Item 1. Business
ITEM 1. BUSINESS.
Edward M. Knabusch and Edwin J. Shoemaker started Floral City Furniture in 1927, and in 1928 the newly formed company introduced its first recliner. In 1941, we were incorporated in the state of Michigan as La-Z-Boy Chair Company, and in 1996 we changed our name to La-Z-Boy Incorporated. Today, our La-Z-Boy brand is one of the most recognized brands in the furniture industry.
We are the leading global producer of reclining chairs and the second largest manufacturer/distributor of residential furniture in the United States . The La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries ® stores retail network is the third largest retailer of single-branded furniture in the United States . We manufacture, market, import, export, distribute and retail upholstery furniture products under the La-Z-Boy ® , England, Kincaid ® , and Joybird ® tradenames. In addition, we import, distribute and retail accessories and casegoods (wood) furniture products under the Kincaid ® , American Drew ® , Hammary ® , and Joybird ® tradenames.
As of April 29, 2023, our supply chain operations included the following:
• Five major manufacturing locations and 12 distribution centers in the United States and four facilities in Mexico to support our speed-to-market and customization strategy
• A logistics company that distributes a portion of our products in the United States
• A wholesale sales office that is responsible for distribution of our product in the United Kingdom and Ireland
• An upholstery manufacturing business in the United Kingdom
• A global trading company in Hong Kong which helps us manage our Asian supply chain by establishing and maintaining relationships with our Asian suppliers, as well as identifying efficiencies and savings opportunities
During the third quarter of fiscal 2023, we made the decision to close our manufacturing facility in Torreón, Mexico as part of our initiative to drive improved efficiencies through optimized staffing levels within our plants. Torreón was the last facility to begin operating as part of our broader Mexico manufacturing expansion in fiscal 2021 and 2022 to meet pandemic-related upholstery demand and accounted for approximately 3% of our La-Z-Boy branded production. As a result of this action, charges were recorded within the Wholesale segment in the third and fourth quarters of fiscal 2023 totaling $9.2 million in selling, general, and administrative expense for the impairment of various assets, primarily long-lived assets, and $1.6 million in cost of sales, primarily related to severance.
We also participate in two consolidated joint ventures in Thailand that support our international businesses: one that operates a manufacturing facility and another that operates a wholesale sales office. Additionally, we have contracts with several suppliers in Asia to produce products that support our pure import model for casegoods.
We sell our products through multiple channels: to furniture retailers or distributors in the United States, Canada, and approximately 50 other countries, including the United Kingdom, China, Australia, South Korea and New Zealand; directly to consumers through retail stores that we own and operate; and through our websites, www.la-z-boy.com and www.joybird.com.
• The centerpiece of our retail distribution strategy is our network of 349 La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries ® stores and 522 La-Z-Boy Comfort Studio ® locations, each dedicated to marketing our La-Z-Boy branded products. We consider this dedicated space to be "proprietary."
◦ La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries ® stores help consumers furnish their homes by combining the style, comfort, and quality of La-Z-Boy furniture with our available design services. We own 171 of the La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries ® stores, while the remainder are independently owned and operated.
◦ La-Z-Boy Comfort Studio ® locations are defined spaces within larger independent retailers that are dedicated to displaying and selling La-Z-Boy branded products. All 522 La-Z-Boy Comfort Studio ® locations are independently owned and operated.
◦ In total, we have approximately 7.6 million square feet of proprietary floor space dedicated to selling La-Z-Boy branded products in North America.
◦ We also have approximately 2.6 million square feet of floor space outside of the United States and Canada dedicated to selling La-Z-Boy branded products.
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• Our other brands, England, American Drew, Hammary, and Kincaid enjoy distribution through many of the same outlets, with slightly over half of Hammary’s sales originating through the La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries ® store network.
◦ Kincaid and England have their own dedicated proprietary in-store programs with 614 outlets and approximately 1.9 million square feet of proprietary floor space.
