Restonic Taps Laurie Tokarz as New President

January 26, 2021  by Laurie Northington in Business Strategy, Industry   

Tokarz, a seasoned bedding industry veteran and former chief sales officer for Visionary Sleep, steps into the position recently vacated by Ron Passaglia who moved to a consulting position on Jan. 1.

Tokarz began her bedding career at Sibley’s department store as a buyer, making her way to divisional merchandise manager for the home furnishings division before moving to Bauhaus Upholstery and then Serta in 1996 as a sales rep. In 2000, Tokarz joined Alliance Sleep Products, a Restonic licensee, and worked alongside the late Tom Comer, eventually serving as president. In 2017, Bob Sherman acquired Alliance Sleep and Tokarz transitioned to chief sales officer for the newly formed Visionary Sleep. Tokarz also currently serves on the ISPA board of trustees.

“Laurie has a unique understanding of the dynamic changes happening within our industry from the consumer, retailer and the licensee viewpoints,” said Passaglia. “Her experience and successful history of applying these assets for today’s dynamic marketplace will be well received by our retailers and all of our domestic and international licenses. Her loyal brand stewardship to Restonic has positioned her as the ideal candidate for this position.”

In her role as president, Tokarz will work closely with domestic and international licensees as well as retailers. She’ll oversee brand strategy and alignment for Restonic’s family of brands, which includes Biltmore and Scott Living. Tokarz will work closely with Restonic’s VP of Brand and Digital Marketing, Julia Rosien, to help support an adoption of digital transformation in marketing and communication.

“I am delighted to take on this role, which allows me to continue my 20+ year goal of driving the Restonic brand,” said Tokarz. “With the retail environment evolving at warp speed, Restonic is poised to help retailers garner consumers’ attention with turnkey digital marketing programs and the strength of our licensed brands, Scott Living and Biltmore.”