L

La-Z-Boy

Manufactures and retails residential furniture

Lead Upholstery Strategist

Full-TimeUpdated on 10/24/2026
No salary listed
Senior, Expert
Bachelor's, Master's
Monroe, MI, USA
In PersonTravel up to 35% domestically and internationally.
ProductProduct Management

About the job

Requirements
  • A bachelor's degree in Business, Textiles, Design, or a related field, or equivalent, and 8–10 years of relevant experience.
  • Three to five years of leadership or supervisory experience.
  • Strong project management and organizational skills, including the ability to handle multiple projects simultaneously for different audiences and retail channels.
  • A continuous improvement mentality, strong problem-solving skills, and the ability to manage multiple tasks.
  • Ability to collaborate across functions, business units, and geographies.
  • Deep understanding of the textile and furniture industries.
  • Subject matter expertise in upholstery fabrics and leathers, and upholstered furniture.
  • Knowledge of color management and a superior discrimination score on the Fransworth-Munsel hue test.
  • Previous work experience in a fast-paced environment and a proven ability to execute on deadline and on quality.
  • Proficiency with Excel, Microsoft Office, and PowerPoint.
  • Strong communication and presentation skills.
  • Understanding of profit analysis.
  • Ability to travel up to 35% domestically and internationally.
Responsibilities
  • Own cover (textile and leather) strategy for all categories by identifying market growth opportunities and consumer insights, and defining a cover roadmap that maximizes sales and cross-category profitability.
  • Develop a balanced and curated assortment of covers that meets the merchandising needs of Wholesale and La-Z-Boy Stores.
  • Conduct competitive research on industry trends in textiles, leather, cover innovation, color, and interior design.
  • Partner with Product and Price Leadership on product and cover lifecycle decisions, target price points, and volumes.
  • Partner with Marketing on product and cover positioning, messaging, and go-to-market assets.
  • Provide input to Research and Development and Quality teams on covers and be responsible for approvals.
  • Direct the design and technical construction of new cover developments with vendor partners to meet strategic needs.
  • Develop and manage the cover strategy and seek out innovative textile discoveries.
  • Partner with Sourcing and Procurement on new vendor evaluations to support supplier diversification and ensure capability requirements are met.
  • Lead the curation of new fabrics and leathers at each High Point market to maintain a balanced line assortment.
  • Manage the swatch strategy across sales channels, defining swatch requirements and budget.
  • Lead the strategic direction for covers (textile and leather) for all upholstery categories, with accountability for profitable growth, successful go-to-market execution, and sustained category health.
  • Lead cross-functional collaboration as a key stakeholder and strategic partner to shape innovation pipelines and ensure products are grounded in consumer needs and market opportunities.
  • Partner with cover vendors to direct the design and technical construction of new product developments.
Desired Qualifications
  • A master's degree in Business, Textiles, Design, or a related field.
  • Experience working with international suppliers.

About the company

La-Z-Boy is a U.S. furniture maker and retailer focused on residential pieces, especially recliners and upholstered furniture. It designs, manufactures, imports, exports, and distributes its products in a vertically integrated operation, giving it tight control over quality and branding. The company runs a large chain of La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries and sells through its stores and other retailers, combining in-house manufacturing with direct-to-consumer retail. Its approach centers on delivering comfortable, personalized, and stylish home furnishings to households in the United States, Canada, and abroad. What sets it apart is its scale and integration: owning both the production and a substantial single-branded retail network helps ensure a consistent brand experience across markets. The company’s goal is to provide reliable, comfortable furniture for homes while expanding its brand presence through direct retail and partner channels.

Company Size

1,001-5,000

Company Stage

IPO

Headquarters

Monroe, Louisiana

Founded

1927

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Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • August 2026 Neosho expansion adds 100 jobs and a 150,000-square-foot distribution hub.
  • June 2026 retail sales rose 11%, driven by acquisitions and new stores.
  • La-Z-Boy opened 15 net stores in fiscal 2026, its largest annual expansion ever.

What critics are saying

  • September 2026 investor investigations followed first-quarter misses, weaker guidance, and a 17.5% stock drop.
  • Joybird delivered sales fell 10% in Q4 2026, exposing La-Z-Boy's DTC weakness.
  • Wholesale demand stayed choppy in 2026, and tariff refunds cannot offset prolonged furniture downturns.

What makes La-Z-Boy unique

  • La-Z-Boy pairs 90% U.S. upholstery production with a nearly 380-store North American network.
  • The company controls manufacturing, distribution, and retail, enabling faster customization than fragmented furniture rivals.
  • June 2026 results showed 230 company-owned stores and a path toward 450 locations.

