Office Furniture

Knoll, Inc.

Possibly sporting one of the strangest pedigrees of any company in this week's Industry Snapshot, Knoll <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: KNL)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: KNL)") end if %> began life when it was created by Westinghouse in 1989 after that company acquired a number of smaller office furniture manufacturers. Westinghouse then turned around and sold the company to TKG Acquisition Corp. to make a bigger, badder furniture company. On March 14, the company resulting from the acquisition changed its name to Knoll, Inc. and set up home in East Greenville, Pennsylvania.

Because it trails number one and two in the overall office furniture market, Knoll tries harder. The company plays in all the right markets, selling the same way that larger brethren Steelcase and Herman Miller sell -- its federal filing reads like an in-depth market study of the furniture world. The company runs a very focused management group where each product line is in the hands of one entrepreneurial soul tasked with selling the heck out of it. Each of these managers has used extensive studies to redesign their products in the classic Masters of Business Administration way.

Latest Financials

Knoll's historical financials have been restated as a result of the mergers and integration the company has undergone over the past few months. For the second quarter ended June 30, the company earned $0.43 per share on $212.6 million in revenues versus $0.22 per share on $166.5 million a year ago.

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