◦ In total, our proprietary floor space includes approximately 12.1 million square feet worldwide.
• Joybird sells product primarily online and has a limited amount of proprietary retail showroom floor space including ten small-format stores in key urban markets.
Principal Products and Industry Segments
Our reportable operating segments include the Wholesale segment and the Retail segment. Our Wholesale segment manufactures and imports upholstered and casegoods (wood) furniture and sells directly to La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries ® stores, operators of La-Z-Boy Comfort Studio ® locations, branded space locations, England Custom Comfort Center locations, major dealers, and a wide cross-section of other independent retailers. Our Retail segment primarily sells upholstered furniture, in addition to some casegoods and other accessories, to end consumers through our company-owned La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries ® stores.
We have provided additional detailed information regarding our segments and their products in Note 17, Segment Information,
to our consolidated financial statements and Item 7, "Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" section, both of which are included in this report.
Raw Materials and Parts
The principal raw materials and parts used for manufacturing that are purchased are cover (primarily fabrics and leather), polyester batting and polyurethane foam for cushioning and padding, lumber and plywood for frames, steel for motion mechanisms, electrical components for power units and various other metal components for fabrication of product. We purchase most of our polyurethane foam from two suppliers, which have several facilities across the United States that deliver to our plants. We purchase cover from a variety of sources, but we rely on a limited number of major suppliers. We purchase more than half of our cover in a raw state (fabric rolls or leather hides) primarily from suppliers in China, then cut and sew it into cover in our cut and sew facilities in Mexico. We purchase the remainder of our cut and sewn leather and fabric kits from five main suppliers primarily from China as well as Vietnam. We use these suppliers primarily for their product design capabilities and to balance our mix of in-sourced and out-sourced production. If any of these suppliers experience financial or other difficulties, we could experience temporary disruptions in our manufacturing process until we find alternative sources of supply.
We manage our Asian supply chain through our global trading company in Hong Kong, which works to identify efficiencies and savings opportunities, while verifying La-Z-Boy quality standards are being adhered to and managing the relationships with our Asian suppliers.
During fiscal 2022 and the first half of fiscal 2023, the prices of materials we use in our upholstery manufacturing process increased, driven by supply chain challenges due to COVID-19, higher demand for raw materials in manufacturing sectors and the home furnishings industry due to an economic sector rotation, and inflationary cost pressure. During the second half of fiscal 2023, raw material prices began to decrease relative to the historic highs experienced in the prior year, but are still well above pre-pandemic levels. As we begin fiscal 2024, we anticipate that prices will remain relatively consistent with those seen at the end of fiscal 2023, with potential increases due to economic volatility and price inflation in our core materials. To the extent that we again experience incremental costs in any of these areas, as we did in fiscal 2023, we may increase our selling prices or assess material surcharges to offset the impact. However, increases in selling prices, or surcharges, may not fully mitigate the impact of raw material cost increases, which could adversely impact operating profits.
Finished Goods Imports
Imported finished goods represented 7% and 6% of our consolidated sales in fiscal 2023 and 2022, respectively. In fiscal 2023, we purchased 74% of this imported product from five suppliers based in Asia. We use these suppliers primarily to leverage our buying power, to control quality and product flow, and because their capabilities align with our product design needs. If any of these suppliers experience financial or other difficulties, we could experience disruptions in our product flow until we obtain
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alternate suppliers, which could be lengthy due to the longer lead time required for sourced wood furniture from Asian manufacturers.
The prices we paid for these imported products, including associated transportation costs, decreased throughout 2023 compared with fiscal 2022 when costs increased drastically due to the constrained supply chain along with the lack of shipping container availability. In fiscal 2024, we anticipate our product costs will stabilize.
Seasonal Business
Our business has historically displayed seasonal patterns driven by consumer behavior with demand highest in the winter months as discretionary spend tends to shift toward travel and leisure activities during the summer months. For our wholesale businesses, our fiscal fourth quarter has historically had the highest volume of delivered sales relative to other quarters. For our retail businesses, which includes our company-owned retail stores, our fiscal third quarter typically has the highest volume of delivered sales relative to other quarters.
