Sitting in with Herman Miller (MLHR)

Herman Miller (MLHR), a Ten Grand Chicago holding hasn't been performing for quite some time. Based on my analysis at the time, I considered a good value and strategic play. The office furniture market has tanked along with every thing else in the economic crisis, so it's time to look back on my initial analysis and start doing some in depth coverage of what has happened since then, and what Herman Miller must do to survive this year, or should I say "float" and stay even?

Over the next several posts, I will be compiling some of my analysis for Herman Miller. For starters, a good place to get some industry trend information is from BIFMA (The Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturer's Association). The forecast they had published for 2009 wasn't pretty, suggesting a 11% drop in proudction of office furniture from 2008. That was last November. There are interesting product category segment nuggets at the BIFMA website. We'll start from the top, and work our way down to Herman Miller's operations from there.

Stay tuned.