History of Flexsteel Recliners

With roots in the late 1800’s, the Flexsteel Company has not only endured but has become a major force in furniture manufacturing. The early growth of what eventually became Flexsteel was propelled by a spring developed by a Swiss inventor. Flexsteel has become a major innovator in the production of quality recliners and motion furniture. Using the flexsteel spring, the company offers a lifetime warranty on many of their products.

Flexsteel owes much to E.W. Schlappritzi who invented a spring that was used extensively in Europe for passenger railway seats. Schlappritzi immigrated to America, settling in Minneapolis, Minnesota where he founded his own company, The Sanitas Spring Company in 1918. Sanitas produced what came to be called a flexsteel spring.

Long before Schlappritzi began his studies at the University of Zurich, another enterprising young was learning the furniture and upholstery trade. Frank Bertsch came to America in the early 1880’s and, like Schlappritzi, eventually settled in Minneapolis and found with a local furniture company. Together, Bertsch and three coworkers bought out their employer, the Rolf and Ball Furniture Company. In 1901, the company was renamed Grau and Curtis and focused on producing furniture for homes, offices and hotels.

In 1927, the company changed direction, becoming the Northome Furniture Company and buying a large part of the Sanitas Spring Company. Still producing quality handmade furniture, the company survived the Great Depression and again the name was changed. The flexsteel spring became a pivotal part of the new company’s success, allowing the new Flexsteel Company to offer a lifetime warranty on its spring assemblies.

Decades, and several strategic acquisitions later, Flexsteel expanded its furniture line to include recliners and motion furniture. At the heart of it all, the Flexsteel spring provides consumers with the comfort and reliability that has kept the Flexsteel Company in the4 forefront of furniture production.