Kurt Darrow - La Z Boy

Kurt L. Darrow

Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer

 

Kurt Darrow is the Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of La-Z-Boy Incorporated, a New York Stock Exchange-listed company (LZB), with fiscal 2018 revenues of $1.58 billion. An out-of-the-box strategist and heralded by Wall Street as a turnaround specialist, he was the architect of the company’s transformation from solely a chair manufacturer to one that manufactures and offers stylish furniture for every room in the home. Under Darrow’s leadership, La-Z-Boy became the most recognized brand in the furniture industry, is the largest reclining chair manufacturer worldwide and is the second-largest manufacturer/distributor of furniture in the United States. La-Z-Boy products are sold through a multitude of distribution outlets, including the La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries® store system, traditional retailers and online.

 

Before his appointment as President and CEO of La-Z-Boy in 2003, and Chairman in 2011, Darrow was President of La-Z-Boy Residential, the company’s flagship brand and largest division. Among his many career accomplishments was the rapid expansion and evolution of the company’s branded distribution system into one of the largest in the industry. Part and parcel to that was the development of the La-Z-Boy Integrated Retail model. This strategy, coupled with the transformation of the company’s global supply chain, set the company on a course for consistent growth and profitability while carving out a distinct niche within the marketplace and strengthening its competitive positioning with a mass customization and speed-to-market proposition.

 

Within the furniture industry, Darrow has held numerous prominent roles at the American Home Furnishings Alliance (AHFA), the American Furniture Hall of Fame Foundation, Inc., and currently serves as an Executive Board Member of the Anti-Defamation League’s Furniture Division. Additionally, he has received a number of prestigious awards, including his induction into the American Home Furnishings Hall of Fame in 2018, being honored in 2015 with the City of Hope Spirit of Life Award, the 2013 Distinguished Service Award from the American Home Furnishings Alliance and, in 2003, he was the recipient of the Anti-Defamation League’s American Heritage Award.

 

Darrow is a Member of the Board of Directors for CMS Energy Corporation, and the Board and Executive Committee of Business Leaders for Michigan.  He also serves on the board of the ProMedica Board of Trustees, an integrated healthcare organization, based in Toledo, Ohio, serving communities in 30 states.

 

He attended Adrian College where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in business administration and was then awarded an Honorary Doctorate in 2009 and was privileged to give the Commencement Address to that year’s graduating class.  He also served as a Member of the college’s Board of Trustees from 2002 to 2011.

 

Residents of Monroe, Michigan, Darrow and his wife, Renee, enjoy spending time with their 16 nieces and nephews, playing golf and traveling.  They are active in their church and community, and support a variety of local and national philanthropic organizations.

 

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