Steelcase history

The company, launched in 1912 with a single product and fifteen employees, supplies thousands of products worldwide produced by 19,000 employees working in 20.6 million square feet of manufacturing, shipping, and administrative facilities in 11 countries.

Founded by E.F. Hauserman in 1913, it was known for creating the first partition.

In 1914, the company received its first product patent for "The Victor," a fireproof steel wastebasket.

1915 | First Desk Sale The first product line includes safe deposit vault equipment, lockers, strong boxes, steel shelving, and wastebaskets.

1917: Metal Office severs ties to Macey Furniture Company.

Victor became an official trademark in 1918 and eventually became an expanded line of products.

In 1919, the company added steel filing cabinets to its catalog of office furniture.

He became secretary in 1920, and the Wege-Idema-Hunting management team was set for the next three decades.

In 1921 Metal Office hired media consultant Jim Turner to convince the public that wooden office furniture was a thing of the past.

1922: Metal Office begins its independent dealer network, the first in the contract furniture industry.

1924 | Desk Strength and Durability Metal Office Furniture Co. starts to thrive and steel furniture gains acceptance.

In 1925, the Steelcase name began to be placed on desks.

In 1926, Metal Office introduced its “servidor” for hotel room doors, which allowed mail or laundry to be delivered to a guest room through one door on the outside, then accessed through a second door on the inside without breach of security or privacy.

After 1930, Terrell became a Metal Office trademark for shelving, cabinets, and lockers.

The Hunting-Roberts Co. was purchased by Steelcase. It was originally founded by E.C. Roberts and E. Hunting in 1935 as a partnership selling Steelcase and other products on the West Coast.

1936: Metal Office acquires Doehler Manufacturing of New York.

In 1939, Metal Office began production of its first line of chairs.

Acquired in 1940 by Metal Office Furniture Co. (Steelcase, Inc.)

1946 | Multiple 15 Desk Introduced Metal Office Furniture Co. introduces a postwar desk that is designed on 15-inch modules, allowing for better space planning in open offices.

After only two years, Hompe left the board of directors and was replaced as president by Peter Wege, who remained active until his death in 1947.

Metal Office utilized what it had learned in building furniture with interchangeable parts for ships when it introduced the first standard sizing of desks based on a 15-inch multiple in 1949.

Steelcase published its periodical for Steelcase users, called Steelcase Circle, beginning in 1953.

MOFC shareholders voted to adopt the highly-recognized Steelcase trademark as the company name, becoming Steelcase, Incorporated on December 1, 1954.

The design of the “Flightline” series introduced in 1956 was inspired by the look of new aerospace technology.

Sierra Metal Products was founded and associated with the Hunting-Roberts Co. [Exact date is unknown, c.1959.]

It was originally founded in 1961.

1963 | Steelcase Coordinated Offices Introduced Now known as Steelcase, the company launches a national advertising campaign introducing Steelcase Coordinated Offices (SCO) with the message – Steelcase can meet all office furniture needs, including color coordination and installation.

1964: Steelcase acquires Attwood Corporation, of Lowell, Michigan.

The resulting new line featured "matte-textured acrylics and classic personal fabrics." In 1965 Steelcase established itself as the industry leader, achieving record sales volume for the United States and Canada.

Atlier (a.k.a. ai) was acquired by Steelcase in 1987 and included in the Steelcase Design Partnership. It was originally founded in 1967.

Since 1968, they've been the industry leader, earning a reputation as the General Motors of the office furniture industry." Steelcase's sales figures confirm its leadership.

The Designs in Wood line, introduced in 1972, addressed the negative perception of metal furniture.

1973: Joint venture agreement creates Steelcase Japan Ltd. in Osaka.

1974: Joint venture agreement creates Steelcase Strafor in Strasbourg, France; Steelcase Wood Furniture is formed in Fletcher, North Carolina.

In 1975 Steelcase brought out the Sensor chair, the first office chair to sense and support the body's movements according to the occupant's height, weight, and preference.

1978: Vecta of Grand Prairie, Texas joins Steelcase Design Partnership.

The company also introduced a civilian version of the military “C” chair line, which remained in constant production until 1979.

1980: Steelcase Strafor acquires Polschroeder GmbHG of Dortmund, Germany.

The company's current headquarters were built in 1983 on 901 44th St SE in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Known since 1984 as "The Office Environment Company," Steelcase, Inc. is the world's leading designer and manufacturer of office furniture.

1985: Steelcase acquires Stow & Davis, Inc. of Grand Rapids.

1986: Steelcase acquires Hedberg Data Systems, Inc. of East Windsor, Connecticut.

The Beylerian Collection (wholesale designer chairs by George H. Beylerian) was merged into the Vecta line in June 1987.

1988: Design Tex of Woodside, New York and Atelier International of Plainview, new York join Steelcase Design Partnership.

The plan was put into practice at the $111 million Corporate Development Center opened in 1989.

These changes were largely due to the efforts of President and CEO Jerry Myers, who had been running Steelcase since 1990.

1991: Stow Davis joins Steelcase Design Partnership.

In 1992, looking to a future relying increasingly on teamwork and wireless technology, Steelcase demonstrated Harbor, a prototype product of the office of the future, and Commons, a concept that used open space to quickly reconfigure into an ad hoc meeting area.

His replacement was James Hackett, who had been with the company in several executive capacities, notably as president of the Turnstone subsidiary, a successful lower-priced furniture line that had been introduced in September 1993.

Steelcase announced its first annual loss in history for the fiscal year ending in February 1994, and in July Myers was asked to resign by the board of directors.

1995: Joint venture agreement formed with Godrej and Boyce in Bombay, India.

A major setback for Steelcase occurred at the end of 1996, when the company was ordered to pay archrival Haworth $211.5 million to settle an 11-year-old patent infringement lawsuit.

1997: Steelcase announces the first public sale of its stocks.

Steelcase's major product introduction for 1998 had been the Pathways integrated office architecture package.

Airbourne of France was acquired by Steelcase/ Strafor S.A. [Exact date is unknown, c.1999.]

In 2000, the company opened Steelcase University, a center for ongoing employee development and learning.

In 2002, Steelcase partnered with IBM to create BlueSpace, a "smart office" prototype designed using new office technologies.

Steelcase sold Attwood to Brunswick Corp. in 2003.

Steelcase sold its shares back to IDEO's managers starting in 2007.

In 2010, Steelcase and IDEO launched new models for higher education classrooms called LearnLabs.