In a typical year, we schedule production to maintain consistent manufacturing activity throughout the year whenever possible. During the summer months, the furniture industry generally experiences weaker demand, and as such we typically shut down our domestic plants for one week each fiscal year to perform routine maintenance on our equipment. Accordingly, for our wholesale business, the first quarter is usually the Company's weakest quarter in terms of sales and earnings. Also driven by the seasonal slowdown in the summer, each of our retail businesses typically experience their lowest sales in our fiscal first quarter.
During the last three fiscal years, our sales volume and production schedule did not follow typical trends due to the impact of COVID-19. As a result of the significant backlog built in prior years driven by heightened demand during the COVID-19 pandemic, in fiscal 2023, our wholesale and retail businesses both experienced their largest sales volume in the second quarter of fiscal 2023. We anticipate that typical seasonal trends in the furniture industry will return to normal in fiscal 2024.
Economic Cycle and Purchasing Cycle
Our sales are impacted by the overall growth of the furniture industry, which is primarily influenced by economic growth, existing and new housing activity, and consumer discretionary spending. In addition, consumer confidence, employment rates, inflation and interest rates, consumer savings levels, international trade policies, and other factors could affect demand. During fiscal 2021 and the beginning of fiscal 2022, we experienced heightened demand as more discretionary spending was allocated to the home furnishings industry due to the impact of COVID-19. However, during fiscal 2023, demand trends have returned to pre-pandemic patterns and therefore, in fiscal 2024, we anticipate furniture demand and purchasing cycles to respond to macroeconomic conditions as they historically have.
Upholstered furniture has a shorter life cycle than casegoods furniture because upholstered furniture is typically more fashion and design-oriented and is often purchased one or two pieces at a time. Purchases and demand for consumer goods, including upholstered furniture, fluctuate based on consumer confidence. Casegoods products, in contrast, are longer-lived and frequently purchased in groupings or "suites," resulting in a much larger cost to the consumer. As a result, casegoods sales are more sensitive to economic conditions, including growth or a slowdown in the housing market, whereas upholstered furniture normally exhibits a less volatile sales pattern over an economic cycle.
Practices Regarding Working Capital Items
The following describes our significant practices regarding working capital items.
Inventory: For our upholstery business within our Wholesale segment, we maintain raw materials and work-in-process inventory at our manufacturing locations. Finished goods inventory is maintained at our 12 distribution centers as well as our manufacturing locations. Our distribution centers allow us to streamline the warehousing and distribution processes for our La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries ® store network, including both company-owned stores and independently-owned stores. Our distribution centers also allow us to reduce the number of individual warehouses needed to supply our retail outlets and help us reduce inventory levels at our manufacturing and retail locations.
For our casegoods business within our Wholesale segment, we import wood furniture from Asian vendors, resulting in long lead times on these products. To address these long lead times and meet our customers' delivery requirements, we typically maintain higher levels of finished goods inventory in our warehouses, as a percentage of sales, of our casegoods products than our upholstery products.
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Our company-owned La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries ® stores have finished goods inventory at the stores for display purposes.
Our Joybird business maintains raw materials and work-in-process inventory at its manufacturing location. Joybird finished goods inventory is maintained at our distribution centers, at its manufacturing and warehouse locations, or in-transit to the end consumer.
Our inventory decreased $26.9 million as of year end fiscal 2023 compared with year end fiscal 2022 primarily due to higher inventory levels at the end of fiscal 2022 to support increased sales demand and manufacturing capacity and to reduce the impact associated with volatility in raw material availability. Additionally, inventory balances at the end of fiscal 2023 were lower as we have worked down our backlog toward pre-pandemic levels and aligned production with incoming order trends. We actively manage our inventory levels on an ongoing basis to ensure they are appropriate relative to our sales volume, while maintaining our focus on service to our customers.
