La-Z-Boy Partners With Faith Popcorn To Produce Recliners For Women

Furniture World Magazine

La-Z-Boy, the nation’s leading manufacturer of upholstered furniture, announced it has signed an agreement with the internationally respected trend forecaster Faith Popcorn to produce a line of recliners made for women. The line will be based on the concept of "Cocooning," which is the desire to surround oneself with warmth, comfort and tranquility at home. "Faith Popcorn’s understanding of what women want, coupled with her reputation as a world-famous futurist, make her an ideal partner for La-Z-Boy," said Greg White, vice president of merchandising for La-Z-Boy. "Women have very specific requirements of their furniture, and together with Faith Popcorn we plan to provide a line of recliners that delivers what women have told us they want in a chair." Faith Popcorn’s BrainReserve, the marketing consultancy founded in 1974 for which Faith Popcorn serves as the chief strategist, conducted extensive research into the specific features women look for in reclining chairs. The results of this research were used to design the new collection of recliners. "Women are traditionally the furniture buyers in the household, yet there has not been a strong emphasis on recliners for women until recently," said Faith Popcorn. "Women need a place to ‘cocoon’ that they can call their own. And that’s what we’ve created with these chairs. The closely guarded new collection will be unveiled at a press event in the La-Z-Boy showroom at the International Home Furnishings Market on Thursday, October 18, at 11:00 a.m. Faith Popcorn’s books include EVEolution and The Popcorn Report, and she has identified such sweeping societal concepts as "Cashing Out," "Anchoring," and "Pleasure Revenged." Her next book, Dictionary of the Future, will be on the shelves in December. Fortune 500 companies including American Express, McDonald’s, Procter and Gamble, Pennzoil-Quaker State and GE Capital have enlisted Faith Popcorn and Faith Popcorn’s BrainReserve, to advise and enlighten them on consumer attitudes, emerging patterns and brand positioning. 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.