Rapid Growth and Recent Acquisition Spurs Promotions at G.P.S. Furniture International, Inc.

Furniture World Magazine

Gary Stanieich, President of G.P.S. Furniture International, Inc., announced last week that Harry Leighton has been promoted to Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Purchasing. "Harry has been with us for over 5 years and brings 20 plus years of previous management experience. He will help provide a smoother transition during this growth spurt which has almost doubled our volume over the past 2years." We realized that we had dropped the ball when it came to our focus on the core of our business. which is to have merchandise in stock and to provide our customers with quick turn around times. "As in a rapid growth situation. balancing the inventory needs of our customers has been a challenge. My job is to keep our retailers' customers satisfied with quality products at competitive prices. I am looking forward to the challenge and the opportunity this presents to all of us," said Leighton. "I have focused on the sales aspect of our business for the last few years and have missed the challenges that management and buying create. Business has been very strong for us and we are acting aggressively now to take advantage of it." Stanieich also stated that, "the current restructuring has moved Jim Conway to be the Director of Operations." In this new position he will be responsible for the warehousing. shipping, receiving and assembly departments. Two very important tasks included in his responsibilities include product quality control and resolving customer stonier service claims. Jim will be working directly with Harry Leighton to improve the quality and reliability of our products from our vendors. Gary Chase, co-owner of G.P.S. will also take on the position of Director of Human Resources. Chase commented. "We have come a long way since we were just a waterbed distributor. Gary and I look forward to working with Jim and Harry as they take G.P.S. to the next plateau." Stanieich says the new promotions will allow him to focus more on defining G.P.S.'s vision and mission statement,. setting business goals and strategies.