American Seating

American Seating Inc. is a company specializing in the production of chairs and other seating, including seats for rail transport and public transportation, schools and churches, and stadiums. Founded in 1886 as the Grand Rapids School Furniture Company, the company is headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA. The company gives its name to the American Seating rule, based on a lawsuit it participated in.

Various notable venues in the United States have featured seats produced by American Seating, including Radio City Music Hall and the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, Fenway Park in Boston, the now-demolished Candlestick Park in San Francisco, and the United States Senate chamber.

The company was founded in 1886 by three businessmen and members of the Grand Rapids school board. They opened a factory in Grand Rapids on January 5 of that year, manufacturing school and office furniture, particularly wooden school desks. The Grand Rapids School Furniture Company was officially incorporated on May 8, 1887. The company was able to utilize the favorable conditions that led Grand Rapid's furniture industry to blossom at this time. This included an abundance of forests for lumber, the presence of the Grand River, and an increasing immigrant population in the area providing labor. The company inaugurated its now-historic factory on August 1, 1888. In 1899, the company acquired and merged with 18 other furniture manufacturers, and was renamed American School Furniture Company.

Following the mergers, the company was accused on several occasions of operating as a trust within the furniture industry. In March 1900, the company was sued in New York for violating the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. In 1901, American School Furniture was sued by the stockholders of a Chicago company they recently acquired, also accusing the company of operating as a monopoly. In 1906, the company reorganized as the American Seating Company, incorporating in New Jersey. Shortly afterward in 1907, the company and 13 other associated furniture and appliance producers were fined for operating as a trust by Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis in the anti-trust case, United States v. American Seating Co. The companies were referred to as the "Prudential Club". The proceedings also alleged that the purpose of the company's 1906 reorganization was to push out smaller stockholders. The company would be involved in other anti-trust suits, in 1940, and 1971.

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