Hooker Furniture Reorganizes Legacy Businesses

June 1, 2017  by Larry Thomas in Business Strategy, Industry   

The company said each of the new business units – Hooker Casegoods, Hooker Upholstery, Bradington-Young and Sam Moore – targets a different market niche and requires a dedicated leadership team.

“Following a comprehensive, data-driven analysis of the business, we have put in place a robust strategy for profitable growth with dedicated management focus for each of our Hooker legacy business units,” said George Revington, chief operating officer of Hooker Furniture, who directed the analysis. 

The company said Steve Lush has been promoted to president of Hooker Casegoods; Craig Young has been promoted to president of Bradington-Young; and Frank Richardson has been promoted to president of Sam Moore.

A search is still underway for a president for Hooker Upholstery, the company’s imported leather upholstery line with more moderate price points.

Each business unit president reports to Michael Delgatti, president of Hooker Furniture Legacy Brands. Delgatti reports to Revington.

“This simplified organizational structure positions each of the businesses to pursue emerging channels of distribution and product categories that offer higher growth opportunities,” Delgatti said.

Also as part of the reorganization, Matt Cowan has been promoted to the new position of vice president of sales for Hooker Casegoods. He reports to Lush.

Lush, a 34-year veteran of the furniture retail, manufacturing and interior design industries, joined Hooker in 2016 as executive vice president of Hooker Casegoods sales and merchandising. Lush previously held senior management roles at retailers Robb & Stucky and Hendricks Furniture Group. a furniture retailer comprised of Thomasville Home Furnishings and Boyles Furniture stores.

“I’m excited to lead a talented merchandising and marketing team at Hooker Casegoods, which is uniquely positioned for significant growth,” Lush said.

Young has been with upper-end upholstery producer Bradington-Young and Hooker for 24 years, and was vice president of sales for Bradington-Young for many years prior to being promoted in 2012 to vice president of sales -- Southern Region for all Hooker brands, and vice president of sales — Eastern Region for all brands in 2016.

“I enjoyed my position leading sales teams representing the four Hooker legacy brands, but I’m looking forward to again focusing 100% of my efforts on Bradington-Young,” Young said. “We have a great team in place and are well positioned to capitalize on several of the hottest growth categories in the industry: leather and motion.”

Richardson, who has been with Hooker for 24 years, was most recently vice president of sales development, and previously served for five years as vice president of sales for Sam Moore, which specializes in custom upholstery.

“I’m very excited to return to Sam Moore in this expanded role and look forward to working with the entire Sam Moore team,” Richardson said.

Cowan has been with Hooker for 27 years, beginning as a sales representative in North Texas prior to being promoted to Western regional vice president in 2012.

“In my new role, I’m greatly looking forward to working closely with our dealer base across the U.S. and Canada, the executive team at Hooker Corporate, and our incredible sales group,” Cowan said.