Birnbach is Capel's 1st non-family CEO
By Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, October 3, 2005
Troy, N.C. — Area rug manufacturer and importer Capel has named Eric Birnbach president and CEO, effective next month.
He will be the first person outside the Capel family to run the company since its 1917 founding.
Brothers A. Leon Capel Jr., Jesse S. Capel and Arron W. E. Capel will retire as executive officers effective Oct. 1, but will remain as directors of the Capel corporations.
The company said Birnbach has "served in numerous leadership capacities with companies in the upholstery, textile and top-of-the-bed areas of the home furnishings industry," but did not say which companies he had worked for. It said he had been in the industry for 26 years.
He will become president and CEO of Capel Inc., Capelsie Mills Inc. and Capel Real Estate and Development Corp. He will be based in the corporate office here and will begin his duties the first week of October.
