La-Z-Boy Reorganizes Senior Management Team

May 19, 2017  by Larry Thomas in Executive Changes, Industry   

The company said Collier, who had been senior vice president, chief marketing officer and president, international, has been appointed to the newly created role of chief commercial officer. He will remain president of international.

In his new position, he will have global responsibility for all facets of sales, merchandising and marketing for the La-Z-Boy branded business. He will continue to report to Kurt Darrow, chairman, president and CEO. 

Edwards, senior vice president and chief supply chain officer, will expand his role. In addition to spearheading the supply chain strategy across the entire La-Z-Boy enterprise, including both upholstery and case goods operations, all La-Z-Boy branded manufacturing, regional distribution centers, and research and development are under his area of responsibility.

With these changes, Edwards will assume the additional responsibility for the La-Z-Boy branded business customer experience and after-market operations and services. He will now report to Darrow.

King, president of the La-Z-Boy Retail Division, which includes 142 of the 346 La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries stores, will now report to Darrow as the retail segment has become a larger component of the corporation’s consolidated sales and is expected to continue to grow through the company’s 4-4-5 strategy as well as through potential acquisitions. 

“After a thorough review of our structure, we are taking steps to better align the organization to achieve our strategic objectives and drive accelerated growth throughout the business,” said Darrow. “We have a strong and talented team of executives in place to execute our strategies and develop longer term initiatives to deliver sustainable performance. With respect to our ongoing succession planning objectives, we believe these moves are appropriate to ensure the company has the correct leadership structure.”

Collier originally joined La-Z-Boy in 2002 and became chief marketing officer in 2004. In that role, he has been responsible for all the company’s marketing strategies, including the Live Life Comfortably campaign. In 2009, he assumed responsibility for all the company’s international operations and partnerships. In 2011, he was promoted to the additional role of president of international, in which he significantly expanded the company’s international presence, including creating a partnership with KUKA to build the La-Z-Boy brand in China and driving the acquisition of the company’s distribution rights in the United Kingdom and Ireland resulting in the creation of La-Z-Boy U.K. 

“Throughout Doug’s tenure, his responsibilities have spanned a number of diverse and far-reaching areas within the organization, including marketing, international and IT,” Darrow said. “In addition to meeting with success in each, they provided him with expertise in a unique set of disciplines that he will undoubtedly use in his new role as CCO to further develop our commercial strategy and set us on a course for continued growth and market share gains.”

Edwards joined La-Z-Boy in 2004 as general manager of La-Z-Boy South and was named Vice President of La-Z-Boy South in 2005. In 2006, he became vice president and general manager of the company’s 1.2 million square-foot plant in Dayton, Tenn. In 2011, he was promoted to vice president of residential manufacturing, responsible for all six of the La-Z-Boy branded manufacturing facilities, including the company’s Mexico-based cut-and-sew facility.  In 2014, he was named chief supply chain officer and senior vice president of La-Z-Boy Inc.

“Darrell has a proven track record within the La-Z-Boy branded operation,” Darrow said. “He was an integral part of the team that converted our plants to cellular production and he has developed a stellar supply chain strategy and team, with these initiatives continuing to drive efficiencies and improve profitability.”

King, a former executive at Pep Boys and Staples, joined La-Z-Boy in 2008 when the company owned 70 La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries stores, and played a key role in the turnaround and growth of the retail division. Since that time, he has developed and executed numerous strategic initiatives within the retail operation to navigate the changing marketplace. He also built and led a team that has turned in consistent growth and overall improved performance for the segment, demonstrating the benefit of the integrated retail strategy to the organization.

“As we further develop our integrated retail strategy, and grow our company-owned store base, Dan has done a very effective job over the past several years to develop a formidable team and strengthen the performance of this segment as it contributes to the profitability of the overall enterprise,” said Darrow.