Furniture Co. is the first to replace the standard box drawer for the typewriter with an auxiliary table or shelf. The 41-ATT and 41-TS auxiliary units attach to pedestal desk, and are designed... View	Products
1954	Steelcase Canada Ltd. Founded Fred A. Bell founds Steelcase Canada Ltd. in Don Mills, Ontario (a suburb of Toronto), the first operation located outside of the United States. The facility includes 15,000 square feet of showroom and... View	Company
1955	Jewel Tea Desk: A First Steelcase creates the Jewel Tea Desk in a collaboration with Harper Richards and A. Epstein & Sons for the new Jewel Tea Building. It's the first straight-line, contemporary metal desk to have wood... View	Products
1957	U of M Custom Library Furniture Produced Steelcase produces the Company’s first official library furniture for the University of Michigan. The chair is custom steel-tubing, later evolving into the very popular 1200 Line of office chairs. This... View	Products
1958	1300 Line Desks Introduced Steelcase introduces the 1300 Line of contemporary desks, credenzas, and cabinets. The 1300 Line is the first desk to offer either a stainless steel binding on the top edge or a Textolite self-edged top.... View	Products
1960	2200 Line Desks Introduced The 2200 Line is the industry’s first furniture with flush drawer pulls, tambour-door cabinets, and letter-/ legal-size modular cabinets with guaranteed drawer alignment. It is the only flush-type design... View	Products
07/1961	Acrylic Paints Introduced Steelcase begins to use acrylic paints on products, a first within the industry. A water-based paint, acrylic is more environmentally friendly than the oil-based paints previously used on our lines. View	Sustainability
10/03/1966	Broadsides Lateral Files Introduced The 860 Series Broadsides Lateral Files are introduced. This is an industry first, beating out a competitor who claims to have been the first with lateral files in 1967. Soon Broadsides will be incorporated... View	Products
1969	First NeoCon The National Exposition of Contract Furnishings (NeoCon) begins at Merchandise Mart in Chicago. View	Industry
06/19/1974	430 Chair Introduced The Series 430 office chair, called "The chair that loves people," is introduced at NeoCon. It sets a new standard in office seating design through the use of comfort contouring, driven by the increasing... View	Products
1976	Lighting Evaluation Laboratory Opens The first Lighting Evaluation Laboratory is established by Steelcase in Grand Rapids to find ways to cut office energy costs. View	Sustainability
1977	Begin Testing Speech Privacy The Acoustics Lab opens in Grand Rapids – making Steelcase the first to test speech privacy in simulated open office conditions. View	Industry
1978 - 1989	Opinion Surveys on Office Environments Conducted Steelcase is first in the industry to commission opinion surveys on office environment issues. From 1978-1989, we commission five surveys to better understand and provide for the needs of the contemporary... View	Industry
1992	Furniture in 48 Hours Available Steelcase introduces the first 48-hour delivery program, providing select products twice as fast as our competitors. View	Industry
04/02/2001	Steelcase debuts in Fortune 500 On April 2, 2001, West Michigan's largest employer, Steelcase Inc., climbs into the Fortune 500 list for the first time. Ranking number 481 with net sales revenue of $3.2 billion, a 21 percent increase... View	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... View	Sustainability
06/2010	node® Chair Introduced 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... View	Products