Richardson Seating Furniture and Upholstering Services


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Richardson Seating Corporation manufactures beautifully upholstered bar stools and chairs for the hospitality and food service industries.  We are rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau. We also have over 70 5 star ratings on Google.  Our restaurant bar stools and restaurant chairs are commercial grade and perfect for your next restaurant project
If you are designing a bar, we want to work with you.  We operate a 75,000 square foot manufacturing plant in Chicago, Illinois where we combine a metal shop, wood shop, and upholstery shop all under one roof.  All of our upholstered bar stools are manufactured in Chicago.  We are located on the West side of Chicago 2 miles away from downtown.  We are quick drive from McCormick place if you ever want to visit while you are in for a trade show.

Although Richardson Seating was founded in 1975, Richardson Seating's family history and product line goes back much further. Our grandfather Harry Richardson founded a similar company with his father Joe and his brother Reuben right before WWII.  Harry went off to war and and the Richardson family was forced to shut the business down.  Harry Richardson eventually returned from active duty to his hometown of Chicago, IL.  Around 1950 Harry, Joe, and Rueben started their company back up which they called Carroll Chair.   Great Grandpa Joe passed away in August of 1951 leaving Harry and Reuben to run Carroll Chair.  The company was called Carroll Chair because the factory was located on Carroll St in Chicago. According to Harry's daughter, the address was 1504 W Carroll St.  If someone knows for sure, please contact us.  Carroll Chair specialized in manufacturing and wholesaling commercial chairs and commercial bar stools for the food service industry. Harry sold Carroll Chair in 1973 with plans of retiring.  Carroll Chair eventually moved out of state and many years later was purchased by Mity-Lite.

Harry Richardson founder of Richardson SeatingHarry tried his hand at real estate, but missed running a factory.  A few years later, Harry opened a new commercial furniture manufacturing company with his wife Tolza. Harry named this factory Richardson Seating. Like its predecessor, Richardson Seating specialized in manufacturing commercial bar stools, counter stools, and other retro diner furniture.
  Richardson Seating’s first factory was located at 346 N Justine St. in the Fulton corridor. Richardson Seating was located on the 4th floor of a multi tenant manufacturing building.  It was a pain to share the elevator but the location worked for 7 years. 

In 1983 Richardson Seating moved a few blocks away to its current home on Arthington Street. Also in 1983, Harry Richardson passed away leaving the business to his wife Tolza.  The business was eventually purchased by Earl Lichtenstein Harry's son in law.  Earl had been working at Richardson for many years before Harry's passing.  Earl ran Richardson for nearly 30 years.  In the late 90's, Richardson Seating got its big break.  Richardson was selected by Target for a new furniture section they were trying out.  Target selected our model 4240 Lucy Diner Chair and ordered them by the 10s of thousands.  Our whole factory had to be altered to handle those orders.  After a year or so, Target decided to add some bar stools.  Target wanted bar stools that stacked so they could fit more on the shelf.  We worked with our steel supplier and came up with stackable round seat swivel bar stools. The frame was extra wide so that you could stack multiple bar stools on top of each other.  Earl secured business with some of the biggest licensees during Scott and Ira of Richardson Seatinghis tenure. He manufactured bar stools for Harley Davidson, Coca Cola, General Motors, Ford, Fender Guitar and many of the other biggest names.  Earl's son Ira joined the Richardson Seating in 2001 and Earl's son Scott joined in 2003.  Earl ran the company successfully for 30 years.  Eventually, Earl turned the business over to his sons and Harry's grandsons Ira and Scott.  Today Scott and Ira continue making the same furniture using the same traditions as have been handed down to them from their dad Earl, their Grandpa Harry, and their Great Grandpa Joe. 
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The Lichtenstein and Richardson families have been manufacturing quality restaurant furniture for 70 years.  Our family has been operating for almost 50 years under the Richardson name.  We take pride in our service and our product quality.  We still build our bar stools and chairs the same way that our great grandfather did.  We manufacture our bar stools in house in Chicago so that we can control the quality of everything.  We use top grade components, heavy plywood, and thick steel.  There is a Richardson difference.  Our furniture will last in your bar or restaurant for years and years.
We are now offering reupholstering services for restaurant seating.  We can reupholster chairs, bar stools and booths.  If you would like to get some of your furniture repaired, please message us so that we can send you a bid.  We understand that its not always a great time to buy new furniture.  With our reupholstery services we can make your old furniture brand new or possible even better than brand new.

Pictures from our factory