Broyhill Strengthens Case Goods Merchandising Team

Furniture World Magazine

Broyhill Home Furnishings announced two additions to its case goods merchandising team by creating two new positions within the company. The company has named Debbie Blackburn as merchandise manager – occasional tables, and Linda Moretz as the new merchandise manager – youth furniture. Blackburn and Moretz will now report to Michael Foster, vice president, merchandising – case goods, for the company. “Debbie has a great creative eye and a strong retail background. She has been very successful at developing our Continents line, an occasional accent collection, and it makes perfect sense to incorporate occasional tables into her responsibilities. At the same time, with more than twenty years of service to Broyhill, Linda’s contribution across our case goods merchandising team speaks volumes regarding her talent and ability to help further drive our product lines,” says Foster. “Broyhill is planning to double its business over the next year in both of these categories, a demanding goal to be sure. Debbie and Linda are the right people to champion this goal.” Prior to accepting this new position, Blackburn was previously the merchandise manager - Continents and she acted as the director of Broyhill’s accessory program. Blackburn has 28 years of furniture retail experience. Prior to coming to work at the Broyhill corporate office as director of the accessory program, she opened and managed the Broyhill Home Collections store in Blowing Rock, N.C. Moretz has been with Broyhill for 26 years. She started out in dealer service for 10 years, and then moved to the sales/merchandising department as an assistant to both the vice presidents of merchandising and sales for 15 years. For the past year, Moretz has acted as merchandise coordinator in which she has been responsible for evaluating critical merchandising details and specifications along the product development cycle, and served as an analyst in case goods performance measures. She also aided the showroom director in the coordination of sample delivery and placement. “The additions of both Debbie and Linda to our case good merchandising team bring us one step closer in rebuilding the product lines of this incredible company and returning the brand to its former position of dominance,” says Don Webb, executive vice president of sales and merchandising. “Our entire team here at Broyhill has come together with passion and commitment to develop industry leading products and create greater synergies with our customer base. Along with Fran Scheller, our merchandise manager – bedroom/dining room, through their new roles, Debbie and Linda will play an integral part in this objective.” Broyhill Home Furnishings offers wooden case goods and upholstery for every room in the home, including the living room, dining room, bedroom, family room, home entertainment area, home office and youth bedroom. Sold in retail stores in all 50 states and 35 foreign countries, Broyhill is one of the largest home furnishings producers in the world. For over 100 years, Broyhill continues to be the most recognized furniture brand. Headquartered in Lenoir, N.C., Broyhill is a subsidiary of Furniture Brands International (NYSE:FBN), which produces, sources and markets its products under six of the best-known brand names in the industry – Broyhill, Lane, Thomasville, Henredon, Drexel Heritage, and Maitland-Smith.