Accounts Receivable: Our accounts receivable decreased $58.2 million as of year end fiscal 2023 compared with year end fiscal 2022. The decrease in accounts receivable was primarily due to lower fourth quarter sales in fiscal 2023 compared with the same period a year ago as the prior year benefited from sales generated from the backlog built up in prior periods combined with the realization of pricing and surcharge actions taken in response to rising manufacturing costs.
Additionally, our allowance for receivable credit losses was $1.4 million higher at the end of fiscal 2023 compared with the end of fiscal 2022 reflecting uncertainty in the economic outlook. We monitor our customers' accounts, limit our credit exposure to certain independent dealers and strive to decrease our days' sales outstanding where possible.
Accounts Payable: Our accounts payable increased $3.4 million as of year end fiscal 2023 compared with year end fiscal 2022, primarily due to higher marketing costs during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023 compared with the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022.
Customer Deposits: We collect a deposit from our customers at the time a customer order is placed in one of our company-owned retail stores or through our websites, www.la-z-boy.com and www.joybird.com. Customer deposits decreased $77.5 million as of fiscal year end 2023 compared with fiscal year end 2022, as we worked down our backlog toward pre-pandemic levels.
Customers
Our wholesale customers are furniture retailers. While primarily located throughout the United States and Canada, we also have customers located in various other countries, including the United Kingdom, China, Australia, South Korea and New Zealand. Sales in our Wholesale segment are primarily to third-party furniture retailers, but we also sell directly to end consumers through our company-owned La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries ® stores that make up our Retail segment and through our websites, www.la-z-boy.com and www.joybird.com.
We have formal agreements with many furniture retailers for them to display and merchandise products from one or more of our operating units and sell them to consumers in dedicated retail space, either in stand-alone stores or dedicated proprietary galleries, studios or branded spaces within their stores. We consider this dedicated space to be "proprietary." For our Wholesale segment, our fiscal 2023 customer mix based on sales was approximately 60% proprietary, 10% major dealers (large, regional retailers), and 30% other independent retailers.
The success of our product distribution model relies heavily on having retail floor space that is dedicated to displaying and marketing our products. The 349-store La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries ® network is central to this approach. In addition, we sell product through proprietary space within other retail furniture stores, primarily La-Z-Boy Comfort Studio ® locations, branded space locations, England Custom Comfort Center locations, Kincaid Shoppes, and other international locations. Additionally, our Joybird business, which sells product primarily online to end consumers through its website, www.joybird.com, also has a limited amount of retail showroom floor space in small-format stores in key urban markets.
Maintaining, updating, and, when appropriate, expanding our proprietary distribution network is a key part of our overall sales and marketing strategy. We intend, over the long-term, to not only increase the number of stores in the network but also to continue to improve their quality, including upgrading old-format stores to our new concept design through remodels and relocations. We continue to maintain and update our current stores to improve the quality of the network. The La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries ® store network plans to open 7 to 9 stores and relocate or remodel 20 to 25 stores during fiscal 2024, all of which will feature our latest store designs. Additionally, during fiscal 2024 we plan to open or update approximately 100 La-Z-Boy Comfort Studio ® locations as well as 40 branded space locations.
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Independent dealers for our proprietary La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries ® store network were selected based on factors such as their management and financial qualifications and the potential for distribution in specific geographical areas. This proprietary distribution enables us to concentrate our marketing to a dedicated product line across the entire network benefitting La-Z-Boy, these dealers, and our consumers. It also allows dealers in this proprietary group to take advantage of best practices, with which other proprietary dealers have succeeded, and we facilitate forums for these dealers to share them. These La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries ® stores provide our consumers a full-service shopping experience with a large variety of products, knowledgeable sales associates, and design service consultants.
