Hooker Furnishings Corp. announced that Paul B. Toms Jr. is retiring as Chairman of the Board, effective immediately. After serving as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of HFC since 2000, Toms retired as CEO on February 1 of this year, succeeded by Jeremy Hoff, but remained as Chairman of the Board in a non-executive capacity. He served on the HFC Board for 28 years, including 21 years as Chairman and CEO. Upon Toms’ retirement, the HFC Board has elected Henry G. Williamson Jr. as his successor as Chairman. Williamson, retired Chief Operating Officer of Truist Financial Corp. (formerly BB&T) has been an HFC director since 2004 and Independent Lead Director since June 2016. With Toms’ departure the HFC Board goes from 9 to 8 members, including Jeremy Hoff, CEO; Henry Williamson Jr., Chairman; W. Christopher Beeler Jr.; Maria C Duey; Paulette Garafalo; Tonya H. Jackson; E. Larry Ryder and Ellen C. Taaffe.
Hooker Furnishings Corporation is a designer, marketer and importer of casegoods (wooden and metal furniture), leather furniture, fabric-upholstered furniture, lighting, accessories, and home decor for the residential, hospitality and contract markets. Its segments include Hooker Branded, Home Meridian and Domestic Upholstery. Hooker Branded segment which includes two businesses: Hooker Casegoods, which covers a range of design categories and includes home entertainment, home office, accent, dining and bedroom furniture in the upper-medium price points sold under the Hooker Furniture brand; and Hooker Upholstery, which includes imported upholstered furniture targeted at the upper-medium price-range. The Home Meridian segment includes Pulaski Furniture, Samuel Lawrence Furniture, Prime Resources International and Samuel Lawrence Hospitality. The Domestic Upholstery segment includes Bradington-Young, HF Custom, Shenandoah Furniture and Sunset West operations.