MONROE, MI - La-Z-Boy (NYSE: LZB) net income more than doubled as on a 5.8% sales increase - an impressive performance driven by an updated manufacturing operation and better sales channels, according to CEO Kurt Darrow.

"Our results demonstrate the strength of our integrated retail strategy and the efficiencies of our manufacturing platform," Darrow said.

Sales for the first quarter 2014 increased to $318.9 million. Net income more than doubled, to $9.9 million versus $4.7 million in the first quarter 2013.

"The momentum in our business continued through what is typically a seasonally slower quarter," Darrow said.

But casegoods, a smaller segment including Kincaid Solid Wood and American Drew Casegoods, didn't fare so well - falling 15%  from $34.7 million to $29.4 million. Upholstered sales were $254.9 million, up from $238 million in the year prior period.

"Sales in the casegoods segment remain challenged, although we do believe that as the housing market continues to improve, the wood business across the industry will be a beneficiary given it was the hardest hit in the macroeconomic downturn," Darrow said. 

"We are continuing to evolve our product line and are aggressively shifting the style mix of our four casegoods brands, with the expansion of more casual and transitional design offerings, which we believe will appeal to younger consumers and better reflect today's casual lifestyle."

Darrow says La-Z-Boy will expand stores, intending to reach 400 stores across the La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries network, averaging $4 million in sales per store, in five year, "while realizing the efficiency associated with our lean manufacturing platform."

La-Z-Biy said in its SEC filing for the quarter that it is the leading global producer of reclining chairs and the second largest manufacturer/distributor of residential furniture in the United States. Its La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries stores retail network is the second largest retailer of single-branded upholstered furniture in North America. La-Z-Boy operates nine major North-American manufacturing locations to support its speed to market and customization strategy.