Designing, producing and distributing high-value furniture for a diverse family
of customers is a 66-year tradition at Virco Mfg. Corporation. Virco was incorporated
in California in February 1950, and reincorporated in Delaware in April 1984.
Though Virco started as a local manufacturer of chairs and desks for Los Angeles-area
schools, over the years, Virco has become the largest manufacturer and supplier
of moveable educational furniture and equipment for the preschool through 12th
grade market in the United States. The Company manufactures a wide assortment
of products, including mobile tables, mobile storage equipment, desks, computer
furniture, chairs, activity tables, folding chairs and folding tables. Additionally,
Virco has worked with accomplished designers - such as Peter Glass, Richard
Holbrook, and Bob Mills - to develop additional products for contemporary applications.
These include the best-selling ZUMA Series; the recently introduced Analogy
and Civitas furniture collections; Metaphor and Sage Series items for educational
settings; and the wide-ranging Plateau Series.
Along with serving customers in the education market - which in addition to
preschool through 12th grade public and private schools includes: junior and
community colleges; four-year colleges and universities; trade, technical and
vocational schools -
Virco is a leading furniture and equipment supplier for convention centers
and arenas; the hospitality industry with respect to banquet and meeting facilities;
government facilities at the federal, state, county and municipal levels; and
places of worship. We also sell to wholesalers, distributors, traditional retailers
and catalog retailers that serve these same markets.
To meet the furniture and equipment needs of our customers, Virco leases a 560,000
sq. ft. office, manufacturing and warehousing facility located on 23.5 acres
of land in Torrance, California; this facility includes our corporate headquarters,
West Coast showroom, and our West Coast distribution operations. To complement
our Torrance-based operations, Virco owns 100 acres of land in Conway, Arkansas,
containing 1,200,000 sq. ft. of manufacturing, warehousing, and office space.
With high-density storage systems, 70 dock doors dedicated to outbound freight,
and substantial yard capacity to store and stage trailers, this facility supports
Vircos ability to handle increased sales during our peak summer delivery season
and enhances the efficiency with which orders are filled. Virco also operates
two other facilities in Conway. The first is a 375,000 sq. ft. factory - acquired
in 1954, and expanded and modernized in subsequent years - where a variety of
operations take place, including the manufacture of fabricated steel components,
chrome plating, and plastic injection-molding; components generated here are
transferred to other facilities for assembly into finished goods. The second
is a 175,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility where compression-molded hard plastic
components are fabricated and stored.
Because the product needs and preferences of our customers continue to evolve
- and in response to competitive furniture and equipment offerings from domestic
and offshore suppliers - Virco maintains an active new product development program.
Weve worked with accomplished designers - such as Peter Glass, Richard Holbrook,
and Bob Mills - to introduce exciting furniture and equipment solutions for
contemporary applications. Over the past three years, Virco has launched a substantial
number of new products, including the following products.
In 2015, Virco introduced the Analogy™ classroom furniture collection.
Designed for Virco by Peter Glass and Bob Mills, the affordable, ergonomically
contoured Analogy line includes fixed-height 4-leg chairs, adjustable task chairs
and lab stools, steel-frame rockers and a selection of 4-leg and sled-based
chair desk combo units. New Agile Combo units - also released in 2013 - provide
an appropriate level of mobility to effectively enhance in-class collaboration.
Every Agile Combo model has a hooded, twin-wheel soft caster with a “sit-lock”
compression-brake on each of its front legs. With this two-caster configuration,
Agile Combos - unlike competing units with casters on all four legs - prevent
students from “rolling around” disruptively while seated. Instead,
when an instructor asks students to move their Agile Combos to facilitate a
particular lesson plan, they can do so in an orderly manner by getting out of
their seats and using the convenient hand-hold near the top of the Agile Combo
backrest. For added stability when units aren’t being moved, the rear
legs of Agile Combos have rubber-base swivel glides. Agile Combo models can
be ordered with a ZUMA shell, a Sage™ shell or an Analogy shell. Other
2014 product introductions included: a selection of ZUMA and Sage chairs with
integral tubular steel arms; several new Parameter desks and workstations, including
L-configuration units with curved-corner or notched-corner tops; and wheelchair-accessible
ZBOOM single-student desks that support collaborative learning; mobile Textameter™
instructor workstations; and elegant Civitas™ chairs and stools with a
contoured plywood seat and back.
In 2016, not only did Virco expand on successful product lines such as TEXT
and Sage Contract, but also introduced new seating, desks, and tables. N2™
is the newest, comprehensive seating line geared toward the budget-conscious
customers, and includes everything from stack and task chairs to combo units
and lab stools. In an effort to broaden Virco’s reach into STEM™
(Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) based learning solutions,
the Tetra Series was developed as a complete line of tables and desks that are
suitable for environments ranging from computer labs to seminar training rooms.
To round out Virco’s extensive offering of collaborative desks, the Molecule™
is a unique shaped student desk that can be grouped with other Molecules in
multiple configurations, or customized with numerous accessories and used as
a stand-alone, single student desk.
In 2016, to further support STEM and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering,
Art and Math) centered learning, Virco introduced Makerspace Tables. The Makerspace
line offers a wide assortment of medium-duty tables designed specifically for
the hands-on learning environment most commonly found in vocational classes,
makerspace areas, and STEM / STEAM centered education.
Available in a large selection of top sizes, the unique inset design allows
the user to easily swap out to a new work surface when needed without completely
disassembling or replacing the entire table. Surface options include a standard
¾-inch laminate plywood core, or an unfinished, non-laminate, raw plywood
work surface. To address the ongoing integration of technology in the classroom,
Instructor Media Towers and Media Stations offer solutions for media storage
and presentation. Virco’s Media Towers incorporate locking doors, adjustable
and fixed shelves, file and box drawers, and fully integrated cable management.
Optional accessories for the Instructor Media Towers include a Caster Kit, Lectern
Top Assembly, and Shelf Kits.
Media Stations attach to two different size desk options and come standard
with a modesty panel as well as fully integrated cable management.
Vircos flat metal forming and other production capabilities are further enhanced
when combined with our Assemble-to-Ship (“ATS”) strategy, which
allows for the manufacture and storage of common components during the portion
of the year when demand for our product is lower which is then assembled to
customer-specific combinations prior to shipment. The combination of flat metal
forming and ATS enables Virco to offer various products - including an array
of desks at different price points - that provide a variety of furniture solutions
for customer applications in a wide range of environments.
1.95%