A Brief History of Bush Industries, Inc.
1959 - 2004

Jamestown, N.Y. - Forty-four years ago Paul Bush founded a small company in Little Valley, N.Y. It was named Starline Housewares and it had six employees. For seven years, the company faced a discouraging string of challenges until Bush, a minority stockholder, took complete control of the business. 

The company's bedrock achievement was its success conceiving and patenting the industry's first flat packed hamper. "You could put it together yourself in sixty seconds," Bush recalls. This groundbreaking invention set the stage for the company that would later become Bush Industries, a leading global furniture manufacture.

 In 1972, the company successfully introduced a television stand that was literally snapped together and sold by mass merchandisers all across America. Three years later, the company officially became Bush Industries, designing ready-to-assemble (RTA) furniture that was much more responsive to changing consumer lifestyles than traditional case goods. "We wanted to make furniture for the way people really live," says Bush. "And that's what we've dedicated ourselves to do."

 By 1979, technology was causing sweeping changes in American lifestyles. Bush Industries became the first RTA manufacturer to offer wood solids and veneers, and by 1983 the company was enjoying unprecedented success with the first of its innovative computer furniture products.

In 1984, construction began on a new corporate headquarters in Jamestown, N.Y. In 1996, in response to its continuous growth, the company constructed a new one million square-foot manufacturing and distribution center in nearby Erie, Pennsylvania.  

In 1997 Bush acquired the Röhr Gruppe, the 10^th largest German furniture manufacturer, and renamed it Rohr-Bush GmbH NCO. The acquisition gave Bush its entry into the case goods, or assembled, furniture market. It also formed a wholly owned German subsidiary, Bush-Vio Technik GmbH, to serve the fast-growing European market for advanced surface technologies in diverse industries including furniture, automotive, electronics and construction.

The formation of a new business segment aimed at the commercial office furniture category followed in 1998. Marketed under the name Bush Business Furniture, the business segment was launched to complement the company's core furniture business for the home and small office. It provides small business to medium corporate consumers with modular, flexible, commercial office furniture.

In 2002 the Eric Morgan brand of casegoods home furniture was launched. These collections of European-styled furnishings provided Bush Industries with strategic diversification of its product line as well as distribution channels.

New product innovations, technological advancements and quality marketing services contributed to Bush Industries' rank as one of the fastest growing American furniture manufacturers in the 1990s. Today, Bush Industries employs more than 2,600 people worldwide and markets its products in 50 countries.

"Being a world class company means having the ability and talent to compete on a global basis with anybody," says Bush. "We listen to our customers. We listen to consumers. And we listen to our people. Our commitment to quality, service, innovation and value is a giant step toward providing people with furniture for the way they live."