Daily News
From Home Furnishing Business
Abbyson Names Bill Ashton to Key Operations Post
August 10,
2017 by Larry Thomas in Executive Changes, Industry 
On the heels of recent investments in operational infrastructure and a new distribution center, upholstery and occasional furniture resource Abbyson has named Bill Ashton to the new senior management position of vice president of operations.
Ashton will report to Abbyson’s executive team led by CEO Yavar Rafieha, and is responsible for managing several operational divisions at the company, including EDI, fulfillment, inventory planning, order management, procurement, transportation, distribution centers, and customer service.
Most recently, Ashton served as senior vice president of operations for The Honest Company, the lifestyle CPG brand founded by actress Jessica Alba, where he led the development of supply chain and logistics functions to support rapid growth and expansion into retail and wholesale channels.
Previously, he served as vice president of distribution for Restoration Hardware (NYSE: RH), where he was responsible for store distribution, catalog and web fulfillment, transportation, import/export and customer service functions, as well as management for the company owned furniture-manufacturing operation in Sacramento, Calif.
During his tenure at Restoration Hardware he helped design the home delivery network and grew the company from 20 employees and six stores in the Bay Area to more than 240 stores nationwide over a 5-year period.
Earlier, he held various supply chain and distribution posts for BCBG Maxazria Group, Bare Escentuals, and Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation.
“As one of the fastest growing lifestyle brands in the home industry, Abbyson has been steadily reinvesting in its operational capabilities, infrastructure and talent. Bill is a prime example of our commitment to building a best-in-class team internally that allows Abbyson to establish itself in an exceptional league in terms of quality, efficiency and customer experience,” said Doddy Rafieha, executive vice president of Abbyson.
“Our recent expansion with our new Redlands distribution center will allow our processes to be further optimized, create additional storage on site to more quickly fill e-commerce orders around the country, and ultimately allow Abbyson to exceed the needs of our customers.”
The new 350,000 square-foot distribution center in Redlands, Calif., boosted its warehouse space to more than 1.3 million square feet. Rafieha said the new distribution center has already improved Abbyson’s standard 24- to 48-hour shipping and delivery times.