Hooker Furniture to purchase Sam Moore

By John Barnhart
Hooker Furniture Corporation, a Martinsville


furniture manufacturer, plans to buy Bedford’s Sam Moore Furniture.
Hooker and Sam Moore’s current owner, La-Z-Boy Incorporated, announced Tuesday afternoon that they had signed a letter of intent for Hooker to purchase the Bedford company. Sam Moore manufactures high-end chairs with an emphasis on fabric-to-frame customization. La-Z-Boy has owned the local company since 1998.
“This acquisition would help us attain one of our strategic goals to further diversify into fabric Upholstery,” commented Paul B. Toms Jr., chairman, chief executive officer and president of Hooker.
The purchase is not expected to result in any layoffs at the company.
Hooker purchased Bradington-Young in 2003. This company produces upscale leather upholstered furniture. Toms expects the combination of the two chair manufacturers to generate $100 million in annual sales and boost the company’s total revenue to nearly $400 million.
“We believe there is a good future for domestically-produced upholstery, especially for a company that offers customization, and 60 percent of Sam Moore’s business is special order,” Toms stated in a press release.
Mike Moldenhauer, president of Sam Moore, agrees. He said that there is a niche for furniture manufacturers that offer special orders.
“You just can’t do special orders across the ocean,” he noted.
Sam Moore has more than a decade of experience filling special orders.
“Sam Moore is a great company with an excellent product line and customer base,” noted Kurt Darrow, president and chief executive officer of La-Z-Boy. Darrow said, however, that Sam Moore doesn’t fit La-Z-Boy’s long term strategic direction.
Moldenhauer said that he’s looking forward to linking up with a Virginia-based company.
“I agreed to stay on and not retire,” he commented.
“We are looking forward to a successful courtship,” he added.
The process is like a courtship that leads to an engagement followed by marriage. The letter of intent that Hooker and La-Z-Boy signed begins a process that culminates in that actual sale, which Moldenhauer expects to take place in late April. Hooker, according to the letter of intent, will make a cash purchase of all Sam Moore assets, which include property, plant, equipment, inventories and accounts receivable. Sam Moore’s 325,000 square-foot production facility and corporate offices are located on Dawn Drive in Bedford.
“I think this whole thing is good for us,” Moldenhauer commented.
He said that both Hooker and Sam Moore already use the same distribution channels. A third of Hooker’s sales force formerly worked for Sam Moore.
Moldenhauer announced the impending sale to Sam Moore employees Tuesday afternoon, about 40 minutes before the 4 p.m. joint announcement by the two companies.
Hooker has closed two facilities that it owned, one in Roanoke and one in Martinsville. Moldenhauer said that neither of these produced chairs or upholstered furniture. They made tables and wall systems which, he said, do not lend themselves to special orders. The ability to fill custom orders is how an American furniture manufacturer competes with China, he noted.
Hooker, last week announced a record annual net sales of $350 million for the year which ended Nov. 30, according to Business Wire. The company’s annual net income was a 12.8 percent per-share increase over the previous year.