The Ethan Allen Furniture Story

In 1932, two New Yorkers, Theodore Baumritter and his brother-in-law Nathan Ancell, founded The Baumritter Corp, which was a housewares agency. This was during what many consider to be the worst year of the great depression and unfortunately people just didn’t have any spare money for their household items at the time. As a result, Baumritter and Ancell initially ended up losing much of the money they had originally invested in the company. In 1936, they purchased a furniture factory located in Beecher Falls, Vermont. Ancell and Baumritter quickly fell in love with Vermont. They decided to name their furniture company Ethan Allen after the revolutionary leader from Vermont. In 1939, his furniture line made its grand debut inside stores.

His first collection was a grouping of 28 pieces of early American furniture. By 1962, Ancell and Baumritter owned 14 furniture factories in the East. By the mid-1960s, The Baumritter Corp had by far the largest furniture group in the world, with a line of 1,600 pieces to choose from. Also in the mid-1960s, there were approximately 700 Ethan Allen stores in the United States. They also had Ethan Allen stores at the time in Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Australia, and Canada. In 1970, Baumritter retired. In 1972, The Baumritter Corp officially changed its name to Ethan Allen Industries and ran its first series of national television commercials. During this time, in the early 1970s, they also moved their headquarters from New York City to Danbury, Connecticut. Also, around this time, they began to produce curtains, wallpaper, oriental rugs, and roll rugs.

In 1988, Mr. Fahrooq Kathwari took over from Ancell as Chairman and CEO. Around 1985, when the company realized that Early American Furniture was no longer in high demand, they set out to create some new furniture designs that were very successful. Just to name a few, there was the American Dimensions line that focused on accentuating geometric shapes, Country Crossings that showcased rustic-looking furniture, and the Legacy line that drew inspiration from Italian architecture. In 1991, Ethan Allen began offering wall décor, bedding, textiles, lamps, and other home décor items in his store.

In 2008, Ethan Allen products became available for purchase over the Internet. An interesting fact to note is that more than seventy percent of their cherry, maple, and alder wood pieces are made in the United States. Over the years, Ethan Allen has become a tremendously successful company. As of June 2008, they were said to have sales of approximately $980.0 million, with a net income of $58.1 million.