Kimball Hospitality Expands Its Brand with New Upholstered Seating Offering; Introduces Hotel Upholstered Seating Products

JASPER, Ind., Sep 28, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) --
KBALB | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Mention hotels and most people think of beds, but a comfortable chair or
sofa to relax upon are also important to guests' satisfaction. Building
on their company's forty years of experience, Kimball Hospitality, a
unit of Kimball International, Inc. (NASDAQ: KBALB), expanded its
already strongly-positioned brand with the unveiling of its new
upholstered seating offerings. The extensive seating capability was
introduced to the market at the Miami Hospitality Design Show, held
September 14th-15th. The seating products shown
represent the latest trends in hospitality style and provide a sampling
of Kimball's broad capability enabling designers and property owners to
customize or personalize their seating needs. Kimball Hospitality, known
for bringing distinctive furniture solutions to life, is a leading
global supplier specializing in proprietary and custom-designed
furnishings for the hotel, casino, and resort industries.

Making the announcement, Stan Sapp, Vice President and General Manager
of Kimball Hospitality, stated: "We view this introduction as a natural
next step in the evolution of our business...We've taken a methodical,
logical approach to entering full-scale into the hospitality seating
business. Even though we've already produced thousands of seating
products for major brands, we've done our homework before making this
major push forward. This is a strategic move." Sapp added, "We've
qualified our supply chain, which will include production at our own 16th
Street facilities in Jasper, Indiana, and made sure the design talent,
engineering skills, processes and people are all in place to fully
support the seating business. At a time when other companies are pulling
back, thanks to the financial strength of Kimball International we are
able to invest in and move forward with this key initiative. Judging by
the initial reaction by the industry at the Miami show, which was very
positive, we believe we are bound for success with this significant new
program."

Anticipated to help enlarge Kimball's presence worldwide, the new
Kimball Hospitality seating capabilities provide designers and
developers with yet one more tool to create uniquely defined spaces.
While focused on guest room seating, including ottomans, lounge chairs,
sofas, and even sleeper sofas, the Kimball Upholstery line also
addresses lobby and public space seating.

Bob Bomholt, Vice President, Sales, Kimball Hospitality, explained:
"This program showcases the type of products and logistical support
services we are known for around the world. Our supply chain and
manufacturing capabilities mean that we are able to respond to our
customers' needs and provide both large quantities of hundreds of like
chairs for guest rooms as well as small, custom quantities of twos and
threes for lobby areas."

"By introducing these seating products, we are building on our forty
year history of producing commercial seating," says Paul Wahl, Director
of Marketing, Kimball Hospitality. "From piano benches to seating for
the home, to the healthcare environment, and complex, ergonomic seating
for the office workplace, we understand the different physical demands,
scales and functions for different market applications."

Market potential for seating is considered high, since approximately a
third of the industry's overall sales are generated by seating products.
The typical replacement cycle for those seating products, chairs, and
sofas for guest rooms and lounge areas is generally on a four to seven
year rotation, a much shorter span than the seven to twelve years
typical of hotel casegoods, otherwise known as beds, side tables and
dressers. Industry reports indicate that as of August 2009 there are
over 475,000 hotel guest rooms in the development pipeline in the U.S.,
and each room needs seating.

Kimball Hospitality strategically focuses on providing products via
three market sectors: custom, program and catalog. Kimball's
long-standing reputation for quality and its performance record in the
hospitality market is well known among designers and developers of
hotel, casino, and resort properties worldwide. Products by Kimball have
been installed in hundreds of thousands of guest rooms and suites across
the globe.

About Kimball Hospitality:

Kimball Hospitality, a brand unit of Kimball International, is a leading
provider of both standard and unique, custom furnishings for the global
hospitality industry. From major destination resorts and urban center
hotels, to well-known hotel chains, Kimball Hospitality provides hotel
planners and designers with the products, services, and capabilities
they can rely upon to furnish facilities around the world.

To learn more about Kimball Hospitality, visit their website at: www.KimballHospitality.com

About Kimball International:

Recognized with a reputation for excellence, Kimball International is
committed to a high performance culture that values personal and
organizational commitment to quality, reliability, value, speed, and
ethical behavior. Kimball employees know they are part of a corporate
culture that builds success for customers while enabling employees to
share in the Company's success through personal, professional and
financial growth.

Kimball International, Inc. (NASDAQ: KBALB | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) provides a variety of
products from its two business segments: the Electronic Manufacturing
Services segment and the Furniture segment. The Electronic Manufacturing
Services segment provides engineering and manufacturing services which
utilize common production and support capabilities to a variety of
industries globally. The Furniture segment provides furniture for the
office and hospitality industries, sold under the Company's family of
brand names.

To learn more about Kimball International, Inc., visit the Company's
website on the Internet at: www.kimball.com

"Kimball International ... We Build Success!"

SOURCE: Kimball International

Kimball International 
Martin Vaught, 812-482-1600 
Director of Public Relations 
martin.vaught@kimball.com

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