Geek of the Week: Furniture designer Ethan Pearl on the future office and how COVID rearranges it all

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Friday, 21 August, 2020

Six months into a global health crisis that has redefined where and how many of us work, Ethan Pearl is ready to talk about what we’re missing at the office. Specifically, the office furniture designer wants us to reimagine what it will mean to go back, how we can do it safely and where everyone will sit.

As an industrial designer for Poulsbo, Wash.-based Watson Furniture Group, Pearl’s job is to bring ideas to life, sketching, computer modeling and hand crafting physical prototypes. Our latest Geek of the Week is a Pacific Northwest native who graduated from the Industrial Design program at the University of Washington.

Read full article here: (GeekWire)

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Will Big Office Furniture Companies Survive COVID-19?

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Thursday, 20 Aug, 2020

If you took a walk through the average office space in the recent past, you could hardly make it from the front desk to the conference room without seeing a fleet of Herman Miller Aeron or Steelcase Leap chairs. These brands represent the gold standard in corporate ergonomics and design, and are seen everywhere from Fortune 500 boardrooms to open floor plan startups looking to make a good first impression.

Read full article here: (Architectural Digest)

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Safco acquires Mayline office furniture; second buy this year

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Wednesday, 19 August, 2020

MINNEAPOLIS – Safco Products Co. announced it will acquire office furniture manufacturer Mayline Co. LLC. Terms of the transaction, which is expected to close by September, were not disclosed.

Headquartered in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, Mayline manufactures workspaces, desks and storage systems, seating, tables and other contract furniture items. Products are manufactured primarily in Sheboygan, and the company has a distribution center in North Little Rock, Arkansas. Mayline employs approximately 220 people.

Read full article here: (Woodworking Network)

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Work-from-home boom is a bust for big office furniture makers

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Wednesday, 19 August, 2020

America’s biggest office furniture manufacturers got the rug pulled out from under them by the COVID-19 pandemic.

For decades, producers like Herman Miller Inc. and Steelcase Inc. focused on selling through their own dealers to companies that bought ergonomic chairs and desks by the truckload and employed teams of designers and technicians to deliver and install them. None of them were prepared for a flood of orders for a single adjustable desk from stay-at-home workers suddenly trying to figure out how to conduct Zoom meetings from spare bedrooms.

Read full article here: (Business World)

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Office systems maker Trendway introduces line of interior air purifiers

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Monday, 17 August, 2020

HOLLAND, Mich. — Trendway has announced the addition of the AeraMax Pro air purifiers to its nationwide distribution channel of over 350 dealers. With a four-stage filtration system, AeraMax Pro blocks, captures and traps airborne particles, including viruses, bacteria and fungi, through its True HEPA filter, It reportedly removes up to 99.97 percent of contaminated airborne particles as small as 0.3 microns in an environment. Trendway’s parent organization, Fellowes, has been providing award-winning air purification solutions for over a decade.

Read full article here: (Woodworking Network)

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Component supplier Hickory Springs lays off 59 in Indiana

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Tuesday, 13 August, 2020

NEW CASTLE, Ind. – North Carolina-based furniture component maker Hickory Springs Manufacturing (HSM) will lay off 59 workers at one of its Indiana plants.
HSM says the pandemic forced its hand, citing “unforeseen business circumstances associated with COVID-19.” The affected employees amount to around half of the total workforce at the plant. Layoffs will be permanent and there will be no bumping rights.

Demand for office furniture increases as many San Antonio children learn from home

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Thursday, 13 August, 2020

SAN ANTONIO – Glenn Gonzales’ school supplies list for his fourth-grade son includes more than paper and pencils. He needs a place for his child to learn without distractions from home while learning virtually.

“We wanted to set up a little area, ‘Hey, you are in school, not playing. You don’t get up and go to the fridge,’ We wanted structure where he knows he’s in class,” Gonzales said.

Classes will look different for many kids who will be logging in virtually from kitchens and bedrooms. Slouched on the couch or floor is not the most conducive environment for learning.

Read full article here: (KSAT)

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Kimball’s moves position company for changing markets, growth potential

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Wednesday, 12 August, 2020

Last week, Kimball International announced it would be reorganizing the company to address changes in the industry brought about by the pandemic.

The new organization is comprised of four market-centric business units; Workplace, Health, Hospitality, and eBusiness. According to the company, the new organization will enable it to maximize growth opportunities in today’s marketplace. This next phase of the Kimball International Connect Strategy designated Connect 2.0, specifically addresses the changing industry dynamics brought about by the COVID-19 health crisis and its aftermath.

Read full article here: (Dubois County Free Press, Inc)

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Knoll boosts work-from-home furnishings sales

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Wednesday, 12 August, 2020

EAST GREENVILLE, Pa. – Contract furniture manufacturer Knoll Inc. reported $274.1 million is net sales for the second quarter ended June 30 — a 25.4% dip compared to the same period in 2019. Knoll said a bigger revenue decline was mitigated by “strong work from home results and channel diversification.”

The company reported a net loss of $9.6 million loss for Q2 compared to a $21.6 million profit one year ago.

Read full article here: (Woodworking Network)

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Humanscale Partners with ecomedes to Make it Easier to Source and Buy Sustainable Office Furniture

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Tuesday, 11 August, 2020

Humanscale, the leading designer and manufacturer of ergonomic products that improve the health and comfort of work life, today announced a partnership with ecomedes, a pioneer of solutions that support sustainable building product purchasing, and the launch of a new portal that will simplify the discovery and evaluation of Humanscale products for workspace furniture buyers concerned with health and sustainability. Designed for use by building owners, designers, distributors and AEC professionals seeking furniture that meets sustainability requirements cost-effectively, the portal leverages a free-access sustainable product search engine from ecomedes that includes over 10,000 different building product brands and 700,000 unique building products. The Humanscale portal is customized to meet the specific needs of Humanscale’s customer audiences and internal teams. For a demo of how to use this portal, please watch this video.

Read full article here: (PRWEB)

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