Cochrane joins Bermex as vice president of sales
By Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, May 14, 2007
Maskinonge, Quebec — Joel Cochrane has joined Bermex International here as a vice president of sales, and will manage much of the dining room resource's U.S. sales.
He is the last family member to leave North Carolina-based producer Cochrane Furniture, founded by his great-grandfather in 1905 and now owned by Chromcraft Revington.
Cochrane held various sales, marketing and management posts in his 20 years in the family business, most recently as vice president of product development.
At Bermex, Albin Grundner, who had been U.S. national sales manager, also becomes a vice president of sales and will oversee the Northeast from Pennsylvania to Maine from his base in New Jersey.
Cochrane will be based in Lincolnton, N.C.
Bermex President Daniel Walker said that as the company has grown in recent years, particularly with its purchase of rival Dinec in April 2006, it became increasingly difficult for Grundner to cover the entire U.S. market.
Cochrane said he visited some of the Quebec factories that Bermex co-owns and came away impressed with the quality of the product. He said Cochrane was sourcing some dining chairs from those plants.
"The people at Bermex are definitely good people," Cochrane said. "They are customer-oriented, and they are driven to increase market share."
