Leon’s and La-Z-Boy are both raking in revenue — but can either sit back and relax? The Faceoff,

When it comes to the world of furniture, La-Z-Boy is to recliners what Kleenex is to tissues.

The company, founded in 1927 and headquartered in Monroe, Mich., has locations in Canada, the United States and around the world.

La-Z-Boy had a blockbuster first quarter of its 2022 fiscal year. The company reported an 84 per cent jump in revenue to $525 million (U.S.), from $285 million in 2020.

Overall net income is up to $25 million, from $5 million the prior year.

Joybird, an online customfurniture company, was bought by La-Z-Boy in 2018 to increase the company’s online presence. In the most recent quarterly results, Joybird’s delivered sales grew 188 per cent compared with last year’s quarter, to $39 million.

Melinda D. Whittington, president and chief executive officer of La-Z-Boy, was pleased with the results but cautioned investors about rising “commodity and freight costs, which have not shown signs of abating.”

To address this issue, Whittington noted that the company “imposed a surcharge on pending dealer orders in our backlog to help mitigate these significant cost increases in the near term.”

Brad Thomas, equity research analyst at KeyBanc Capital Markets, released a report on June 16 detailing the company’s fiscal 2021 results.

Thomas notes that lead times for products have increased to four to nine months, compared with the company’s typical four to six weeks.

The company has also “seen delays in international shipment and component part availability, such as electrical components for higher-margin power units,” resulting in lower gross margins.

Despite this, “management noted that (first quarter fiscal 2022) is off to a good start with continued robust written order rates and a record backlog,” Thomas wrote.