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Crink joins PeopLoungers

Will serve as EVP of sales, marketing

By Joan Gunin -- Furniture Today, February 24, 2008

Mantachie, Miss. — Larry Crink, a 35-year industry veteran, has been named executive vice president of sales and marketing services for motion upholstery specialist Peop-Loungers.

PPL Acquisition, which acquired the assets of PeopLoungers after the company's Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May, announced the appointment. Crink reports to Armand J. Carrano, senior managing director of The Finley Group, a restructuring firm, and president and CEO of PPL Acquisition.

Before joining PeopLoungers, Crink owned and operated container-direct motion upholstery company Local Motion Only and sister stationary upholstery producer LeatherWorks.

Previously, he was executive vice president of Chinese leather upholstery producer DeCoro for two years. Earlier, he was vice president for California-based fabric upholstery manufacturer Mike Cims for seven years, and was with retailers Fedco Home Stores, RB Furniture and W&J Sloane.

He was also head of WJS Holding Co., an investment group created to acquire furniture retailers and manufacturers.

"Larry's proven background in retail and product development, as well as his offshore sourcing relationships, will be a valuable addition to the current management team and will help invigorate our product offering and solidify the sales management function," Carano said. "His experience with many of our existing retail partners and his previous success creating and working with a professional sales force is a big plus and fills a major void in our management team."

Crink, who will relocate to Oxford, Miss., said he was "very excited about the opportunity to be involved with an ownership group that understands the furniture business."

Crink said that Peop-Loungers' current business plan and "out of the box" thinking on manufacturing and cost structure assured him the company could remain a domestically based low-cost manufacturer of motion furniture to rival offshore producers.

PeopLoungers serves its Top 100 accounts and stocking dealers from its 175,000-square-foot production facility in Mantachie, Miss. The company consolidated its operations there after it closed its 430,000-square foot plant in Nettleton, Miss.

The company showed new motion groups and best sellers at last week's Tupelo Furniture Market and showed last month at the Las Vegas Market.

At the spring High Point Market, PeopLoungers will be in a new showroom in Center Point.

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Crink joins PeopLoungers as EVP

Feb 19, 2008

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