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Benefits

  • Health Insurance
  • Dental Insurance
  • Vision Insurance
  • Life Insurance
  • 401(k) Retirement Plan
  • 401(k) Company Match
  • Paid Vacation
  • Paid Holidays

Company News

PR Newswire
Oct 21st, 2026
Consumer insights shape La-Z-Boy's latest innovations, including the new PowerLift chair collection and AudioLuxe.

Consumer insights shape La-Z-Boy's latest innovations, including the new PowerLift chair collection and AudioLuxe. Oct 21, 2026, 16:15 ET Key Highlights: * Consumer insights are driving an expanded La-Z-Boy assortment of PowerLift recliners with four new styles offering enhanced comfort, functionality, and weight capacity * New opening-price-point seating, space-conscious motion furniture, sectionals and occasional tables extend the brand across more rooms, homes and life stages * La-Z-Boy AudioLuxe premium audio furniture line featuring Sound by Klipsch(TM) now available in select stores MONROE, Mich., Oct. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ - La-Z-Boy Incorporated (NYSE: LZB), a global leader in the retail and manufacture of residential furniture, introduced a broad range of new products at the October 2026 High Point Market. The new introductions are informed by consumer and market insights and grounded in the brand's core benefits of comfort, quality, and customization. Together, they bring function, value, and style to life across the entire assortment. The new October introductions will be available in La-Z-Boy stores beginning in early 2027. The introductions broaden La-Z-Boy's brand reach across a wider range of consumers, with accessible opening price points that preserve the comfort, quality, and customization the brand is known for. The enhanced functionality creates trade-up options to premium innovation for consumers seeking additional support and convenience. New styles are designed for different types of homes and life stages, from compact spaces and first homes to primary living rooms and long-term comfort needs. "We are gaining deeper insights into our consumers, who are actively seeking the unmatched comfort of La-Z-Boy products," said Nelly Martínez Garza, Sr. Director of Product Design and Pricing. "To become the brand of choice at every life stage, we are expanding both our reach and product assortment. Delivering best-in-class comfort allows us to serve a wider audience while remaining deeply rooted in our heritage." The October High Point Market product introductions give consumers and customers more ways to create cohesive rooms while balancing comfort, functionality, and style. This continued focus on product development rooted in consumer insights supports the Century Vision strategy by expanding the reach and relevance of the La-Z-Boy brand across all channels. Adding breadth to the PowerLift chair lineup As one of the largest lift chair manufacturers and retailers in the country, La-Z-Boy is building on its position in the category with an expanded assortment designed to meet distinct consumer needs. The hero collection of PowerLift recliners creates a complete assortment across modern and classic aesthetics, scale, and price. New introductions offer zero gravity functionality, triple articulation (headrest, lumbar support, and footrest), a redesigned wired remote, and a variety of sizes. iClean(R) Plus, an exclusive, high-performance stain-resistant fabric technology with an added moisture barrier, is also available as a customization option. The full assortment gives consumers and customers a clear step-up story built around comfort, value, and functionality, with meaningful choice across styles, features, and price points. Fresh choices in recliners, motion, and stationary seating The company has added more depth to its opening-price-point line to delight and inspire aspirational La-Z-Boy consumers while delivering compelling value and retaining the comfort and quality for which the brand is known. These products expand access to the La-Z-Boy brand with fresh silhouettes and classic comfort. The motion furniture introduction also responds to changing needs and preferences for cleaner tailoring and space-conscious profiles without sacrificing a full-size seating experience. AudioLuxe brings premium audio to La-Z-Boy comfort La-Z-Boy AudioLuxe the company's new premium audio furniture line featuring Sound by Klipsch, is now arriving in select La-Z-Boy stores. Similar to the new PowerLift lineup, it was designed using consumer-led insights. AudioLuxe pairs La-Z-Boy's signature customizable comfort with integrated premium audio, including speakers and subwoofers built directly into recliners and motion furniture. The result expands the La-Z-Boy assortment in an innovative new way, combining comfort and technology for today's home. About La-Z-Boy: La-Z-Boy Incorporated (NYSE: LZB) is a leading vertically integrated retailer and manufacturer of high-quality, custom furniture that transforms the home. Founded on American heritage, the iconic La-Z-Boy brand has been synonymous with comfort, quality, and craftsmanship for 100 years. As an end-to-end enterprise, the company manages every aspect of its business - from retail, manufacturing, and design to distribution and after-service care. La-Z-Boy Incorporated brings timeless and modern furniture to life through a retail network of approximately 380 La-Z-Boy stores, including 237 company-owned locations, and its digital platform at La-Z-Boy.com. Within the Wholesale segment, the company manufactures comfortable, high quality, custom furniture, with over 95% of its products produced in North America. Its Joybird(R) brand is an omnichannel retailer and manufacturer of modern, custom upholstered furniture, operating 19 U.S. stores. With a global team of about 10,000 employees, La-Z-Boy Incorporated was named to TIME's 2026 list of America's Most Iconic Companies and Newsweek's 2025 list of America's Best Retailers, ranking No. 1 in the furniture category. The company continues to shape the way people live by delivering the transformational power of comfort. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: This news release contains "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. Generally, forward-looking statements include information concerning expectations, projections or trends relating to our results of operations, financial results, financial condition, strategic initiatives and plans, acquisitions, divestitures, expenses, dividends, share repurchases, liquidity, use of cash and cash requirements, borrowing capacity, investments, future economic performance, and our business and industry. The forward-looking statements in this press release are based on certain assumptions and currently available information and are subject to various risks and uncertainties, many of which are unforeseeable and beyond our control. Additional risks and uncertainties that we do not presently know about or that we currently consider to be immaterial may also affect our business operations and financial results. Our actual future results and trends may differ materially depending on a variety of factors, including, but not limited to, the risks and uncertainties discussed in our Fiscal 2026 Annual Report on Form 10-K and other factors identified in our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), available on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Given these risks and uncertainties, you should not rely on forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results. We are including this cautionary note to make applicable and take advantage of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 for forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or for any other reason. SOURCE La-Z-Boy Incorporated

