People on the Move
By Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, May 21, 2007
Executives
Culp
High Point — Fabric source Culp Inc. has promoted Sandy Brown to the new position of chief financial officer for Culp Home Fashions, the company's mattress ticking division.
Brown has been the division's controller since 2001. She has been with Culp since 1983 as a part-time associate and full time since 1987, in a variety of accounting and financial roles.
Iv Culp, president of the division, said Brown "has proven herself to be an extremely capable member of our management team."
Marketing/Sales
828 International
Greenville, S.C. — Rug importer 828 International has named Cliff Christenson, David Kraus and Steve Cummins to its field sales team.
Christenson will cover Colorado and Wyoming. He has worked for more than 20 years in the carpet and rug industry, representing manufacturers and importers in the commercial and residential segments, including Oriental Weavers and Surya.
Kraus will handle northern New Jersey and Albany, N.Y. He previously spent 27 years with A. Kraus & Son in Bayside, N.Y., a family-owned and -operated floor covering and interior decorating business.
Cummins will service northern California, including San Francisco. He began his floor covering career with Fabrica, where he spent five years in sales. In 2001, he launched his own agency covering the West for residential carpet and rug clients.
Guardian Freight
Hickory, N.C. — Tim Hylton has joined Guardian Freight as sales manager. He reports to Eric Hoover, operations manager.
Hylton has more than 15 years of furniture freight sales experience, most recently at Sunbelt Furniture Express and earlier at MGM Transport and Shelba D. Johnson.
Guardian Freight is an independently operated specialized furniture carrier that has served the industry for more than 30 years.
Kaleen Rug
Dalton, Ga. — Blake Dennard has been named vice president of sales for the Kaleen Rug division, and will manage the company's independent sales associates.
With over 15 years experience in the rug industry, Dennard most recently was vice president of the Main Street Market Group at Oriental Weavers North America.
PFP
Enfield, Conn. — Tom Gonzales has been promoted to Western sales manager at retail home furnishings promotional specialist Planned Furniture Promotions. He reports to Roy Hester and Mark Bannon, both national vice presidents of sales.
Gonzales will be responsible for sales in California, Nevada, Arizona, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Utah. He is based in California.
He has been with PFP for nine years. Earlier, he held senior executive positions at retailers RB Furniture, Homestead House and HomeLife Furniture.
PFP is an affiliate of Gene Rosenberg Associates.
Thomasville Furniture
Thomasville, N.C. — Thomasville Furniture sales representative David Gupton of Portland, Ore., was honored with the 2006 President's Marketing Achievement Award.
The company said Gupton inspires his retail accounts and his peers with a consistently positive outlook, his drive for success, his work ethic and gentlemanly professionalism. He has been with Thomasville for 20 years.
"David excels in the responsibilities of our marketing representatives and is an example for us all as a model brand steward and outstanding leader in his field," said Nancy Webster, president and CEO.
VyMac
Fort Atkinson, Wis. — VyMac Corp., a distributor of kits and related supplies for the sleep products industry, has added two positions.
Sue Lembo-Schutz has been named vice president of marketing and advertising. She has 20 years experience in media buying, planning and advertising services.
Mike Schweiger joins VyMac as vice president of sales, responsible for developing new products and customers. He also oversees sales and sales management for VyMac's sewn goods, components, supplies and fire-resistant solutions.
He previously was vice president of Verlo Mattress Factory Stores for nearly a decade.
Merchandising
Kincaid Furniture
Hudson, N.C. — Melony Hughes has joined Kincaid Furniture as director of upholstery merchandising, a new post.
She previously held a similar position with Hickory Hill for the past five years and before that was associated with Craftmaster and Highland House.
"We're very happy to have Melony join our team," said Steve Beeker, vice president of sales and merchandising for upholstery. "She has already made contributions and we expect this to be a good marriage."
Hughes reports to Beeker.
Finance
BB&T Commercial Finance
Atlanta — Rusty Bramlett has joined BB&T Commercial Finance as a sales specialist covering the north Atlanta and northrtn Georgia regions.
Bramlett has held similar positions in commercial banking in recent years and will be based in Atlanta.
"Rusty has a proven track record of exceptional business development and relationship management success," said Tol Broome, president of BB&T Commercial Finance.
Capital Business Credit
Los Angeles — Capital Business Credit, a factoring service for the home furnishings industry, has named Lou Sulpizio senior vice president and senior account executive.
He is responsible for portfolio and credit management, with an emphasis on marketing and business development in the western United States.
Sulpizio has worked in finance for more than 25 years and previously was involved in regional, portfolio, and sales and marketing management.
"Lou's understanding of portfolio and credit management will enable him to provide new opportunities to our existing clients," said Andrew Tananbaum, president of Capital Business Credit.
Contact us
Retailers, manufacturers, suppliers and trade associations are invited to send releases and photographs for appointments, promotions and awards to: People/Today, P.O. Box 2754, High Point, N.C. 27261. Releases also can be faxed to (336) 605-1143 or e-mailed to gerri.hunt@reedbusiness.com. Please include a phone number.
