Norwalk Furniture Names Hipple President

February 22, 2016  by in Executive Changes, Industry   

She succeeds Mike Kenney who retired last summer.

Hipple has worked with Norwalk for the last eight years as a partner in HB2 Resources, a home furnishings consulting company in Atlanta. In her work with Norwalk, she has provided strategic counsel, creative direction, product development and fabric curation.

“The Norwalk team is a very special, talented group of people committed to providing excellent products and services, and it has become clear to me that this is not only a wonderful career opportunity but also a privilege to head this iconic American manufacturing operation,” Hipple said. “I’ve had a long association with Norwalk, starting more than 20 years ago when I was with This End Up Furniture and we created an upholstery collection with Hickory Hill, then a division of Norwalk. I am thrilled to continue on now as its president.”

The Norwalk board of directors conducted a national search for a president. Dan White, a member of one of the nine families that owns the company, has been interim CEO with fellow board member Chris Price.

“Caroline is a known entity to not only our team, but to many of our dealers as well as the design community,” White said. “She understands the design-oriented marketplace, the need for affordable, well-designed upholstery and the emerging millennial market which is energized by personalized self-expression. She is the perfect fit for us.” 

Hipple previously was president of retailer Storehouse Furniture Co., a division of Rowe Furniture Co.. She also was with vertical retailer This End Up Furniture where she worked her way up from store associate and store manager to executive vice president of sales, marketing and merchandising. She is also the co-author of “A Pathway to Profit.”

“Providing remarkable custom order upholstery products for retailers and consumers is at the heart and soul of Norwalk, and it is good to be back in this manufacturing realm again,” Hipple said. “Heading up a team that does whatever it takes to better serve our customers and is committed to preserving the tradition of furniture made in America is in many ways, like coming home.”