Daily News
From Home Furnishing Business
Vanguard Announces Casegoods Leadership Changes
October 18,
2019 by Laurie Northington in Business Strategy, Industry 
High-end upholstery and case good producer Vanguard Furniture has announced the reorganization of its development team to focus individualized talent on innovation, productivity and design.
All positions will report to Andy Bray, president of the organization. In making this announcement, Bray said “the typical furniture management structure no longer reflects the needs of the business. There is no longer a straight line from design to marketplace. It is a serpentine path that involves specialized knowledge and talents and places a premium on interpersonal relations and cultural understanding.”
“Vanguard is in the design and fashion as much as it is in the furniture business. This is further complicated by the increased importance of global sourcing and supply chain management, the integration of multiple designers, and the complexities assembling and finishing parts from different locations. New talent requires both hard technical skills and soft interpersonal relationships,” added Bray.
Vanguard recently hired industry veteran Carl Bundy as vice president of casegoods product development and merchandising. He is responsible for casegoods development after product engineering. Prior to joining the company , he was VP of product development at Caracole and has worked in similar capacities at Fine Furniture, Drexel Heritage and Lexington Home Brands. Over his 30-year furniture career development has evolved from mostly domestic manufacturing to primarily global sourcing today.
Randy Sigmon has been promoted to director of casegoods operations from quality control manager of casegoods. In his new role, he is responsible for the day to day casegoods operations. Prior to joining Vanguard, he spent 32 years at Bernhardt and Hickory Chair in case goods management.
Megan Barrett has been promoted to director of design. In her new role, she will coordinate the creation of designs, both internally and with outside designers such as Michael Weiss and Thom Filicia. Prior to this role, Barrett was director of design at Sherrill Furniture and a lead designer at Heritage Home Group. She is also the recipient of the WithIt 2017 “WOW Future Leader Award”, bestowed upon a woman who demonstrates outstanding achievement and potential to become an industry leader.