MarketScreener
Oct 15th, 2026
La-Z-Boy Incorporated announces additional new company-owned store openings across the U.S.

La-Z-Boy Incorporated announces additional new company-owned store openings across the U.S. Published on 10/15/2026 at 11:51 am EDT S&P Capital IQ La-Z-Boy Incorporated announced recent expansion in new company-owned stores across the U.S. including GA, FL, TN, MS, MA, WI, CO, and AZ. The company-owned store count has grown to 237, which is an all-time high and represents more than 62% of all La-Z-Boy stores. (C) S&P Capital IQ - 2026

TMCnet
Oct 11th, 2026
LZB Investors with $100,000 in Losses Have Opportunity to Join La-Z-Boy Incorporated Fraud Investigation with SBS Law

LZB Investors with $100,000 in Losses Have Opportunity to Join La-Z-Boy Incorporated Fraud Investigation with SBS Law TMCnet News [October 11, 2026] | / | LZB Investors with $100,000 in Losses Have Opportunity to Join La-Z-Boy Incorporated Fraud Investigation with SBS Law Schall, Brown & Schwartz LLP ("SBS"), a national shareholder rights litigation firm, announces that it is investigating claims on behalf of investors of La-Z-Boy Incorporated ("La-Z-Boy" or "the Company") (NYSE: LZB) for violations of the securities laws. INVESTIGATION DETAILS: The investigation focuses on whether the Company issued false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose information pertinent to investors. La-Z-Boy reported Q1 financial results that fell short of analyst expectations i both revenue and earnings. The Company also issued a Q2 sales guidance below expectations. Based on this news, shares of La-Z-Boy fell sharply. If you are a shareholder who suffered a loss, click here to participate. Fog Computing World also encourage you to contact Brian Schall or David Schwartz of Schall, Brown & Schwartz LLP, 2049 Century Park East, Suite 2460, Los Angeles, CA 90067, at 310-301-3335, to discuss your rights free of charge. You can also reach Fog Computing World through the firm's website at www.schallfirm.com, or by email at [email protected]. WHY SBS? Schall, Brown & Schwartz LLP represents investors around the world and specializes in securities class action lawsuits and shareholder rights litigation. Bringing together the extensive experience and diverse skillsets of founding partners Brian Schall, Andrew Brown, and David Schwartz, SBS is dedicated to aggressively advocating for every investor. This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and rules of ethics. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261011960935/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage] |

Courthouse News Service
Oct 8th, 2026
Justices confront internet privacy with Blockbuster-era law.

