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From Home Furnishing Business

Coaster Furniture Brings Crystal Nguyen Back to the Leadership Team

January 24, 2024  by HFBusiness Staff in Business Strategy, Industry   

Following a three-year period away from Coaster, Nguyen has rejoined the Coaster Fine Furniture leadership team as vice president of merchandise and strategic product planning. In returning to Coaster, Nguyen is intent on elevating the company’s product line in both design and value.

“While Coaster has always been known for our high values in promotional to mid-priced goods, our goal is to bring a refreshed direction of trending designs, value, material and construction integrity,” she said. “This is what today’s consumers desire and I feel very confident that we are going to be able to bring a more fashion-forward sense to Coaster at an affordable price point.”

Nguyen is a 30-year veteran of the industry with a rich background in merchandising, management, product design and business development. She spent 15 years at solid wood wholesaler A-America as vice president of merchandising and key account sales.

She later joined Coaster as vice president of merchandising, a position she held for over eight years. For the past three years, she has served as vice president of business development at Madrona Home, a furniture design firm.

According to Marlene Donlucas, director of marketing at Coaster, Nguyen will lead both the U.S. and Asia product teams as part of her new role at the company. “We are delighted to welcome Crystal Nguyen back to Coaster and are thrilled to be working with her again to build our brand, drive sales and enhance profitability.”

“I’ve learned the furniture business from the ground up over the years, whether it was understanding how factories work or reviewing and engineering products overseas with major retail accounts,” Nguyen said. “I excel in product development, leveraging my retail expertise to significantly contribute to the creation and design of new goods.”

“Essentially, I reverse engineer the retail sales process so that I can focus on all aspects, from the sales presentation to developing the narrative behind the product to anticipating selling challenges during the sampling process. This assures that we’ll bring successful and enticing products to markets.”

According to Nguyen, she was attracted back to Coaster because of the opportunity she sees in supplying retailers, large and small, with fresh, fashion-forward products, quickly and efficiently with Coaster’s strength in logistics and operations.

“Compared to our competitors, Coaster has a unique advantage logistically, with seven warehouses positioned around the country and a very large distribution center here in Southern California,” the executive said.

“We can dropship e-commerce orders from all branches with available inventory. Further, our substantial buying power enables us to facilitate container direct buys for retailers aiming to enhance their profit margins and attract more customers. Our in-house product development team is highly creative, well-round and experienced, which will allow us to provide retailers with fashion-forward trends and everyday value-driven goods.”

Nguyen reports directly to Michael Yeh, president.