VIRCO MFG CORPORATION

Foundation and early years

Prior to founding Virco, Julian Virtue had cofounded Virtue Chrome Plating (later known as Virtue Brothers Manufacturing Company) with his brother Philip Virtue in August 1926. This company was quite successful, initially providing custom nickel and chrome plating for furniture manufacturers. By the mid-1930s, the company began to directly manufacture its own furniture from its factory on West Century Boulevard, producing dinette sets for restaurants and consumer homes, chrome-plated chairs for offices, and beauty-parlor equipment. During World War II, the company became a significant supplier of furniture for the military, providing furniture for the sleeping quarters and mess halls of US Navy ships, and thousands of bunkbeds for US Army and Marine barracks. Even after the conclusion of the war, the company remained a significant military contractor, while also expanding further into the consumer furniture market. However, due to a disagreement between the brothers, Julian Virtue left the company. After dividing their assets, Julian got a check for $1,000,000 and Philip continued to run Virtue Brothers.

In February 1950, Virco was founded by Julian Virtue in Los Angeles, California, opening its first factory on Vermont Avenue. To avoid starting his new business entirely from scratch, Virtue also purchased the Slauson Aircraft Company in 1950. Despite its name, in the post-World War II peacetime economy, Slauson Aircraft had become a school furniture maker and held a lucrative contract with the Los Angeles School Districts. This acquisition quickly allowed Virco to become the leading manufacturer of school equipment in the Greater Los Angeles area.

Growth and expansion

Virco further expanded in 1954 with the purchase of the Dunn Furniture Company in Conway, Arkansas. This purchase established a nationwide presence for the company, allowing for sales along both the East Coast and West Coast and increasing their sales volume significantly. Julian's son Robert joined the company in 1956, after having graduated from college and serving in the navy. He rose up the corporate ladder and began working quite closely with his father in the management of the company.

In 1964, became a publicly traded company. With increasing competition and rising labor costs hurting profit margins, the company decided to expand its operations internationally. In 1971, they opened a new factory in San Luis Río Colorado, Mexico directly across the border from Yuma, Arizona. This new facility, operated under the maquiladora concept, helped to drive down labor costs for the company. This, in turn, increased company profitability and allowed it to grow large enough to be listed on the American Stock Exchange in 1977.

The 1980s and early 1990s were a time of continued growth for the company, as well as leadership change. Facilities in Conway not only had their manufacturing capacities increased, but also became distribution and packing centers. Meanwhile, the factory in Mexico grew to nearly 1,200 workers. The company also purchased a 55,000-square-foot facility in Newport, Tennessee from the struggling Heywood-Wakefield Company in 1984. This facility, used for the manufacture of melamine plastic chair seats, soon employed 200 workers. Julian Virtue also semi-retired from the company, with his son Robert becoming president in 1982. Julian died in December 1991, with Robert having taken over as CEO and chairman of the board in 1988 and 1990, respectively.

Recent struggles

In recent years, the company has struggled financially due to the declines in public school funding. The company has also faced increased competition as school and government contracts have increasingly been awarded to local furniture suppliers. As a result, company revenue and profitability has fluctuated greatly over the past twenty years.

The company relocated to its current facility in Torrance in April 1994, shutting down two Los Angeles area facilities in an effort to reduce handling and distribution expenses. These facilities, a 200,000-square-foot warehouse and a 160,000-square-foot manufacturing facility, were sold off in April 2000 and November 2003, respectively. In 1995, the factory in Mexico was shut down after being damaged by a minor fire in 1993 and in an effort to further reduce operating margins. The company's Newport facility was shut down and donated to the Newport Cocke County Economic Development Commission in 2002.