Orders and Backlog
We typically build upholstery units based on specific orders, either for dealer stock or to fill consumers' custom orders. We import casegoods product primarily to fill our internal orders, rather than customer or consumer orders, resulting in higher finished goods inventory on hand as a percentage of sales. We define backlog as any written order that has not yet been delivered, whether to an independent furniture retailer, an independently-owned La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries ® store, or the end consumer through our company-owned La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries ® stores.
Historically, the size of our backlog at a given time varies and may not be indicative of our future sales and, therefore, we do not rely entirely on backlogs to predict future sales. Our wholesale backlog was $223.1 million as of April 29, 2023, compared with $697.2 million as of April 30, 2022. The decrease in fiscal 2023 was the result of delivering on the backlog built in prior periods, continued production and supply chain efficiencies, and a slow-down in demand relative to the peak experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. As of the end of fiscal 2023, we believe that our backlog volume and lead times are returning to pre-pandemic levels and we anticipate that they will stabilize in fiscal 2024.
Competitive Conditions
We are the second largest manufacturer/distributor of residential (living and family room, bedroom, and dining room) furniture in the United States, as measured by annual sales volume.
The home furnishings industry competes primarily on the basis of product styling and quality, comfort, customer service (product availability and delivery), price, and location. We compete by emphasizing our brand and the comfort, quality, styling, customization, value of our products, and our available design services. In addition, we remain committed to innovation while striving to provide outstanding customer service, exceptional dealer support, and efficient on-time delivery. Maintaining, updating, and expanding our proprietary distribution system, including identifying desirable retail locations, is a key strategic initiative for us in striving to remain competitive. We compete in the mid to upper-mid price point, and a shift in consumer taste and trends to lower-priced products could negatively affect our competitive position. Additionally, our wholesale business faces increased market pressures from foreign manufacturers entering the United States market and increased direct purchases from foreign suppliers by large United States retailers.
The La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries ® stores operate in the retail furniture industry in the United States and Canada, and different stores have different competitors based on their geographic locations. In addition, alternative distribution channels have increasingly affected our retail markets. Direct-to-consumer brands bypass brick and mortar retailers entirely or in some cases have developed a product that can be shipped more easily than traditional upholstered furniture, thus increasing competition for our products. The increased ability of consumers to purchase furniture through various furniture manufacturers' and digital-only retailers' internet websites has also increased competition in the industry. Although digital retailers operate with lower overhead costs than a brick-and-mortar retailer, customer acquisition costs and advertising spend is typically much higher. Department stores and big box retailers with an online presence also offer products that compete with some of our product lines.
Trademarks, Licenses and Patents
We own the La-Z-Boy trademark, which is essential to the Wholesale and Retail segments of our business. We also own the Joybird trademark, which, along with the La-Z-Boy trademark, is essential to our e-commerce business. Additionally, we own a number of other trademarks that we utilize in marketing our products. We consider our La-Z-Boy trademark to be among our most valuable assets and we have registered that trademark and others in the United States and various other countries where our products are sold. These trademarks have a perpetual life, subject to renewal. We license the use of the La-Z-Boy trademark to certain international partners and dealers outside of North America. We also license the use of the La-Z-Boy trademark on contract office furniture, outdoor furniture, and non-furniture products, as these arrangements enhance our brand awareness, broaden the perceptions of La-Z-Boy, and create visibility of the La-Z-Boy brand in channels outside of the residential furniture industry. In addition, we license to our branded dealers the right to use our La-Z-Boy trademark in connection with the sale of
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our products and related services, on their signs, and in other ways, which we consider to be a key part of our marketing strategies. We provide more information about those dealers under "Customers."
We hold a number of United States and foreign patents that we actively enforce. We have followed a policy of filing patent applications for the United States and select foreign countries on inventions, designs and improvements that we deem valuable, but these patents do expire at various times.
While our intellectual property rights in the aggregate are important to the operation of our business, we do not believe that any existing patent, license, trademark or other intellectual property right (other than the La-Z-Boy trademark) is of such importance that its loss or termination would have a material adverse effect on our business taken as a whole. We vigorously protect our trademarks and patents against third-party infringement.
