Pat Norton is legendary in the furniture industry and we are fortunate to have had his wisdom, direction and leadership for 25 years.
Kurt Darrow, President and CEO, La-Z-Boy

La-Z-Boy Incorporated announced that Patrick H. Norton, Chairman, will retire from the company and will not stand for re-election to the Board of Directors at the company's 2006 Annual Stockholders' Meeting in August. The Board appointed Norton as Chairman Emeritus, a non-voting member of the Board of Directors, upon his retirement.

La-Z-Boy's board will choose a successor at its August meeting.

Norton, 84, joined La-Z-Boy in 1981 and became Chairman of the Board in 1997. He is widely credited with transforming the company by building its brand, widening its product offering and distribution system and establishing the company's Furniture Galleries store system, which today numbers 336.

La-Z-Boy President and CEO, Kurt Darrow, said, "Pat Norton is legendary in the furniture industry and we are fortunate to have had his wisdom, direction and leadership for 25 years. Over the course of his tenure, he propelled the company to its level today and effected significant change to position us for a solid future in a dynamic environment. He will be greatly missed by the Board and all our employees and I, personally, have found it a distinct privilege to have worked with and learned from him. We wish him all the best in his retirement."

Norton started his career in the furniture department of a St. Louis-based department store and, before joining La-Z-Boy as Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing, worked for Ethan Allen for 20 years, where he was Vice President of Sales and Marketing and a member of the Board of Directors.

Norton has received several distinctions and awards over the course of his career, and, in 1995, was inducted into the American Furniture Hall of Fame and received the Distinguished Service Award from the American Furniture Manufacturers Association. Other honors, among many, include the National Brotherhood Award from the National Conference of Christians and Jews as well as the Spirit of Life Award from the City of Hope. Norton received an honorary Doctorate from High Point University, in High Point, North Carolina, where, in 2000, the school named its Furniture Studies Hall Norton Hall. Additionally, in 1992, members of the La-Z-Boy "extended family," including sales representatives and dealers, established, in his honor, the Patrick H. Norton Scholarship Fund at the University.