Darrow Named President Of La-Z-Boy Residential

Furniture World Magazine

Kurt L. Darrow has been named president of the La-Z-Boy Residential Division, the company announced. Darrow, previously senior vice president of sales and marketing, succeeds John J. Case, who recently became president of the newly created La-Z-Boy Incorporated Upholstery Group. As president of La-Z-Boy Residential, Darrow will have overall managerial responsibility for the entire division and will report to Case. "Appointing a new president who will be devoted full time to the strategic direction and growth of the single largest division of La-Z-Boy Incorporated was the next step in our restructuring process," said Case. "Kurt was the immediate and natural choice for the position. He has been instrumental in the growth of this division and has the experience and leadership traits necessary to keep La-Z-Boy Residential in the forefront of the industry." Darrow is an industry veteran with more than 22 years of sales and marketing experience at La-Z-Boy. He started his career with the company in 1979 and has held a variety of management positions, including regional sales manager for the western and southern regions, national accounts sales manager, vice president of sales and senior vice president of sales and marketing. Since being appointed vice president of sales in 1987, the annual volume of La-Z-Boy Residential has more than doubled. Darrow is a 1977 graduate of Adrian College (Adrian, Mich.) with a bachelor of arts degree in business administration. He is a board member of the American Furniture Hall of Fame and serves on the executive committee/furniture division of the Anti-Defamation League. Darrow also is a member of the marketing division of the American Furniture Manufacturers Association and a former board member of the Monroe County Chamber of Commerce. He and his wife Renee are residents of Monroe, Mich. Headquartered in Monroe, Mich., La-Z-Boy is the nation’s largest single manufacturer of upholstered furniture and the world’s leading producer of reclining chairs. The company manufactures a full line of products for the living room and family room, including the company’s world-famous recliners, reclining sofas and love seats, sleep sofas, modular furniture and leather upholstery, as well as stationary sofas, love seats and chairs. It is a division of La-Z-Boy Incorporated (NYSE, PCX: LZB), the nation’s largest furniture manufacturer.