How did two college kids from western, Mich., turn a frayed beanbag chair into a booming alternative furniture business?
By accident – at least to start with.
Matt Jung and Chip George, while attending Hope College, decided an old beanbag of Chip’s needed some rehab. Lacking beans, they filled the bag with chunks of foam from an old worn-out couch. Some ripping and a few jagged stitches later, the Fuf chair was born. Friends loved it, and before long Fufs became the rage at colleges throughout Michigan.
They then convinced the general manager of a Meijer store near Michigan State University in East Lansing to buy 50 chairs, which sold out in eight days. The next 50 sold out in 12 days. Meijer then ordered 1,200 to make the Michigan-made Fuf chair available at all of their stores. The ecstatic salesmen had to ramp up production. And have been ramping production up ever since!
You may wonder what’s next for Comfort Research… you can rest assured it will be comfortable!
Accolades
2002 - Business featured in Business Week
2003 - Awarded No. 186 on INC 500 listing for fastest growing companies in America
2004 - Chip and Matt were awarded Ernst and Young ‘Entrepreneurs of the Year’
2004 - Awarded No. 118 on INC 500 listing for fastest growing companies in America
2007 - Featured in ’40 Under 40 Business Leaders’ for Grand Rapids Business Review
2008 - Installed bean ‘popping equipment’ allowing CR to make its own bean fill
Products Seen on:
