Furniture Brands’ Holliman Stepping Down as CEO In January; Retiring in May

June 13, 2007  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Case Goods on June 2007 Furniture Brands International, St. Louis, announced Thursday that longtime Chairman and CEO Mickey Holliman will relinquish his CEO hat Jan. 1, and the company’s board of directors has appointed Ralph Scozzafava as vice chairman and chief executive officer designate.

Holliman will remain chairman until May 1 when he will retire.

Scozzafava served most recently as the vice president-worldwide commercial operations of Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. Prior to joining Wrigley in 2001, Scozzafava served in sales, marketing and merchandising positions at Campbell Soup Co., Clorox Co., and Johnson & Johnson.

In a news release, Holliman said, “Ralph is a proven leader and he brings extraordinary breadth and depth of experience in branded consumer products which will translate well to the furniture industry. Ralph and I will work closely together to ensure a successful transition of executive duties.”

Scozzafava said, “I am excited to join Furniture Brands at this important time in the company’s history, and I look forward to working with Mickey in the coming months to gain the benefit of his many years of experience in this business. Under Mickey’s leadership, Furniture Brands has remained a powerful force in this industry. I appreciate this opportunity to contribute to its continuing success.”

On Wednesday, Furniture Brands announced that it expects sales in its current quarter to be down about 12 percent from the same period last year. The sales decline, which the company attributes to challenging business conditions, is an improvement on the 15 percent decrease in net sales it forecast last month.