Ethan Allen Chooses Gregor Noelle To Spearhead Eurpoean Expansion

Furniture World Magazine

Ethan Allen Global Inc. announced plans to expand its international business in Europe and has engaged Gregor Noelle to spearhead that initiative. Ethan Allen, headquartered in Danbury, Connecticut, is one of the biggest and best known home furnishing companies in America. Ethan Allen designs, sources, manufactures and sells through a vertically integrated organization. An international network of 295 interior design centers feature Ethan Allen’s single-brand-strategy and inspirational lifestyle displays, of which 159 are company-owned and 136 are operated by licensees. In addition, Ethan Allen owns four case goods manufacturing plants, two sawmills, four upholstery plants and one accessory plant in the United States and one leather cut-and-sew facility in Mexico. Farooq Kathwari, Chairman and CEO of Ethan Allen, engaged Gregor Noelle to introduce this unique, sophisticated and promising “Ethan Allen” retail concept to the European home furnishings market. Mr. Gregor Noelle has over thirty years of management experience in the European home furnishings industry, having been associated with Metro-Kaufhof Group, Musterring International, Huelsta-Group, the Schider-Group and most recently as a partner of Neuhaus & Partners, a management consulting group. Kathwari and Noelle have known each other since the 1980’s. Both are of the opinion that “the time is right” for implementing an integrated concept like Ethan Allen and its brand in European markets: “Not more of the same!” should be the credo for the introduction of this concept to meet the challenge of trying to address the sophisticated European customers who want and demand more creative help and service. The objective of this initiative is to establish Ethan Allen Studios, or a “store-in-store” within large furniture stores to show a different world of inspirational lifestyles, or to fully convert smaller stores to dedicated Ethan Allen Interior Design Centers. Noelle is now presenting the merchandising and marketing package to possible partners.