Compliance with Environmental Regulations
Our manufacturing operations involve the use and disposal of certain substances regulated under environmental protection laws and regulations and, from time to time, we may be involved in a small number of remediation actions and site investigations concerning these substances. Based on a review of all currently known facts and our experience with previous environmental matters, we currently do not believe it is probable that we will have any additional loss for environmental matters that would be material to our consolidated financial statements.
Human Capital
Employees
We employed approximately 10,500 full-time equivalent employees as of April 29, 2023, compared with approximately 12,800 employees at the end of fiscal 2022. The decrease in headcount was primarily due to the initiative to drive improved efficiencies through optimized staffing levels within our US, Mexico and Thailand plants. As of April 29, 2023, we employed approximately 8,200 employees in our Wholesale segment, 1,600 in our Retail segment, 480 in our Joybird business, with the remaining employees being corporate personnel. We employ the majority of our employees on a full-time basis.
Purpose and Values
At La-Z-Boy, we believe in the transformational power of comfort. We provide an excellent consumer experience, create high quality products and empower people to transform rooms, homes and communities with comfort. Our teams are committed to our core values of Courage, Curiosity and Compassion. We are not afraid to try new things, we are relentless in our mission to understand our business and consumers, and we honor our almost 100-year legacy that was built on family.
Sustainability
As we build the La-Z-Boy of tomorrow, our goal is to make the world a better place through the transformational power of comfort. Aligned with our core values, we embrace curiosity for sustainable design, operate with compassion for a sustainable planet, and empower courage for a sustainable culture.
Sustainable Design . We embrace curiosity and our inquisitiveness helps us identify innovative opportunities for our products that uphold our commitment to quality, rely on sustainable materials and drive best practices in our supplier partnerships.
Sustainable Planet . We strive to operate La-Z-Boy with compassion for the environment. We are committed to responsible stewardship and integrate environmentally sound and sustainable practices into our daily decisions. We work to reduce emissions, increase recycling efforts, and conserve water in all areas of our business.
Sustainable Culture . At La-Z-Boy, we support our employees so they can make courageous choices and help our business thrive. Our people practices are linked to our sustainability initiatives. The sustainable culture we are building is designed to empower employees to do what is right in the workplace and in our communities. From supporting our employees’ careers and providing a safe and ethical work environment to giving back to the communities where we live and work, people are always at the heart of our brand.
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Compliance and Ethics
La-Z-Boy is dedicated to upholding the highest ethical standards and working with honesty and integrity in all aspects of our business operations. Our Code of Conduct provides a clear and thorough ethics standard for all employees, officers, and directors with respect to interactions with customers, vendors, and other staff. Employees also undergo annual training on ethics and the Code of Conduct. We also maintain an Ethics Hotline to make it easy for employees and suppliers to report any concerns. This line is available 24 hours a day and is operated by a third-party. Reports are taken by trained professionals and promptly forwarded to our Corporate Compliance team. Employees may also communicate any concerns through a dedicated online portal.
Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging
We believe in creating and fostering a workplace in which all our employees feel valued, included, and empowered to do their best work and contribute their ideas and perspectives. Our Company is committed to recruiting and retaining diverse talent so that our workforce better reflects the communities in which we operate our business globally. We recognize that our employees’ unique backgrounds, experiences and perspectives enable us to create the optimal work environment and deliver on our mission.
Aligning with our purpose and values, we intend to continue to be curious, courageous, and compassionate in our efforts to foster an environment that attracts the best talent, values diversity of life experiences and perspectives and encourages innovation to accelerate the transformational power of comfort.
