The Palliser Furniture Ltd furniture company was established in 1944, by Abram Albert DeFehr. Abram was a Russian born immigrant who moved to Canada, and he began his trade by making straight forward wooden furniture pieces in the based of his home in Winnipeg. The first factory for Palliser furniture was started a few years later in an old, run down chicken barn.
At this moment, Palliser Furniture is one of Canada's leading manufactures of furniture for the home. There are over 5000 employees currently working for Aplliser furniture across the world. It has manufacturing facilities based in Canada, USA, Mexico and it outsourced some manufacturing to Thailand and China. The headquarters for Palliser is in Winnipeg, Canada.
In the meanwhile, Palliser furniture has been split into several smaller companies. Each of these smaller companies specializes in one sector of the furniture industry. This is all due to the demands of the market, and in-family corporate restructuring. All of these fractions are owned by the grandchildren of the late A.A. DeFehr. Palliser Furniture, and all of its subsidiary companies, is primarily owned by Art DeFehr. Art serves as CEO and president of Palliser furniture. He was named "Entrepreneur of the Year" in 2001 by Manitoba Magazine for the expansion of this family business.
Art DeFehr was honored in late 2003 for work with the foundation, receiving the "City of Hope Spirit of Life Award" for 35 years of humanitarian work overseas. Art said his faith played a major part in his involvement with work in developing countries. In a story about his work with and recognition by City of Hope, he said, "I have more than a passing interest in what is going on in the world, and I am very fortunate that I could live two lives at the same time, running the Palliser Furniture business while engaging in humanitarian work"
"An extra year at Goshen allowed me to widen my scope of studies in such areas as sociology, theology, history, etc. My background has allowed me to create a varied career path. I could get involved in very different careers such as MCC Bangladesh, representative of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees in Somalia and similar assignments"
Palliser Furniture has always been known for the generosity they show towards the community, and their involvement and commitment to the community. Recently this reputation has been strained by profitability issues. This has been caused by the intense competition in the furniture market across the world. Some manufacturing is still being done in Winnipeg, but most of the manufacturing for Palliser Furniture has been moved to Asia and Mexico.
Palliser Furniture's mission is to be a community of people dedicated to leadership in design, service and customer value in the furniture industry. Their values reflect that they are building on a heritage of faith, as they aspire to demonstrate integrity in all relationships, promote the dignity and value of each other, respect the environment, support their community and strive for excellence in all they do.