Daily News
From Home Furnishing Business
Delgatti to Succeed Cole as Hooker President
December 11,
2013 by in Executive Changes, Industry 
Alan Cole will retire as president of Hooker Furniture, effective Feb. 2, the end of Hooker's current fiscal year.
He will be succeeded by Michael Delgatti, currently serving as the president of Hooker Upholstery and the executive vice president of sales for the company.
Cole joined Hooker in 2007 as executive vice president of upholstery operations, was subsequently named president of Hooker Upholstery and
then president of Hooker Furniture Corp.
"We greatly appreciate Alan's profound contributions to Hooker Furniture, Bradington-Young and Sam Moore," said Paul B. Toms Jr., chairman and chief executive officer. "The strategic vision and team-building he has brought to our organization, as well as the two new businesses he conceived and launched, will make this a stronger company for many years to come.
"At the same time, we are very confident in Mike as he prepares to assume the presidency of Hooker Furniture Corp. Mike is extremely capable, has had an extraordinarily positive impact on our upholstery companies, and has also made significant contributions during the last year as he assumed responsibility for sales in all divisions. Once he becomes president, he will add responsibility for marketing and case goods product development in his expanded role. I look forward to sharing leadership with Mike as I have with Alan."
While Delgatti will focus on domestic and international sales, merchandising, marketing and oversee all upholstery operations, Toms will continue to focus on case goods operations, supply chain, logistics, corporate services, investor and Board relations as well as the new Homeware and H Contract businesses.
Commenting on the transition of leadership, Cole said said the leadership transition's timing is "as perfect as it could possibly be. We have been very intentional in our succession plans for an orderly transition, and we are exactly where we wanted to be at this time. It is gratifying to see that our organization is well positioned with good momentum and that important new initiatives have been launched and are moving forward. I don't think we could have written a better scenario. The confluence of events over the last seven years has brought us exactly to the point we wanted to be as a company, and now I'm looking forward to turning my attention towards my family and a very active retirement."