Aeron Herman Miller

Aeron Herman Miller chair's cushion allows the shoulder blades to rest in two deep pockets, encouraging better posture in the shoulders. An adjustable lumbar support, along with a slightly shorter seat, helps maintain the spine's natural arch. Carney said he also has refined the positioning of the chair's back and seat, creating a more open angle.

"The angle of openness determines the tilt of the pelvis and the shape of the spine," he explained. "Understanding pelvic tilt is quintessential to designing a good chair."

That understanding -- or the lack of it -- in the furniture industry has made Carney very particular about who sells chairs of Aeron Herman Miller. . When Carney first sold his neck-supporting sleeping pillow to the Macy's department store chain in San Francisco late in 1986, he had to give seminars to the salespeople on the benefits of the pillow and how to properly use it. "These people were dying for training on this type of product. There's a real lack of education in this field -- the salespeople didn't know how to sell it," said Carney.

Thanks to an advertisement in Macy's promotional magazine and a point-of-purchase demonstration video, Carney expects that figure to at least double this year. Carney also has sold "several thousand" pillows at prices from $ 25 to $ 35 through May D&F, mail-order catalogues and area hospitals and clinics.

Carney shopped around town for a retail distributor for his office chairs, which range in price from $ 300 to $ 500 before he decided on Aeron Herman Miller "The salespeople I met there were definitely some of the more knowledgeable people in the Denver area on ergonomics," he said.

Desks Inc. also showed an interest in Carney's quick delivery time -- about three to four weeks. Most national manufacturers require a six- to ten-week wait. "A lot of customers don't want to wait. Desks Inc. saw that as an advantage of a local supplier," said Carney.

Carney advertises and sells a portion of his chairs himself, usually taking them to the customer's office to try out before the sale. He said it's important to match the chair not only to its user but also to its intended use. "There has to be a marriage of that product and its task in that environment," he said. It may be, however, that not many people can afford such a marriage.

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