Universal/Legacy Classic Parent Forms Marketing Unit

October 8, 2006  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Case Goods on October 2006 Samson Holding Ltd., parent company of Universal Furniture and Legacy Classic Furniture, has named Kevin O’Connor president and chief executive officer of Samson Marketing, a new entity formed to direct and oversee business and operations at Universal and Legacy Classic. O’Connor, who’d been president and CEO of Legacy Classic since early 1999 and a co-founder of that case goods importer, continues reporting to Samuel Kuo, chairman and CEO of Samson Holding, which owns major Chinese manufacturer LacquerCraft.

The new Samson Marketing organization also includes Victor Hsu, previously chief financial officer at Universal, who will serve as CFO of Samson Marketing, reporting to O’Connor. He oversees the overall financial affairs of the marketing companies as well as the corporate IT team, and will focus on additional cost saving efforts as a whole. He also will be involved with merger and acquisition opportunities. Universal President and CEO Randy Chrisley, and Lee Boone, who takes over as president of Legacy Classic, also now report to O’Connor.

“Kevin O’Connor has clearly demonstrated his knowledge of the furniture industry and leadership ability in the development and growth of the Legacy Classic Furniture business and the Legacy management team over the past seven years,” Kuo said. “Thus, as Samson grows its furniture business in the U.S.A. now and in the future, we want to take advantage of Kevin’s expertise. Both Kevin and I agree that the future growth of both of our marketing companies can be significant if we take advantage of the assets Samson Holding has put in place in logistical systems, production facilities (more than 5 million square feet) and warehousing (more than 3,800 containers of finished goods) in inventory in China. These elements put Samson in a totally unique position of servicing our customer and being in control of our own destiny.”

O’Connor said Universal and Legacy Classic are two of the industry’s top marketing companies, addressing unique and distinctive niches in the U.S. market.

“But, in an ever-changing retail environment, we see the opportunity to better address those retail needs by focusing each company on its strengths and sharing some back-end resources, such as (information technology), while retaining each company’s unique entrepreneurial spirit and personality,” O’Connor said. “My new position will allow me the time to assess the marketplace and work with the many retail relationships I have built over the years to help strategically plan how our companies can address our retail partner’s wants and needs both in products and programs.”

O’Connor went on to say, “We are very lucky to have presidents of both of our marketing companies of the caliber of Randy Chrisley, president/CEO of Universal Furniture and now, Lee Boone at Legacy Classic. Randy has been a true partner over the past few years. We all share the same vision of what is necessary to enhance the overall business and I look forward to working with both Lee and Randy, and their management teams to continue to grow and achieve our goals.”

Boone joined Legacy Classic, where he previously was general manager of the company’s fast-growing youth division, in 2003. Prior to that, he held executive sales positions with Universal and Lea Inds.

“During the past three years Lee has proven to be a student of the business, a thorough administrator and communicator, and has demonstrated exceptional leadership skills as we developed and launched the Legacy Kids program,” O’Connor said. “I am confident he is ready to take the next step in running one of our total business units.”

Boone said he looks forward to the opportunity of running Legacy Classic.

“Legacy is a first-class organization with an outstanding sales team and the best import service model in the industry,” he said. “I look forward to leveraging Legacy’s many assets to deliver the products and service our retail partners need to drive their business.”

Rounding out the changes at Legacy Classic, Mike Harris has been named vice president of sales. Harris replaces Patrick Long, who has moved on to a newly created position as sales and marketing representative, addressing alternate channels of distribution, as well as the rental and hospitality business.

Previously, Harris held sales and management positions with Klaussner Furniture and Palliser Furniture. His most recent position was president and partner in Kevin Charles Furniture, an upholstery company affiliated with Florida retailer City Furniture.