E.S. Kluft Promotes 2, Eyes $100 Million in Sales

August 8, 2018  by Laurie Northington in Business Strategy, Executive Changes, Industry   

The promotions come on the heels of a successful Summer Las Vegas Market where the company reported it was on track to exceed $100 million in sales in 2018.

Dionis, who joined the company six months ago as a management consultant, has more than 35 years of experience serving as CEO and CFO of several multi-national and public companies in the consumer products, retail and high-tech industries. He most recently was the CEO of Natra, the global conglomerate producing a variety of chocolate products. Earlier in his career, he held top leadership positions with telecommunications leader Ericsson and global accounting and management consulting firm Arthur Andersen.

“We have a unique and exclusive product line together with an extraordinary customer base. We have reached our targets, but to continue our rapid growth and international expansion, we needed a different set of leaders and new management structure to support this strategy,” said Rafael Gonzalez, CEO of E.S. Kluft’s parent company, the Flex Group. “This team has the right mix of experience to execute on a national and global scale and be even more responsive to our customer needs.”

Dionis began work at Kluft earlier this year, charged with reviewing all production and financial operations with an eye toward greater process improvement and efficiency.

“We have strong brands and excellent leadership that will drive this business to new levels. There is a great culture of quality, craftsmanship and customer service that serves as the basis for the further success yet to come,” said Dionis.

Azevedo, a former Simmons Mattress executive, joined Kluft in 2015 and is widely credited with the company’s dramatic sales increases. The promotion was designed to better align sales with product design and marketing, and better respond to customer needs. 

“I am very fortunate to lead a solid sales and marketing team that have the most experience in the country manufacturing and selling luxury bedding. I am also privileged to count on Tony Alvarez for product development, who worked with Earl Kluft since the beginning,” said Azevedo. 

Complementing the new senior leadership team for the company was the recent appointment of Luciano Saldana as vp of operations. Saldana joined the company from Simmons Mattress Company West where he was the head of operations. Since coming aboard, he has facilitated an increase in output from the company’s Pennsylvania plant and the physical expansion of the California facility by 50 percent.