Woodard Furniture – History of Excellence

Traditional styles blended with modern, smart and sophisticated looks – Woodard Furniture has over 150 years history of excellence that has set a benchmark of quality and creativity when it comes to home furnishing. Using the age-old art of hand-forming and the latest high technology manufacturing processes, Woodard is a name that symbolizes unparalleled beauty, grace, and glamor. However, their trademark of excellence lies in the Aluminum designs that include cast aluminum furniture made with only the highest grade of raw materials and the resulting durability and beauty carry a league of its own. Apart from this, Woodard also is known for its all season wicker made from resilient weather-resistant materials. In short, when you shop for Woodard Outdoor Furniture, you choose to purchase a history and legacy of excellence to adorn your backyard.

Well, that said, let's take a look at this legacy and the history of excellence that Woodard is so renowned for:

• Founded by Lyman Woodard in 1866, this company has seen a lot of transformation and has evolved into a unique brand since then.

• Initially, Lyman Woodard purchased a lumber-planing mill in the boomtown of Owosso, Michigan. This was supposed to be a stepping stone on the way to New York. They manufactured wooden furniture, window and door sashes, pine boxes caskets and blinds. This continued until 1882. The original plant unfortunately burned down in 1898.

• Lyman, however, built a new facility which was taken over by Fred, Lee and Frank along with his son in law Osburn.

• In 1930's the wooden furniture line saw a setback due to the low and dwindling supply of timber in Michigan. However, the Owosso's casket factory was known as the world's largest in the 1920's but had to close in the 1950's.

• Lee's sons Russell and Lyman and Joseph operated Lee L. Woodard. This family developed the first collection of hand-crafted wrought iron furniture. This in-turn marked the birth of casual outdoor furniture. Above all this was a trailblazer that led to casual furniture designs that could be made from a variety of materials such as cast aluminum. The Woodard metal furniture can be dated back to the 1930's and 40's.

• With time and changing lifestyles, this company laid more emphasis on comfort and entered the tubular aluminum market and began crafting cast aluminum furniture that has a perfect blend of traditional and upscale looks. These pieces of furniture are manufactured with the finest materials available and have a state of the art finishing.

• The company built a new plant in 1996 in the Owosso Industrial Park which is nearly a city block size. The new facility had the capacity to produce 3,000 pieces of furniture a week which rounded up to 175,000 pieces a year.

• In the early 2000's Woodard consolidated many its manufacturing facilities and closed a few plants too.

• In 2011, they received the prestigious Design Excellence Award from the National Furniture Manufacturers Association.

• After acquiring the woven outdoor furniture specialist, Whitecraft in 2013, there was no looking back!

• In 2015, the demand for the mid-century modern furnishings led the company to revive its iconic Sculptura collection.

This year marked the 150th anniversary of the Woodard Furniture company and warranted a year – long celebration.

Today, Woodard is a name that stands for creativity, craftsmanship, quality and excellence. It's a 150-year long glamorous history of living in style.

Aminis has an exclusive collection of Woodard outdoor furniture online. You can check out the outdoor deep seating or dining sets and select something that will perfectly beautify your backyard.

Richard Colbert loves writing. I write on almost all topics that are informative and knowledgeable. Our aim is to provide the best information to all of our visitors.