Justices confront internet privacy with Blockbuster-era law. The Supreme Court is taking on digital marketing next week in a case asking how federal consumer privacy rights apply when companies sell data for targeted advertising. WASHINGTON (CN) - Despite his failed Supreme Court nomination, the legacy of Judge Robert Bork will take center stage next week as the justices confront how video privacy protections should apply in the modern internet era. In 1988, Congress enacted the Video Privacy Protection Act after a reporter published an exposé of the judge's video rental history. "The Bork Tapes" were intended as commentary on Bork's polarizing views about the right to privacy, but the ordeal revealed broad consensus in Congress about consumers' rights. Nearly 40 years later, privacy protections remain a top issue for Americans. And a new trend of lawsuits have emerged in kind, attempting to use the 1988 law to target companies that sell consumer information for targeted advertising. The question for the Supreme Court next week will be whether the Blockbuster-era law can be retrofitted for the modern internet age. Digital privacy advocates say it can, pushing for stricter enforcement of consumer protections. But companies warn against overextending the statute and wreaking havoc on the internet writ large. Facebook ad leads to SCOTUS showdown. Michael Salazar signed up for 247Sports' online newsletter, where he provided personal information such as his email address. Because he was logged into his Facebook account while viewing content from the site, Salazar says that 247Sports' owner, Paramount, disclosed his information to the social media giant to be used for targeted advertising. Salazar sued Paramount for sharing his browsing information with Facebook, arguing that he fits the Video Privacy Protection Act's definition of consumer: "any renter, purchaser or subscriber of goods or services from a video tape service provider." Salazar says Congress' language was intentional, choosing ordinary language that didn't carry a secondary or idiosyncratic meaning. To make his point, Salazar quotes a Paramount film, "Mean Girls," where one character attempts to make "fetch" happen. "Here, Paramount is a video tape service provider," Salazar wrote. "And Mr. Salazar is a subscriber of Paramount's online newsletter. Thus, the newsletter he subscribed to came 'from a video tape service provider.'" Salazar said the only question left is whether the newsletter fits into the statute's definition of "goods or services." He says it does. The limit does not exist. Paramount counters the statute wasn't intended to cover non-video transactions, such as the newsletter at issue in this case. The media giant argues Salazar's reading had taken the Video Privacy Protection Act from relative obscurity and repurposed it to target companies for routine business practices. "Armed with that unlikely theory, plaintiffs...brought a bevy of class-action lawsuits against entities, ranging from La-Z-Boy to Chick-fil-A, that market unrelated non-video goods or services and also put free promotional or instructional video clips online," Paramount wrote. "And they have initiated putative class actions like this at no cost, just by signing up for a free marketing email from a business with a website with video content." Paramount's concerns are shared by others in the industry. The Motion Picture Association submitted an amicus brief stating that an expansive reading of the Video Privacy Protection Act would turn virtually everyone into a "consumer" since video content is now ubiquitous on the internet. And companies that sell video content are often part of a larger enterprise with far-ranging lines of business. "For example, an individual might buy groceries from Whole Foods (owned and operated by Amazon.com, Inc.), then watch a free video about a yoga mat she is considering purchasing from Amazon.com (also owned and operated by Amazon.com, Inc.)," the Motion Picture Association wrote. "Under petitioner's construction, that grocery shopper would be a 'consumer' under the VPPA because she purchased 'goods or services' (groceries) from a company that also delivered free, unrelated video content (about a yoga mat)." News sites could also be hit particularly hard. Dramatic changes in the publishing industry have pushed news sites to complement articles with multimedia, including videos and audio. And many websites rely on advertising revenue to provide free public access to their work. "What modern consumers often perceive as 'free' is actually built on the business model of digital advertising," the News/Media Alliance wrote. The group said if Salazar, prevails news sites would be forced to either stop publishing videos altogether, place videos behind a paywall or abandon advertising technology that makes free journalism economically viable. The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Oct. 14.

FN2
Sep 25th, 2026
Earnings growth splits the deck: software accelerates, furniture stalls, Leslie's breaks.

