Two of the men, Fred Long and John Kraushar had been making furniture as a small business, but they wanted to expand.

In the summer of 1895, a principal shareholder died, which had other investors start to lose faith in the company, Peter Kroehler bought them out at book value.

Kroehler foresaw a large market for the bed, so much so that he decided to get a controlling interest, by outright purchase of companies, if necessary, in as many patents as possible.

That same year, the Naperville plant was partly destroyed by the "Easter Cyclone", so a new building was erected in its place.

That same year, in 1915, Kroehler bought back Sears' shares in the company, for a price of 1.2 Million dollars.

The company specialized in high-grade upholstered furniture and was located on the northwest side of Chicago.

As a response, Peter advertised the quality construction of his furniture to appeal to cost-conscious buyers, and offered incentives to stores to inspire creative window displays and increase sales.

[2] In the middle of the 1940s, Kroehler was the second-largest furniture maker in the United States with over $20 million in annual sales.

As a result, they pursued contracts from the government for war work, making things like filing cabinets and duffel bags.

From August 1946 to January 1947, the company suffered from its largest worker strike, with over 2500 employees protesting for higher wages.

[4] On April 25, 1946, a nearby train accident in Naperville caused over 800 Kroehler employees to help rescue survivors, and assist in the wreckage.

[4] In the 1960s, the company employed close to 8,000 people around the country, and their annual revenues passed $100 million.

[4] Due to millions dollars in losses, Kroehler Manufacturing Company was sold to the ATR group in Northbrook in 1981.