Ashley Furniture was an unlikely upstart when Ron Wanek launched the company in the 1970s in Wisconsin. Today, the family-owned manufacturer and retailer operates about 460 U.S. stores and did about $4 billion in sales last year. Ashley, which manufactures in both the United States and Asia, aims to expand from 35 to 1,000 stores across Asia in the next decade, according to a story in The Wall Street Journal.


