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Austin starts Vietnam-based consultancy

By Jeff Linville -- Furniture Today, February 4, 2007

Ho Chi Minh City — Industry veteran Randy Austin is opening a consulting firm here next month after easing out of his job at Theodore Alexander.

In November, importer Paul Maitland-Smith International/Theodore Alexander said Austin was retiring as president and that Antony Maitland-Smith, nephew of founder Paul Maitland-Smith, would be the new president of PMI and president/general director of Theodore Alexander HCM. PMI said Austin was helping to make the transition go smoothly.

Austin now says he is not retiring, but opening Austin & Austin Consulting with wife Robin King Austin. The firm will offer "a large variety of services to U.S. and Vietnamese furniture companies," he said.

These services, he said, "will include sourcing in Vietnam for new or current furniture and furniture-related products; assistance to U.S. retailers in designing and making their own exclusive products in Vietnam; resolving quality and/or product issues in furniture manufacturing in either the U.S. or Vietnam; and quality assurance for new and ongoing furniture production in Vietnam." He also hopes to assist area factories in marketing their products in North America.

"My comprehensive knowledge of the furniture business places me in a unique position to assist clients wishing to pursue new production in Vietnam, to facilitate production that is already ongoing or to develop new products for the U.S. market," he said.

"As someone who has worked in Vietnam for some years, it is clear to me that as the furniture industry continues to increase production and sourcing of beautifully crafted furniture in Asia, it is imperative to have someone based here working on behalf of U.S. customers, who can keep the process efficient and effective."

Austin said he believed Vietnam is "the place to be," especially with recent developments such as the country becoming a member of Southeast Asia's free trade area (AFTA) and the World Trade Organization (which it officially joined on Jan. 11).

"There are many good factories here at all price levels for case goods," he said. "What we have liked most about it here is the great skill levels of the workers to do hand carving, complex veneer inlay, metal work, hand painting, etc. ... In my opinion, the workers have more of an artistic bent here than in other parts of Asia."

As for upholstery, he said, "I think that is one of the large, untapped opportunities here. There is some being made but much more potential in medium and upper price points. The workers are very teachable."

Austin has more than 45 years of furniture experience, beginning when he was just 15 working in his father's retail store, Castleberry's Treasures for Your Home, which is still in operation in Atlanta.

After college, he became an upholstery buyer for Rich's, then switched to the manufacturing side, joining Heritage Furniture, which later became part of Drexel Heritage. He managed the Drexel Heritage store and gallery program as it grew to 85 free-standing stores and 125 galleries. Leaving that job in 1983 as vice president of store development, he joined Hickory Chair as executive vice president.

After a few years, he left to become president of Hammary. During his five-year tenure there, the company doubled its sales and was acquired by La-Z-Boy.

In 1991, Austin became president of Riverside, guiding the company through a restructuring of its product direction and an acquisition by private investors. He then served as president of Hickory White for 12 years, including its acquisition by Sherrill in 1997, until moving to PMI in 2003 after Sherrill acquired a minority stake in it, too.

Robin King Austin will assist her husband in the business and will continue her consulting with humanitarian organizations and Vietnamese companies needing assistance with their social initiatives.

Austin can be reached at randy@austinandaustinconsulting.com or at +(84)-90-803-1556 in Vietnam. He will be in the United States during March and April and will be available at (678) 628-2078.

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Austin starts Vietnam-based consultancy

Feb 5, 2007

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