DANBURY, CT - Ethan Allen's continued tinkering of its wood and upholstered furniture lines helped it realize an 8% sales increase in its third quarter ended March 31, 2012.

Ethan Allen's Q3 increase was consistent with the 8.6% sales increase posted for first nine months of its fiscal year. Third quarter sales climbed to $175.9 million bringing the company's last nine-month total to $544.1 million.

Farooq Kathwari, chairman and CEO of Ethan Allen, said, "The recession has further accelerated our focus on major initiatives in all areas of our enterprise including a 60% change in our product offerings in less than one year. In addition, we continue to invest in acquiring talented interior design associates and management in our retail division. While increasing our expenses, this investment provides an opportunity to grow our sales by enhancing our competitive advantage of providing complimentary interior design services."

Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, Kathwari said Ethan Allen is poised to launch "Ethan Allen Express" in June. "The objective of this initiative is to expand our reach to more consumers. The program will consist of selected products with good price points and fast deliveries from our five lifestyles. Our plan is to strongly market this program during the next six months. As we stated in our previous press release, while recognizing the uncertain macro-economic conditions, we remain cautiously optimistic due to our many initiatives."