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Furniture Industry Archives
Advertising ➔ Catalog Advertisement, Alexis Furniture Company
Identifier:
204512Description:
An advertisement sample from a furniture trade catalog. Furniture trade catalogs contained useful information for buyers including the name of the furniture piece, the dimensions, a purchase number, descriptive notes of the furniture, and company information. Today, trade catalogs are often used to identify the authenticity of antique furniture and serve as artifacts of late 19th and early 20th century America.Date:
1945 – 1960Materials:
PaperDimensions:
8" h 10" wCurrent Location Status:
In StorageCollection Tier:
Tier 2Source:
Museum CollectionRelated Entity:
Alexis Manufacturing Company (creator)Grand Rapids, Michigan.
In 1946 father and son team Ivan and Norman Alexis started Alexis Manufacturing, and soon, after the war, Evart Erickson joined them. The business started at the Farmer’s Warehouse at Coldbrook and Plainfield. The beginning product was occasional tables but switched to chairs when Carlton Surrey asked for their production help. They soon outgrew this facility and built a building themselves on Opel Street on the south side of Grand Rapids.
The business prospered and moved to 1400 Front Street in 1965. The main product line was still the manufacturing of chairs for other manufacturers. In 1974 Hekman Furniture Co., then owned by Beatrice Foods, bought Alexis to produce chairs for their company. While Alexis did manufacture Hekman product, the company continued to produce chairs for other fine furniture manufacturers. In 1983 Beatrice Foods sold Hekman to Howard Miller Clock Company.
Through the support of Howard Miller Clock Company and the continued growth of Alexis Manufacturing, the plant moved again in 1997 to 3188 Wilson, on the north west side of Walker.
