Latest news with #SellingKroehler
Chicago Tribune
06-05-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Rise of Kroehler Manufacturing Co. through innovative marketing explored in new Naper Settlement exhibit
Kroehler Manufacturing Co. was once a household name. Naper Settlement's newest exhibit explores just how the Naperville business marketed itself to eventually become at one time the world's largest furniture producer. 'Selling Kroehler' details the advertising strategies the company employed amid a changing consumer culture during the 20th century. The origins of Kroehler Manufacturing Co. date back more than 130 years ago, growing out of an entity called the Naperville Lounge Factory that was founded in 1893. The company name was later updated to reflect the ownership of longtime President Peter Kroehler, who was instrumental in building it into a nationally known business. At its peak, Kroehler had about 8,000 employees. Between the 1940s and 1960s, annual sales climbed from $20 million to more than $100 million before its demise in 1981. Because of the company's local roots, Naper Settlement has collected a large assortment of Kroehler materials, according to Jeanne Schultz Angel, the history museum's associate vice president of humanities. A couple of years ago it was decided they would use them to curate an exhibit and they began thinking about what kind of story they wanted to tell, Schultz Angel said. As chief curator Christine McNulty and curator of history Andrea Field looked at materials on hand, there 'was a story that was sort of bubbling up wanting to be told and that was the story of marketing,' Schultz Angel said. 'Of how innovative Peter Kroehler and the company were in marketing their furniture.' From there, the story evolved into how Kroehler's strategies related to broader American history and consumer habits at the time, she said. In the decades following the Civil War, the United States emerged as an industrial giant, according to an overview of the rise of industrial America from the Library of Congress. Following World War II, a post-war economic boom brought about higher wages that in turn fueled a new consumer culture, per a 2022 article from the National World War II Museum. 'That's what we found really, really interesting. … In the midst of all of this, we have our example of Kroehler Manufacturing,' Schultz Angel said. The exhibit, stretching across three rooms in the Pre-Emption House buiding, is a compilation of advertising materials, descriptive text, interactive elements and of course, furniture displays. One part highlights classroom kits that Kroehler's 'Consumer Education Department' sold to schools to make furniture buying part of home economic courses. Another looks at how Kroehler conducted a motivational survey on furniture buying to better understand consumer behavior. Asked what she hopes visitors take away from the exhibit, Schultz Angel said, 'For marketing and consumer culture, how we purchase things today … the world is sort of the manufacturer now, not just localized areas, right? And I think as much as (habits) change, there's still these things that we remind ourselves of.' 'Selling Kroehler' will be on view through December.
Chicago Tribune
27-02-2025
- Health
- Chicago Tribune
Naperville News Digest: Edward Foundation awards $36,000 in nursing scholarships; DuPage Foundation awards $100,000 in nonprofit grants
Edward Foundation awards $36,000 in nursing scholarships The Edward Foundation has awarded $36,000 in nursing scholarships to eight employees of Endeavor Health Edward Hospital who are pursuing a degree or advanced degree in nursing. The foundation awarded $10,000 each to Jacqueline Moecher, of Naperville, a clinical nurse manager in cardiac telemetry at Edward Hospital in Naperville, and Natalia Fuks, of Minooka, a patient care technician at Edward Hospital's Plainfield Emergency Department. The scholarships were in honor of Peter Veit, who gifted the foundation with $120,000 after his death in 2014 in recognition of the care he received from the Edward nursing staff, a news release said. Moecher, Fuks and six other employees also were awarded $2,000 scholarships. Recipients who live in Naperville are Sandi Darnell, a registered nurse at North Naperville Immediate Care; Jamie Hilgeman, a certified medical assistant at Endeavor Health Center on Hobson Road; and Maria Huerta, a registered nurse in the oncology department at Edward Hospital. Other recipients are Aurora resident Brittany Lewis, a registered nurse in employee health at Edward Hospital; Plainfield resident Saundra Sobczak, a registered nurse in the Plainfield Emergency Department, and Alsip resident Alexis Trubitt, a patient care technician at Edward Hospital. DuPage Foundation awards $100,000 in nonprofit grants The DuPage Foundation has awarded $100,000 in grant money to 10 DuPage County nonprofit organizations, including some that serve the Naperville area. The money is being distributed as part of the foundation's inaugural cycle of the Capacity Building grant program. BrightSide Theatre, the one Naperville-based group to be awarded funding, will receive $10,000 to pay for a marketing consultant to boost ticket sales and program registrations. DuPage Pads and NAMI DuPage were each awarded $15,000, the release said. Pads plans to use the funding to help cover the cost of a new associate director of quality assurance to ensure compliance with its public grant funding and data management. NAMI DuPage will use its portion to hire a consultant to help build sustainable revenue sources. Bridge Communities received $14,600 to support the cost of FreeWill, an estate planning tool that will help increase planned giving, the news release said. The foundation's Capacity Building grant program was launched last fall to help local organizations improve their internal framework and promote long-term sustainability, the release said. Naper Settlement planning to hold several March events Naper Settlement will present several programs in March designed for history lovers, families and adults, a news release said. In anticipation of the opening of the museum's exhibit in May, 'Selling Kroehler,' the settlement will present a 'Your Friendly Neighborhood Historian' lecture on the history and legacy of the Kroehler Manufacturing Co. The presentation will take place at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 4, at the settlement, 523 S. Webster St. Registration is $10 per person. Participants can bring a lunch to the lecture. Families can explore light, color and iridescence through family-friendly activities at 'Family STEM Night: Over the Rainbow.' The program, geared to families with children 12 and younger, will take place at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 6. Registration is $8 per person. At 7 p.m. Thursday, March 13, Connie Martin will discuss plantation songs and spirituals used in regions of the South that aided freedom seekers as they headed to Canada. The program, 'Your Friendly Neighborhood Historian: Hidden Messages in Negro Spirituals on the Underground Railroad,' is $10 per person and registration is required. An adults-only event, 'Game by Beer: One Night Werewolf,' will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 27. Those 21 and older can enjoy adult beverages while playing the strategy and deception game, 'One Night Werewolf.' Preregistration and a valid ID are required.
