Relax The Back is a chain of specialty

retail Retail is the sale of goods and Service (economics), services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturing, manufacturers, dire ...

stores with almost 90 locations in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

, specializing in back support products.

History

The first Relax The Back store opened in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

in 1984. In 1987, an entrepreneur named Virginia Rogers purchased the original store and packaged the business into a

franchise Franchise may refer to: Business and law * Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees * Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television p ...

format.R. Michelle Breyer,
Largest Retail Franchise Devoted to Back Problems Sold for $6 Million.
''

Austin American-Statesman The ''Austin American-Statesman'' is the major daily newspaper for Austin, the capital city of Texas. It is owned by Gannett. The paper prints Associated Press, ''New York Times'', ''The Washington Post'', and ''Los Angeles Times'' internationa ...

'', reprinted by ''

Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News Knight Ridder was an American media company, specializing in newspaper and Internet publishing. Until it was bought by McClatchy on June 27, 2006, it was the second largest newspaper publisher in the United States, with 32 daily newspaper b ...

'', September 7, 1996. The first franchise was opened in

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_ ...

in 1989 by

Coby Dietrick Coby Joseph Dietrick (born July 23, 1948) is an American former professional basketball player. A 6'10" forward/center from San José State University, Dietrick played thirteen seasons (1970–1983) of professional basketball in both the America ...

, a former professional basketball player with the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its home ...

.Meena Thiruvengadam,
Former Texas basketball star sells furniture business after franchise dispute.
''

San Antonio Express-News The ''San Antonio Express-News'' is a daily newspaper in San Antonio, Texas. It is owned by the Hearst Corporation and has offices in San Antonio and Austin, Texas. The ''Express-News'' is the third largest newspaper in the state of Texas, with ...

'', March 10, 2005. In 1996, having grown the chain to 59 stores, Rogers sold the company to a franchisee, Dairl Johnson, for $6 million. Johnson continued to develop the company's independent franchising model. Relax The Back corporate offices are currently located in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

. As early as 1998, US News noted that the four major back-related stores, Healthy Back Store, Better Back Store, Relax the Back, and JoAnne's Bed & Back Shops, had a combined business of $75 million.

References

{{Reflist Furniture retailers of the United States Ergonomics companies Retail companies of the United States Retail companies based in California Companies based in Los Angeles County, California Long Beach, California American companies established in 1984 Retail companies established in 1984 1984 establishments in Texas