furniture founded buffalo new york 1866 headquarters buffalo new york usa area served williamsville ny products residential and contract furniture owner raymond bialkowski president ceo number of employees 50 website www.kittingerfurniture.com the kittinger company is an american maker of traditional colonial reproduction furniture that was founded in 1866 . kittinger s primary showroom kittinger gallery and design studio is located in williamsville new york and today is known for the high quality furniture it produces that is featured prominently in the white house . 1 contents 1 history 2 design studio and showrooms 3 special projects 3.1 the white house 3.2 colonial williamsburg foundation 3.3 historic newport 3.4 george w. bush presidential library and museum 3.5 government 3.6 white house down film 4 competitors 5 references 6 external links history edit the kittinger company traces its origins to a paper manufacturer founded in 1866 in buffalo new york and trading as thompson colie & co. the production of upholstered furniture by george and oliver colie trading as colie & son followed in 1870 producing largely hand made furniture for the buffalo and new york city markets . the first factory specializing at first in frames for upholstery was erected in 1885 in buffalo . 2 advertising in 1904 3 colie and son illustrated one of their armchairs that showed they were still making furniture in the free colonial revival style for their snappy original styles in parlor suites odd chairs divans easy chairs etc. reproductions more closely based on original american 18th century pieces of furniture would come to characterize the firm s production under george colie s son in law 4 in 1913 irvine j. kittinger who had been working for the firm and his brother ralph ; they purchased the company from the colie family and changed the company s name to the kittinger company . under kittinger s control the company s primary focus was to produce the highest quality furniture possible . by 1929 the company was grossing 1 000 000 annually . 5 the kittinger family controlled and remained involved with the company until they sold their interests in 1966 . in 1990 after passing through a series of corporate owners the company was acquired by usc industry . the following years proved tough for the kittinger company under poor management and the company filed for bankruptcy . in 1996 raymond bialkowski a former kittinger cabinet maker purchased the kittinger name and production rights . since coming under bialkowski s control the company has returned to profitability and has expanded its workforce . in september 2012 kittinger expanded into japan with the opening of a showroom at the sala azabu store in tokyo . 6 design studio and showrooms edit kittinger furniture is available through several showrooms across the country . kittinger s primary showroom kittinger gallery and design studio is located in williamsville new york . showrooms in texas washington d.c. illinois ohio and many other states represent and carry the kittinger lines . most pieces are built to order to customers specifications and needs . special projects edit the white house edit nixon s cabinet with kittinger furniture a number of kittinger reproductions can still be found in the west wing office area of the white house in washington d.c. colonial williamsburg foundation interior designers were commissioned by president richard nixon in 1970 to redo the interior design of the president s offices . kittinger company furniture was used extensively in the redesign since this company was the sole licensee of furniture for the colonial williamsburg foundation s famous program to produce exact reproductions of 18th century antiques . 7 included in the redesign was a new conference table and chairs for the cabinet room . president nixon wrote a personal check to pay for the new cabinet room table custom made by the kittinger company and donated it to the white house . along with furnishing areas of the white house the kittinger company has also produced furniture for the inaugurations of former president george w. bush and current president barack obama . in 2005 the white house commissioned six chairs from kittinger for the second inauguration of former president george w. bush . in 2009 the white house commissioned an additional two chairs and utility table for the inauguration of current president barack obama . 8 the white house reused the pieces crafted by kittinger again for the second inauguration of president barack obama in 2013 . 1 colonial williamsburg foundation edit in 1937 the colonial williamsburg foundation selected the kittinger company as the exclusive licensed reproducer of furniture at colonial williamsburg 9 kittinger reproductions were sold through the williamsburg reproductions program the craft house established that year . 10 visitors to colonial williamsburg could see kittinger cabinetmakers in period costume at work in the workshop established in the ayscough house . 11 williamsburg reproductions came with a bill of sale detailing the history of the original piece and were branded with the williamsburg stamp . other reproductions by kittinger were labeled with a letterpress label in the 18th century style . like their rivals biggs furniture of richmond virginia kittinger served an upper middle class market in search of mostly mahogany reproduction furniture with dovetailed oak drawer lining frame and panel backs and other mark of quality comparable to the originals in the queen anne chippendale and hepplewhite styles . in 1990 the license expired and was granted to baker furniture company . apart from the williamsburg reproductions other series were marketed under names evoking the colonial period richmond hill collection 12 old dominion collection 13 and the like . historic newport edit the success of kittinger reproductions licensed by colonial williamsburg foundation encouraged the preservation society of newport county to license kittinger to reproduce 18th century pieces by the goddard and townsend families of cabinetmakers and other furniture made in colonial newport rhode island in the society s possession . paper labels on this series of furniture read for the preservation society of newport county . george w. bush presidential library and museum edit the kittinger company was commissioned to produce several of its pieces from the white house including fireside chairs coffee table pen book table telephone table council table and mahogany chairs with cane backs . 14 these pieces are on display in the replica oval office in the george w. bush presidential library and museum . government edit in the past the kittinger company has been commissioned to craft furniture for the capital building supreme court and several government officials . 15 kittinger also reproduced under license furniture for independence hall philadelphia and historic savannah . 16 white house down film edit sony pictures commissioned kittinger to make reproductions of its furniture in the white house for its film white house down released in 2013 . kittinger crafted several sets of furniture for the production of the film . 17 competitors edit other high end manufacturers of reproduction furniture some by authorized license include baker furniture kindel furniture and saybolt cleland furniture . references edit a b buffalo rising staff february 3 2016 . kittinger chairs headed for the white house . buffalo rising . retrieved 4 february 2016 . design journal kittinger furniture inc. the american cabinet maker and upholsterer october 15 1904 p. . kittinger furniture company history design journal kittinger furniture inc. bertola david june 12 2012 . kittinger to receive made in america award . buffalo business first . retrieved 5 february 2016 . douglas w. kenyon biography . hunton and williams . retrieved 2007 11 25 . http www.furnituretoday.com article 162714 kittinger vanguard help furnish white house.php pollard garland 2004 03 01 . colonial williamsburg its history . brandchannel.com . interbrand . retrieved 2007 11 25 . archives case pieces . americana furniture and interiors . retrieved 2007 11 25 . history of colonial williamsburg kittinger company reproductions 1937 1990 branded richmond hill collection by kittinger within a cartouche . in collaboration with biggs richmond which became a subsidiary of kittinger . http www.woodworkingnetwork.com articles kittinger replicated furniture for george w bush library 204539991.html sthash .6 aszlzzr.dpbs http www.bizjournals.com buffalo stories 2009 01 19 daily2.html page all americana interiors kittinger company http www.woodworkingnetwork.com articles kittinger replicated furniture for george w bush library 204539991.html sthash .6 aszlzzr.dpbs external links edit company site antique reproduction furniture indodeco was established by con spiros in 1995 to provide melbourne with a quality source of antique furniture reproduction and custom furniture design . retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title kittinger company & oldid 715057900 categories companies based in buffalo new yorkfurniture companies of the united states navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages kiswahili edit links this page was last modified on 13 april 2016 at 13 21 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . 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