Design Within Reach promotes Poseley to CEO
By Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, October 10, 2005
San Francisco — Tara Poseley has been promoted to president and CEO of Design Within Reach, and current CEO Wayne Badovinus will become chairman of the publicly held, multi-channel retailer.
Chairman John Hansen is stepping down but will remain on the board. In a press release, Badovinus said he was leaving the CEO post for personal reasons. Poseley's promotion is effective Oct. 1.
Poseley joined DWR in August 2004 as vice president of merchandising, responsible for product offerings, buying team management and vendor relations. Her retail career began in 1989 at Gap, where she spent 15 years in merchandising, planning, production, distribution and product development.
"The foundation for the next phase of the business is securely in place, and I am confident that Tara and the rest of our senior management team will continue to ... maximize revenue and profitability," Badovinus said.
He said Poseley "was the principal architect of the company's new merchandising strategy."
Design Within Reach debuted this year in Furniture/Today's survey of Top 100 U.S. furniture stores at No. 98 with estimated furniture, bedding and accessory sales of $63 million. The 33-store company also sells its modern home furnishings to residential and commercial customers through a catalog, its Web site and a direct sales force.
In addition, DWR said Chief Financial Officer Ken La Honta will add the title of chief operating officer and the responsibility for inventory management and information technology.
Also, Wanda Gierhart, chief marketing officer, was promoted to executive vice president of marketing and merchandising, adding the duties of merchandising and product development.
Ray Brunner, vice president of real estate and studio operations, was promoted to executive vice president of real estate and studio operations.
All three report to Poseley.
Last month, DWR's stock price fell more than 20% after it reported second-quarter earnings below analysts' expectations and lowered its guidance for the year.
