In 1932, two New Yorkers, Theodore Baumritter and his brother-in-law Nathan Ancell, founded The Baumritter Corp, which was a housewares sales agency. This was during what many consider to be the worst year of the great depression, and unfortunately, people just didn’t have extra money for their household items at the time. As a result, Baumritter and Ancell initially ended up losing a lot of the money they had originally invested in the company. In 1936, they purchased a furniture factory located in Beecher Falls, Vermont. Ancell and Baumritter quickly fell in love with Vermont. They decided to name their furniture company Ethan Allen after the revolutionary leader from Vermont. In 1939, his furniture line made its grand in-store debut.
His first collection was a grouping of 28 pieces of early American furniture. In 1962, Ancell and Baumritter owned 14 furniture factories in the East. By the mid-1960s, The Baumritter Corp had by far the largest furniture group in the world, with a line of 1,600 pieces to choose from. Also in the mid-1960s, there were approximately 700 Ethan Allen stores in the United States. They also had Ethan Allen stores at the time in Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Australia, and Canada. In 1970 Baumritter retired. In 1972, The Baumritter Corp officially changed its name to Ethan Allen Industries and they ran their first series of national television ads. During this time, in the early ’70s, they also moved their headquarters from New York City to Danbury, Connecticut. In addition, around this time, they began to produce curtains, wallpaper, oriental rugs, and roll rugs.
In 1988, Mr. Fahrooq Kathwari took Ancell’s place as Chairman and CEO. Around 1985, when the company realized that Early American Furniture was no longer in high demand, they set out to create some new furniture designs that met with great success. Just to name a few, there was the American Dimensions line that focused on accentuating geometric shapes, Country Crossings that showcased rustic-looking furniture, and the Legacy line that was inspired by Italian architecture. In 1991, Ethan Allen began offering wall décor, bedding, textiles, lamps, and other home décor items in his store.
In 2008, Ethan Allen products became available for purchase over the Internet. An interesting fact to note is that over seventy percent of their cherry, maple, and alder wood pieces are made in the United States. Over the years, Ethan Allen has grown into a tremendously successful company. As of June 2008, they were said to have sales of approximately $980.0 million, with net income of $58.1 million.
