The midcentury modern, millennial-focused e-commerce furniture retailer and manufacturer Joybird will become a wholly owned subsidiary of La-Z-Boy in the second quarter of fiscal 2019. Joybird had reported annual revenue last year of approximately $55 million. Terms of the acquisition haven’t yet been disclosed, but La-Z-Boy will share financial information next month.
Joybird is headquartered in Commerce, California, and has manufacturing operations in Tijuana, Mexico. It was founded in 2014 by Alex Del Toro, Andres Hinostroza, Joshua Stellin and Christopher Stormer; the team will stay on to manage sales, customer service, marketing and brand development, as well as the overall operation of the business. La-Z-Boy will provide supply chain support, including procurement and manufacturing.
“Joining forces with La-Z-Boy will be a strategic game changer for our company, as it will provide access to resources and additional capacity,” Stormer said in a statement announcing the acquisition. “We started Joybird with small investments from family and friends and enjoyed rapid growth over the past four years. However, to expand our business further, we need the additional capabilities that La-Z-Boy is providing, including its amazing supply chain with nationwide delivery capabilities. Joining La-Z-Boy provides us with the ability to become the leading online destination for unique, modern and contemporary furniture.”
Kurt L. Darrow, chairman, president and chief executive officer of La-Z-Boy, said in a statement: “The Joybird team has created an incredible brand and online shopping platform, and this combination provides great synergies for both companies. For La-Z-Boy, it will allow us to better reach millennial and Gen X consumers, leverage our supply chain assets and provide us with a greater presence online. For Joybird, the speed of its growth has been constrained by limited capital and production capacity. When we combine our world-class supply chain with Joybird’s current manufacturing capabilities, it will be able to accelerate expansion and better service its customers, by improving production speed and shortening delivery times, while lowering costs. It is truly a complementary scenario, and we look forward to this exciting extension of our business.”
