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Events

1 - 50 of 62

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Date	Title	Category
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
circa 1920	Commonwealth Top Customer Metal Office Furniture Co.’s largest customer is the Commonwealth Edison Company of Chicago, which is the first large firm to standardize on our steel desk. Better known today as ComEd, Commonwealth... View	Company
1921	The Birth of the Brand 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... View	Company
circa 1921	First West Coast Sales Made In the early 1920's David D. Hunting makes the first sales on the West Coast – file cabinets and a few miscellaneous items to various stationery stores and equipment dealers. In one instance, Hunting... View	Company
1926 - 1958	Plant #2 is Built 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... View	Company
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
1930	Acquisition of Doehler Metal Furniture Company Metal Office Furniture Co. acquires Doehler Metal Furniture Co. This acquisition enables us to remain solvent during the Depression by manufacturing metal household and hospital furniture (our first foray... View	Company
12/23/1936	Terrell’s Equipment Stock Purchased Terrell’s Equipment Co., which was founded in Grand Rapids in 1908, manufactured steel cabinets, lockers and shelving. Metal Office Furniture Co. had obtained a controlling interest in Terrell in 1925,... View	Company
04/22/1947	“Honeymoon in New York” Shuts Down the Chair Plant The Chair Plant (Plant #4) shuts down for 30 minutes to listen to newlyweds Jim and Rose Sarnicola on the “Honeymoon in New York” radio program. Jim is a welder in the Chair Plant and the couple won... View	Company
1950	Largest Post-War Order Mutual Life Insurance of New York places the largest post-war order to date. It includes: 1,650 desks; 3,200 chairs; 120 wardrobes; 3,300 letter trays; 1,700 wastebaskets; 420 tables; 100 bookcases; and... View	Company
1950	25 Year Club Organized The “25 Year Club” is organized in 1950 and 56 employees join, three of whom were hired in 1912, the year we were founded. This year, nearly one out of every 12 employees becomes a member. View	Company
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
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... View	Company
12/13/1957	Move to 36th Street The demand for our office furniture led us to outgrow many of our aging facilities. Land was purchased on 36th Street in Grand Rapids, MI in the mid 50's. The Shearing Plant is the first building to... View	Company
1962	50th Anniversary Celebration As Steelcase celebrates our 50th anniversary (pictured), we are expanding across North America with a new facility in La Mirada, California and an expansion to the plant in Don Mills, Ontario, Canada. View	Company
1964	Attwood Corp. Acquired Steelcase acquires Attwood Corp., a source of quality plating and plastic extrusions for our products. David D. Hunting, Jr., formerly treasurer of Steelcase, is appointed president. View	Company
1964	Steelcase Inc., California Founded Steelcase Inc., California is officially organized. However, our products have been sold on the West Coast since 1920 by Hunting-Roberts Co. Edgar H. Hunting remains President and E.C. "Curly" Roberts,... View	Company
1970	Steelcase Canada, Ltd. Expands Steelcase Canada expands to almost 350,000 square feet of manufacturing space. The newly expanded Markham facility in Ontario includes offices, showroom, and production facilities. The plant manufactures... View	Company
05/1971	Word Processing Center Opens The Steelcase Steno Pool is replaced by the Word Processing Center, an innovative trend in business systems. Electric typewriters are replaced with IBM Magnetic Tape Selectric Typewriters, allowing error... View	Company
06/1972	Designs in Wood Introduced 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. View	Company
06/15/1973 - 11/30/1973	Sears Tower Installation Steelcase executes the largest single shipment in the industry: 43,565 pieces of furniture in 400 truck loads for 7,000 Sears & Roebuck employees in over 44 floors of Chicago's Sears Tower. The Sears... View	Company
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... View	Company
1978	Spectrum Logo Introduced The Steelcase spectrum logo is introduced. The rainbow of letters in clean, modern styling represents elegance and the wide range of colors offered in Steelcase furniture. The motor fleet Steelcase logo... View	Company
06/1978	Acquisition of Vecta® The Steelcase Grand Prairie, Texas, plant opens when we acquired Vecta Contract Inc. (Vecta®), a manufacturer of architectural furnishings (e.g. lobbies, lounges, conference rooms for universities,... View	Company
