Emerald Home adds Katz, Iasiello as product leaders

Heath E. Combs -- Furniture Today, January 23, 2012

TACOMA, Wash. - Industry veterans Jeff Katz and John Iasiello have joined furniture and bedding source Emerald Home Furnishings in executive product development roles.
     Katz was named vice president of upholstery and will be responsible for upholstered product development and strategies in the category.
     He has over three decades of industry experience and was most recently senior vice president of business development at Schnadig. Katz has also held retail and manufacturing positions with Levitz, John M. Smyth Homemakers, Sears Homelife and Broyhill, among others.
     Iasiello was named vice president of wood products and will be responsible for case goods, bedroom, dining, occasional and home entertainment development and strategies.

Katz

Iasiello

     Iasiello, another 30-year industry veteran, was most recently senior vice president of product development at A.R.T. Furniture. His retail and manufacturing experiences includes positions at Huffman Koos, Macy's, Breuners Home Furnishings, Natuzzi and Broyhill.
     "Splitting the roles of product development and bringing on these amazingly talented individuals will allow more focus and efficiency in each category and help Emerald enter a new era of design and quality in our product offerings," company President David Beckmann said in a press release.
     Vice President Robert Kirchmeyer will move to operations, with a focus on logistics, distribution, quality, sourcing and factory communications. He had rejoined Emerald last year with product development, sales and administration responsibilities.
     Katz and Iasiello will be based out of North Carolina while Kirchmeyer remains at his office in Atlanta. All three report to Beckmann.