• Detroit News, Thursday, July 23, 2009 10:29 AM

I know this is akin to admitting a fondness for my father's Oldsmobile, but I considered it a sign of coming-of-age when I acquired my first La-Z-Boy recliner in the early 1980s. Although the nap-inducing recliner and I have gone our separate rejuvenating ways, it's reassuring to read Jaclyn Trop's story about how La-Z-Boy continues to reinvent itself, from massage controls to built-in coolers.

The ComfortTouch model has 100 remote-controlled adjustment combinations for the seat and back with air chamber technology, for example. And EcoComfort models use soy-based foam cushions and are available in EcoSuede fabrics made of recycled water bottles.

The 81-year-old brand now has 320 stores nationwide and $1.2 billion in sales for the fiscal year ending April 25. It has such strong brand recognition that the term has become generic for recliner, says Joe Carroll, publisher of Furniture/Today. And it's poised to take advantage of 77 million deteriorating baby boomers, according to Jerry Epperson, a managing director with investment firm Mann, Armistead and Epperson. "We're getting older and fatter every day, and those recliners are wonderful things," he says.

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