Roll & Hill Announces Purchase of Alexis Manufacturing in Grand Rapids, Mi

Furniture World News Desk on 2/25/2020

Brooklyn-based lighting design and manufacturing company Roll & Hill announced this week the purchase of Alexis Manufacturing Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The 75-year-old American company is known as a producer of complex wood components and wood seating, as well as a leading supplier of seating to well-known furniture companies.
 
Father and son Ivan and Norman Alexis founded Alexis Manufacturing in 1946, when Grand Rapids held the nickname “Furniture City,” due to its global reputation for manufacturing and selling fine wood furniture. The business initially began creating tables, but soon transitioned to chairs when a prominent local furniture brand commissioned its production help. Purchased by Howard Miller Clock Company in 1983, the company has operated for nearly 75 years as a producer of chairs for fine furniture manufacturers. Until today, Alexis has maintained a reputation as one of the most respected American chair manufacturers and continues to have a robust contract business.
 
Since it was founded in 2010, Roll & Hill has earned a reputation as one of the foremost American lighting brands. Jason Miller, the founder of Roll & Hill, and his engineering team work with established and emerging designers and provide them with the manufacturing expertise to bring their designs to the marketplace. The firm continues to fill a unique place in the American market and promote American craftsmanship by producing high-quality, well-designed pieces across a rich material palette.
 
With the purchase of Alexis, Roll & Hill plans to maintain and expand its mission of advancing American design, while also ensuring the preservation of Alexis’s history as an American furniture manufacturer. Roll & Hill has committed to continuing to fulfill the company’s contract business under the name Alexis Manufacturing and to keep many of the company’s craftspeople and makers on board. “Alexis Manufacturing is a heritage brand that has stood the test of time and that has tremendous production capabilities,” explained Miller. “We plan to continue this legacy, while at the same time bringing a new sense of energy and design. We want to reestablish the sense of excitement and possibility that American furniture, and specifically furniture from western Michigan, used to conjure.”
 
Roll & Hill plans to launch its first furniture collection later this year.

 
About Roll & Hill: Roll & Hill collaborates with some of the most exciting independent designers working today to create a collection of beautiful and unique lighting fixtures. Roll & Hill was founded in 2010 by Jason Miller, whose experience as a designer and producer inspired him to create a company that might harness the talents of independent designers, while offering the benefits more often associated with boutique studios.
 
Roll & Hill is committed to on-demand production, which allows for each piece to be customized to a client’s needs. At Roll & Hill’s headquarters in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, parts are assembled by hand, one lamp at a time.
 
Roll & Hill’s pieces draw from a rich material palette that includes brass, bronze, leather, wood, hand-knotted rope and mouth-blown glass. Roll & Hill’s designers often pair historical elements with contemporary forms to create lights that feel familiar, yet totally new.