There's a reason they call themselves "lazy"

The Detroit News has a story today about how the company, La-Z-Boy, just opened an online store Monday, hoping to boost some flagging revenue.

One analyst, Laura Champine, quoted in the article didn't think that the online move would help revenue much. "Historically," she said, "it's been very tough for furniture manufacturers to get off the ground in e-commerce."

True, but one would think someone interested in a La-Z-Boy might be too lazy to go out and shop, which I guess is why I'm writing about this. If I just described you, well, you can go to their online store.

As one executive in the article was quoted as saying, it didn't really matter if people bought their reclining chairs online, as long as the web site helped them do research to come into the stores and buy one. "Customers have come to expect it," said Doug Collier, Chief Marketing Officer.

No kidding. All I could think when I read this was: "You just got a web site? On Monday? What is this, 1998? Heck, even I have a web site. I know Amish people with web sites. No wonder you have 'lazy' in your name..."

Geoff Williams is an author and business journalist.