1979	Tech Center Opens The Technical Center opens on the 36th Street complex, part of a two-year expansion plan in Grand Rapids, North Carolina, California and Alabama. Approximately 8,000 people are trained here in the first... View	Company
1980	Pohlschröder Joint Venture Formed in Germany We begin a joint venture with Pohlschröder GmbH KG in Dortmund, West Germany. Pohlschröder began manufacturing metal safes in 1855, and now focuses primarily on office furniture, while also manufacturing... View	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... View	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... View	Company
1987	Steelcase Inc. Turns 75 Steelcase reaches the 75-year milestone. We are the world’s leading designer and manufacturer of office furniture, systems furniture, office lighting and computer-assisted programs for those who plan,... View	Company
06/1987	Steelcase Design Partnership® Forms Steelcase Inc. forms the Steelcase Design Partnership®, a group of high-design oriented office furniture companies serving special market niches. Under the umbrella of The Steelcase Design Partnership... View	Company
1989	CDC Opens: Context® Furniture Installed The Steelcase Corporate Development Center, a pyramid-shaped facility for research and development, opens. This building was designed to increase collaboration and includes Steelcase's new curvilinear... View	Company
03/08/1990	Details® Founded Details® launches in New York City and becomes part of the Steelcase Design Partnership®. A few of the many products introduced are the Articulating Keyboard Support designed by ID Two in San Francisco,... View	Company
1991	Global Presence Expanded Our global expansion continues. Steelcase facilities are now located on six continents, with manufacturing sites in 11 countries, and products marketed in 68 countries. View	Company
1993	Turnstone® Founded 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... View	Company
12/1995	Leadership Community Opens Under Jim Hackett's direction, the Steelcase Leadership Team abandons their private office, and moves into the Leadership Community -- an open office area designed to promote greater collaboration, faster... View	Company
1996	WorkLife Center Opens in NYC The first Steelcase WorkLife Center opens on Four Columbus Circle (4CC) in New York City. The Center is devoted to helping customers address workplace issues and create environments that can help achieve... View	Company
1996	Investment in IDEO Steelcase makes an equity investment in IDEO, located in Palo Alto, CA. In 2007, IDEO will begin a 5-year buy-back program. View	Company
02/18/1998	Steelcase Goes Public Steelcase becomes a publicly traded company, listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SCS. View	Company
12/17/1998	Werndl® Büromöbel AG Acquired Steelcase acquires Werndl® Büromöbel AG, Germany's second largest wood office furniture manufacturer. In April the following year, Steelcase will acquire the remaining 50% of Steelcase/ Strafor S.A.... View	Company
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. View	Company
2000 - 2004	New Corporate Identity Introduced We begin using the new Steelcase identity which is vivid, bright and fun. The bold new look is meant to match our strong new aspiration: Transforming the ways people work. View	Company
2000	E-Commerce Sales First Offered to Steelcase Customers Internet storefronts make purchases easier for customers. Steelcase expects more than 50 customers to purchase products through the new e-commerce program by the end of 2000. View	Company
2001	Lean Manufacturing Efforts Begin Steelcase begins lean manufacturing efforts in earnest. Based on the Toyota manufacturing model, the program has reduced our global footprint from approximately 17.4 million sq. ft. in fiscal year 2000... View	Company
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
08/27/2001	PolyVision® Acquired 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... View	Company
03/2003	WorkSpace Futures Formed The WorkSpace Futures group is formed to conduct research into the ways people work and how to enhance the experience. The group is devoted to unlocking insights in work, workers, and the workplace, relying... View	Company
08/28/2004	Athens, AL Plant Celebrates 25 Years Our Athens, AL plant celebrates 25 years of manufacturing with an open house, plant tours and a Steelcase show truck. The Athens plant started out manufacturing systems furniture panels and storage products. ... View	Company
03/28/2005	Consolidation Announced 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... View	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'... View	Company
09/14/2007	Ultra Group Acquired 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... View	Company