Our diversity, inclusion and belonging initiatives include:
• Integrating diversity, inclusion and belonging into our overall corporate strategy and developing impactful practices and initiatives to advance our Company’s diversity, inclusion and belonging journey;
• Leveraging our Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Council to provide enterprise-wide leadership focused on supporting all our employees, developing training and learning opportunities for our employees on diversity, unconscious bias and other topics, and creating sustainable plans to increase diversity in talent acquisition;
• Expanding our support of employee resource groups ("ERGs"), which include groups focused on Multicultural, Pride, Working Parents & Caregivers and Women. Our ERG’s provide learning and mentorship experiences for our diverse employees, supporting our objective of creating diversity awareness across our organization, and helping our employees use their collective voices to positively impact our Company and the communities in which we operate our business and live;
• Revisiting, assessing and implementing changes to our processes, in an effort to continue mitigating unconscious bias and enhancing our inclusion recruiting strategy;
• Enhancing and expanding our supplier inclusion network;
• Expanding inclusive leaders training throughout the organization;
• Creating space for individuals to share their perspective, values and voice to our global population through employee written articles, our internal podcast, and multiple video series on our internal communications platform and;
• Demonstrating our Company’s commitment at the highest levels of leadership, including having our President and Chief Executive Officer sign the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion™ pledge to advance diversity and inclusion in the workplace
Safety and Health
We prioritize the health and safety of our employees, partners and the people in communities where we operate.
As the largest industrial manufacturer in many regions where we do business, we recognize our potential impact on surrounding communities. We actively partner with local agencies in these communities to build proactive emergency and contingency plans for any major incidents that may occur at our facilities and any natural disasters that may impact the region.
We work to forge relationships with agencies, such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), to understand how we can best adhere to health and safety practices.
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Additionally, the National Safety Council (NSC) has recognized La-Z-Boy with multiple awards for safety performance and leadership throughout the Company’s history. This includes our recognition as a six-time recipient of the Corporate Culture of Safety Award and our recognition as a recipient of the Green Cross for Safety Excellence Award, which recognizes only one corporation each year for outstanding achievement in safety.
Training and Development
We encourage employee growth, curiosity, and courage. We provide our workforce, in all areas of our business,
opportunities for both personal and career advancement, such as offering on-the-job trainings to help employees be more
effective in both current and future roles. This includes training in the operations and retail environment
to maintain high-quality standards as we make and sell our products. We strive to promote employees internally and to provide
new managers with the skills necessary to succeed. Further, we have a leadership development program to train employees who are new to managing teams.
Community Giving
Throughout our 96-year history, giving back to our communities has been woven through La-Z-Boy’s culture following the example set by our founders. When it comes to giving, our vision is to improve the lives of others by developing exceptional programs based on partnerships where employees feel a sense of connection and pride in their communities and our mission is to enhance the quality of life in the communities in which we live and serve through leadership, financial contributions and volunteer efforts.
Our philanthropic initiatives include the La-Z-Boy Foundation, local community involvement, disaster relief and our signature charity, Ronald McDonald House Charities. La-Z-Boy is honored to be the official furniture provider for Ronald McDonald House Charities. Throughout fiscal 2023, La-Z-Boy has continued our support of providing furniture and financial contributions to non-profit organizations with special emphasis on arts/culture/humanities, community enrichment, education and health and human services.
Our employees further exemplify the spirit of giving through leadership and volunteer efforts in their own communities, and for numerous non-profit organizations, which include the United Way, Relay for Life, Habitat for Humanity and others. The Company participates in the "The La-Z-Boy Summer of Caring" during the summer and "The La-Z-Boy Season of Caring" during the winter, seasonal initiatives that encourage and support employee volunteerism. Since launching in 2018, our employees have accumulated over 35,000 hours of caring as part of these programs.
Internet Availability
Our Forms 10-K, 10-Q, 8-K, proxy statements on Schedule 14A, and amendments to those reports are available free of charge through links on our internet website, www.la-z-boy.com, as soon as reasonably practicable after they are electronically filed with, or furnished to, the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). Copies of any materials we file or furnish to the SEC can also be obtained free of charge through the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. The information on our website is not incorporated by reference into this report or any other reports we file with, or furnish to, the SEC.