American Leather Hires Kevin McGuinness As Exec VP

Furniture World Magazine

Leather furniture innovator AMERICAN LEATHER has announced an executive appointment within the management team. Kevin McGuinness has joined the company as executive vice president, effective mid September. Kevin McGuinness, a seasoned executive with more than 30 years of experience in the furniture industry, has most recently been a consultant with AMERICAN LEATHER on a number of strategic initiatives and long-term planning issues. In a full-time capacity, McGuinness will help lead the sales, marketing, hospitality and customer service functions within the company. The position reports to Bruce Birnbach, president. Recognized for his knowledge of the retail and manufacturing side of the furniture business, McGuinness has held various prominent positions. Most notably, he served as president of Ekornes USA, the highly respected Stressless® chair manufacturer. During his 18-year tenure, he helped to successfully build and guide the company through various growth and development periods. At Scan Furniture, he was instrumental in successfully positioning the upholstery program to meet new competitive challenges in the Washington, D.C. market. During the course of his career, McGuiness has also worked for a number of other furniture companies including, Jesper Office, Inc., Palliser, Scan MD, and most recently a brief period at Hjellegjerde developing a sales strategy and organizing the product and marketing efforts. "It is a privilege to have a recognized leader like Kevin McGuinness join the AMERICAN LEATHER team," said Birnbach. "Kevin's industry leadership and management experience will bring strength to the entire organization while helping us move forward as AMERICAN LEATHER continues expanding rapidly in the future." Founded in 1990, American Leather is a manufacturer of custom upholstered premium leather furniture, and is recognized as one of the leaders of high quality, custom designed and innovative upholstered furniture. Its fabric division, au (American Upholstery), was founded in 2003 with the purpose of tapping into the enormous fabric upholstery furniture market, while focusing on the durability and longevity of producing made-to-order furniture that meets the lifestyle demands of today's busy consumer. More information can be found at www.americanleather.com and www.aufurniture.com.