Earnings growth splits the deck: software accelerates, furniture stalls, Leslie's breaks. One quarter of prints argues that "resilient demand" holds for the cloud row but not for the most distressed names in home furnishings. The idea behind this earnings deck was simple: that earnings growth and resilient demand could carry eight names - the observability and data-cloud pair DDOG and SNOW, and the home-furnishings group RH, WSM, ETH, LZB, LESL and TPX - through the next year. One full earnings cycle later, the evidence has split into three very different stories. The software names are delivering on the thesis. The furniture names are mostly holding margins while waiting for a housing-market turn that has not arrived. And the most distressed retailer in the group has broken it outright. The cloud row is the part of the thesis that is working. The strongest case comes from the software names. Snowflake reported its fiscal Q2 on September 2 with product revenue of $1.49 billion, up 37% year over year, and total revenue of $1.55 billion, up 35%, with net revenue retention of 126% and 828 customers generating over $1 million in trailing-twelve-month product revenue, up 27%. The stock spiked about 22% as management pointed to momentum in its AI coding agent, CoCo. [[1]] Datadog's fiscal Q2, reported August 6, showed revenue up 36% to $1.12 billion, with roughly 4,720 customers at or above $100,000 in ARR versus about 3,850 a year earlier. Management framed FY2026 revenue growth around 30%, with an explicit note of conservatism tied to a usage reduction from its largest customer. [[2]] On the call, CEO Olivier Pomel described AI as a tailwind: more than 750 AI-native customers across the base, all 10 of the largest AI leaders as customers, and agentic MCP tool calls quadrupling quarter over quarter and growing more than 22x versus Q4 2025. [[3]] What would have to be true for this side of the thesis to keep working is a continuation of what the quarter already showed: demand broadening beyond a handful of mega-cap AI spenders. Datadog reported acceleration in non-AI customers too - the strongest sequential usage growth in twelve quarters - which is precisely the broadening that makes the growth look durable rather than concentrated. [[3]] As of midday Friday, DDOG traded at about $273 and SNOW near $341. [[4]] The furniture row: margins defended, demand not recovered. The home-furnishings side is a different, more fragile story. Williams-Sonoma is the standout: fiscal Q2 comparable revenue rose 6.2% with a 22.9% GAAP operating margin, and the company raised its full-year outlook - enough that its shares have risen even with housing activity weak. [[5]] [[6]] RH reported fiscal Q2 net revenue up 2.6% to $922.2 million, above the high end of its guidance, with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 19.4% that included $55.1 million, or 600 basis points, of tariff benefit - meaning the normalized margin sits meaningfully lower. Hitting growth, in other words, has partly been a function of tariff windfall, not underlying unit demand. [[7]] [[8]] The rest of the group reads as stabilization under pressure. La-Z-Boy's fiscal Q1 showed retail written sales up 16% and written same-store sales up 3%, but the stock drew scrutiny after sharply reduced guidance. [[7]] Ethan Allen - the scope's "ETH," listed on NYSE as ETD - reported fiscal Q4 net sales down 8.5% on lower contract and delivery demand, cushioned by strong margins and a special-plus-regular dividend. [[7]] The bedding name formerly known as TPX, now Somnigroup International (SGI) after its Tempur Sealy-Mattress Firm combination, saw Q2 net sales fall 3.0% to $1.82 billion even as EPS rose 11%, the margin gain coming against record operating cash flow and a softened industry backdrop. [[5]] [[6]] Across the broader furniture complex, the language is strikingly consistent. One peer called the home-furnishings industry "abysmal from an actual unit-sold perspective," with the housing market working through high levels of unsold homes and acute affordability pressure; others described demand as remaining below historical levels until housing turnover normalizes. [[9]] [[7]] That is the crux: for RH, WSM, LZB and the rest to grow earnings durably, what has to be true is a housing-and-affordability recovery - and the quarters so far do not provide that evidence. What they do show is operators defending margins through mix, pricing and cost discipline, which can support earnings even without a top-line boom. The one name that breaks the thesis. Leslie's, the pool-care retailer, has moved from merely weak to distressed. Its stock trades near $0.34, and on Friday - September 25 - reports emerged that the company is preparing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as soon as next week, with Nasdaq delisting pressure looming after a period of repeated declines. [[10]] [[4]] For the "resilient demand" hypothesis, this is the decisive negative case: a consumer-discretionary name where demand and the balance sheet broke together, and where no amount of industry-wide stabilization is likely to arrive in time. It is the counterexample that shows the thesis was never going to apply uniformly to every name in scope. What to watch next. * The next software prints (Nov-Dec): Datadog reports November 5 before the open and Snowflake December 2 after the close. The question is whether non-AI broadening and AI-native expansion hold up, and whether the largest-customer usage reduction Datadog flagged actually lands as guided. [[11]] * Housing-led names: Williams-Sonoma reports November 18, La-Z-Boy November 17, RH December 10, and Leslie's December 1. Watch whether comp trends can hold without tariff windfalls - RH's 600-basis-point tariff benefit is the signal to track most closely. [[11]] * The housing macro: Every furniture operator has tied its turn to affordability and housing turnover. Short of falling mortgage rates and rising existing-home sales, expect the "margins defended, units not recovered" pattern to persist. * Leslie's and the restructured bedding complex: Chapter 11, if filed, will reset the base case for LESL entirely. Separately, watch how Somnigroup's Mattress Firm integration economics evolve into 2027. The takeaway from this pass is not that the thesis is simply right or wrong - it is that it holds only selectively. It is compelling for the cloud-software names, partial for the furniture operators that can defend margins against a stalled housing market, and bankrupt for the one name that could not hold on long enough. Treating the group as a single trade would be the mistake; the evidence now argues these are three separate bets.