Art Van Furniture Names Ronald Boire President and Chief Executive Officer

Furniture World News Desk on 4/25/2018

Art Van Furniture (“Art Van” or “the Company”) recently announced that Ronald (“Ron”) Boire, a retail industry veteran with extensive leadership experience, will be joining the Company as its new President and Chief Executive Officer, effective April 30, 2018. Mr. Boire will be succeeding Kim Yost, who recently announced his retirement after 9 years with the Company.

Mr. Boire comes to Art Van with over 35 years of experience in the retail industry, having previously served in senior executive positions, including President and CEO roles, at a wide variety of retail and consumer electronics companies, such as Barnes & Noble, Inc., Sony Electronics, Inc., Best Buy, Toys R Us, Inc., Brookstone, Inc., and Sears Canada, Inc. Prior to joining Art Van, he most recently served as a Principal at The Upland Group, an advisory firm specializing in the development, leadership, and execution of transformational strategies for retail and consumer product companies.

“Ron is a tremendous addition to the Art Van family,” said Kim Yost. “He is a charismatic and dynamic leader, who has an innate passion for the customer and shares our love for product and for sales. He also brings ‘war stories’ from many other sectors of retail, which will be invaluable as Art Van continues to transform the business into the leading all-home omni-channel retailer in the United States. I have the utmost confidence in Ron’s ability to lead the Art Van, Levin, and Wolf brands through the next chapter of growth and success.”

“I am very excited about the opportunity to join Art Van,” said Mr. Boire. “The furniture and mattress industry is going through a time of significant change and the Art Van portfolio of brands are uniquely positioned to capitalize on the opportunities present in this evolving landscape. I am incredibly impressed by the deep customer loyalty that has come from the decades of history in each brand’s local communities. I look forward to partnering with our highly talented team of associates and partners to build on that strong foundation, as we strive to deliver an industry-leading guest experience.”

“We thank Kim for the leadership and guidance he has provided to the Company through this year of transition, and wish him well in his retirement,” said Jeff Swenson, Managing Director of Thomas H. Lee Partners. “Looking ahead, we are thrilled with Ron’s decision to join Art Van. His deep expertise in retail management and extensive experience leading transformational and omni-channel strategies focused on delivering best-in-class customer experiences – both online and in stores – will be incredibly valuable as we build on a long and storied history of growth for the Art Van, Levin, and Wolf brands.”

More about Ronald Boire: Mr. Boire comes to Art Van with over 35 years of experience in the retail industry, having most recently served as a Principal at The Upland Group, where he advised companies on the leadership and process improvement required to implement and fund transformation in a rapidly changing industry. Prior to The Upland Group, Mr. Boire served as Chief Executive Officer of Barnes & Noble, Inc., the world’s largest retail bookseller. He has also held senior executive positions, including President and CEO roles, at a number of retail and consumer electronics companies, such as Sears Canada, Inc., Brookstone, Inc., Toys R Us, Inc., Best Buy, and Sony Electronics, Inc. Mr. Boire has served as a director of various retail industry organizations, including the Retail Council of Canada and the Retail Industry Leaders Association. In addition to his business activities, Mr. Boire is a co-founder of the Ferguson Noonan Foundation, a 501(c)3 charity focused on educating under-privileged children, and has been involved with several other philanthropic organizations, including as a Board Member of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Additionally, Mr. Boire was a recipient of the Anti-Defamation League’s S. David Feir International Humanitarian Award. Mr. Boire has MBA’s from Columbia University and the London Business School.

More about Art Van Furniture, LLC: Art Van Furniture, LLC is the Midwest's No. 1 furniture and mattress retailer with 185 stores in nine states operating under the following brands: Art Van Furniture, Art Van PureSleep, Art Van Flooring, Scott Shuptrine Interiors, Levin Furniture, Wolf Furniture and Gardiner Wolf Furniture. Founded in 1959, the Company is headquartered in Warren, Mich. For more information, visit  artvan.com.

More about Levin Furniture: Founded in 1902, Levin Furniture has 35 furniture and mattress showrooms and clearance centers in Northeastern Ohio and Southwestern Pennsylvania. For more information, visit levinfurniture.com.

More about Wolf Furniture: Wolf Furniture was founded in Altoona, Pennsylvania in 1902, and purchased Maryland-based Gardiners Furniture in 2015. The company has 18 furniture showrooms in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. For more information, visit wolffurniture.com.

More about Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P.: Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P. (“THL”) is a premier private equity firm investing in middle market growth companies, headquartered in North America, exclusively in four industry sectors: Healthcare, Business & Financial Services, Consumer & Retail, and Media, Information Services & Technology. Using the firm's deep domain expertise and the internal operating capabilities of its Strategic Resource Group, THL seeks to create deal sourcing advantages, and to accelerate growth and improve operations in its portfolio companies in partnership with management teams. Since its founding in 1974, THL has raised over $22 billion of equity capital, acquired over 140 portfolio companies and completed over 360 add-on acquisitions which collectively represent a combined enterprise value at the time of acquisition of over $200 billion.