Sealy, Inc. Announces Promotions, New Corporate Structure

Furniture World News

Sealy, Inc., North America's largest manufacturer of bedding products recently announced the following promotions: Gary Fazio, formerly Vice President of Sales, was promoted to the newly created position of Corporate Vice President and General Manager of the Domestic Bedding Group. Doug Fellmy, formerly Vice President of Operations, was promoted to the newly created position of Corporate Vice President and General Manager of the Domestic Bedding Group. The two executives will share responsibility for combined field operations in the United States. The Domestic Bedding Group includes responsibility for field sales, operations, and distribution functions. The Domestic Bedding Group is divided into three regions with a regional management team of four persons including a Regional Vice President of Sales, Regional Vice President of Finance, Regional Vice President of Operations, and a Regional Vice President of Human Resources. Each regional management team reports directly to the Domestic Bedding Group. "We have been tremendously successful, the last few years, through building a sensitivity to our customers' needs," said Ron L. Jones, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sealy. "This new organizational alignment of field sales and operations will allow us to eliminate the normal conflicts, from individual interests, that often exist between manufacturing and selling functions and thus permit the total alignment of our efforts to be on serving the interests of our customers," Jones continued. "We want our focus to be on performing those elements that are essential to our customers and not upon internal criteria," Jones concluded. David Mcllquham, formerly Vice President of Marketing has been promoted to the new position of Corporate Vice President of Sales and Marketing. In his new role, Mcllquham will assume additional responsibilities for national account sales and all sales training functions. "Dave has been a tremendous asset to the organization through the years with his involvement in marketing, advertising, and product development," said Jones. "With his expanded role we can now more fully develop the training programs for our internal employees and retail personnel that reflect the current dynamics of the marketplace," said Jones. "National accounts will also get more of a focus from our corporate marketing personnel, allowing us to be more innovative and responsive to customer needs," Jones concluded. In a related matter, Sealy announced earlier this year the relocation of its corporate offices, corporate research and development facilities, and training center to a 68 acre site just south of High Point in Archdale, North Carolina. Approximately sixty personnel have accepted relocation with Sealy to the Triad of North Carolina. "We are very pleased with the overall response to the relocation," stated Jeff Claypool, Vice President of Human Resources. "We offered relocation to virtually all personnel and the acceptance rate actually exceeded our expectations. We would have liked to have had everyone make the move, but there were obviously personal and family issues that prevented some people from leaving the Cleveland area," Claypool continued. "In the meantime, Sealy has begun the recruiting process for hiring new personnel who can accept employment immediately and begin training in Cleveland with employment located in the Triad by late summer and early fall, although some corporate functions will not be relocated to North Carolina until 1999," Claypool concluded. Company officials reported that there were a significant number of openings in finance, accounting, tax, and information technology. The relocation of manufacturing, from the existing Lexington, North Carolina bedding plant, to the new plant will be accomplished in mid-June. Claypool stated that virtually all of the existing Lexington plant personnel have accepted the transfer to the new facility. The existing Lexington facility will shift to a warehouse and distribution operation. Sealy is the largest manufacturer of bedding in North America, serving more than 7,000 retail outlets from 20 plants in the U.S., as well as additional plants in Canada and Mexico. The company is targeting strategic growth in the global marketplace through licensing agreements with manufacturers in Asia, South America, Africa, Australia, the Middle East and the UK. Sealy also markets directly in a number of other countries. Sealy produces and sells a full range of mattresses under the Sealy, Sealy Posturepedic@ and Stearns & Foster brand names, as well as licensed products, including crib mattresses by Kolcraft Enterprises, pillows by Pacific Coast Feather Co. and upholstered furniture by Klaussner and Sealy of Maryland.