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Hooker names leaders

Cole, Delgatti in new roles; Toms still CEO

Thomas Russell -- Furniture Today, September 2, 2011

DelgattiMARTINSVILLE, Va. — Alan Cole, Hooker Furniture's new president, says the company's success in today's stagnant economy will depend largely on its ability to respond quickly to the needs of the marketplace and having the right people in place to help pursue that strategic vision.

"The real key to me is agility and being responsive to what's going on in the marketplace, being sure you have strategies that reflect what's going on in business, and having a team that can execute the strategy and that has the right vision," said Cole, who was named to the president's role last week. "We are responsive to what's going on in the market."

Hooker promoted Cole to president and also named Mike Delgatti to Cole's former post as president of Hooker Upholstery. Delgatti had been executive vice president of the division, which includes the company's Bradington-Young and Sam Moore brands.

Delgatti reports to Cole and Cole reports to Paul B. Toms Jr., chairman and CEO, who also had held the title of president for the past five years. Toms told Furniture/ Today that the changes will help the company better manage its three divisions.

Cole joined the company in 2007 as executive vice president of Hooker Upholstery and later became the division's president. Delgatti joined the company in early 2009 in the EVP post.

Cole said in an interview that he believes future growth opportunities will largely depend on how well Hooker can capture market share.

"I feel like we cannot count on the economy or economic conditions to give us growth," he said. "To give us the kind of progressive improvement we need in our business, you have to look at your current market and what kind of market you should be in."

As president, he will be involved in sales, merchandising and marketing. "Those areas are interwoven and have to be on the same page," he said, adding that he also sees himself as a mentor who will help develop people within the organization.

"Hooker has really put a lot of emphasis on future leaders of the business," he said. "We really have a good group of young executives and a lot of young thinking. For me, it's not about age, it's about state of mind."

Toms added, "I just think we need to do a better job coordinating between Sam Moore, Bradington-Young and Cole ColeHooker Furniture on all aspects of marketing, product development, sales management and communications to the retailer and communications to the consumer. Having someone of Alan's caliber focused solely on that will make us a much stronger company."

Toms added that Cole "has done a fantastic job of repositioning and strengthening our upholstery division while navigating through a severe economic downturn."

Toms also said that Delgatti's role will expand from sales, merchandising and marketing to now also include operations of Hooker Upholstery.

"We've made tremendous strides under Mike's leadership in our product, presentation and overall position in the marketplace during the last two years at Bradington-Young and Sam Moore," Cole said.

Before joining Hooker, Cole was president and CEO of Schnadig, and earlier was president of Berkline and Lifestyle Furnishings International, the former furniture division of Masco.

Delgatti was president of Clayton Marcus and executive vice president of merchandising for occasional and upholstery at Broyhill. He also was vice president of sales and marketing at Southern Furniture.

Toms said that the changes will allow him to focus on strategy, shareholder relations and making sure "we have the right team in place." He said he will also continue to help oversee areas such as finance, human resources and the operations aspect of the company's import business.

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Alan Cole promoted to president at Hooker Furniture

Aug 23, 2011

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