Young leaves import company
By Brian Carroll -- Furniture Today, September 3, 2001
HIGH POINT — HIGH POINT — Jeff Young has ended his involvement in the Larry Moh-led effort to manufacture and ship mixed containers of high-end, Chinese-made furniture direct to U.S. retailers from Shanghai.
Geoff Beaston, previously executive vice president, has replaced Young as president of the U.S. sales and marketing division of the Shanghai-based company. The division had been called Jeff Young Designs, and has been renamed Fine Furniture Design and Marketing.
Young said he decided to leave after 12 months of trying to negotiate his own contract with Moh and the parent company, Fine Furniture Ltd.
"Larry and I have been unable to agree on terms and conditions of a contract which would serve both of us well going forward," said Young, who previously was chief executive officer of Lexington Furniture. "In spite of this, I continue to have the utmost respect for Larry's leadership position in furniture manufacturing, and I wish him well in his new endeavor."
Young has no immediate plans.
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"I'm going to step back and take a deep breath," he said. "I have a passion for the industry, so I want to stay involved, but I have no idea what that involvement will mean."
Before joining Young in the Moh venture, Beaston was Young's longtime lieutenant at Lexington.
"I feel badly that we stubbed our toe coming out of the gate a little bit, but I am very excited about the opportunity," Beaston said.
In announcing the change, Moh said in an e-mail from Shanghai that his "personal relationship with Jeff Young will remain as usual." Moh is the founder of Universal Furniture and a majority owner in a pair of fiberboard factories in mainland China, among other interests.
Jeff Young Designs debuted at the April market in High Point, signing dozens of Top 50 furniture retailers, including the Berkshire Hathaway group. The company showed two collections, one traditional and one transitional. At the October market, Fine Furniture will show the two collections in their entirety at the company's new office and showroom complex in the 1100 block of North Main Street in High Point.
Fine Furniture still is targeting first quarter 2002 for its first shipments.
"It's a good business model and a great facility — far superior to what's in China right now," Young said. "I have no doubt it will be successful."
