Heath E. Combs — Furniture Today,
AT THE MARKET — Phil Haney, the new president and CEO of Lexington Home Brands, talks a lot about one thing: product.


“You’ve got to get the product right and spend a lot of time and emphasis on getting the product right, soliciting input from retail partners and sales associates on what’s appropriate for each brand and right for the marketplace,” he said in an interview days before the High Point Furniture Market.

A little over a month into his new job at Lexington, Haney is set on aggressively growing the company, and strengthening its brands and relationships with what he calls the best retail partners in the industry. He also wants to improve service and delivery. 

But he really wants to get the product right.

Since early September, he has met with Bob Timberlake and representatives of Liz Claiborne, both of which have licensed furniture lines with Lexington, and also has talked with Donald Trump’s people in New York about the upcoming collection that will debut next year.

Haney spent his first few days at company headquarters in Thomasville, N.C., talking to key retailers and sales representatives. He hit them with a barrage of questions: What do you see, what do you want to see, and what can we do better?

He heard: You’re a great company with a great reputation — get the product right.

In one of his first moves, Haney announced a plan to focus on product by creating a design center in the headquarters complex. The center will bring together the company’s product design, engineering, product management and interior design staff in an aesthetically appealing environment where Haney hopes to create a synergy. 

In addition, he said, designers will travel more to see how today’s homes are built and decorated. They’ll make increased efforts to make sure furniture products are scaled and tailored appropriately for the regions where they’re sold, he said.

Haney began his career in the mid-1970s at floor covering specialist Bigelow, which merged with Karastan. Later, the companies became divisions of Mohawk Inds. He eventually became president of Karastan Rug and Home.

While he was there, he studied Lexington, watching for style trends. Haney said that stylistically, he saw floor coverings as complementary to furniture. He said one of his strengths was an ability to find flooring designs that were relevant to furniture.

He left Karastan in 2002 to join Stanley Furniture as executive vice president of marketing and sales. While he was there, the company grew its sales by nearly $100 million.

In September, he took over a Lexington brand portfolio that includes not only Timberlake, Claiborne and the upcoming Trump line, but also Tommy Bahama, Nautica Home, Woolrich and Palmer Home.

Haney said he wants to continue strengthening the brands and making them relevant to the consumers and lifestyles they target. But while perhaps the company’s biggest introductions in the past year have been in the Tommy Bahama line, Haney said he also sees opportunity in the company’s house brand, Lexington.

In recent years, the company de-emphasized the Lexington name, focusing more attention on licensed brand strength. But Haney said the Lexington name is unrestricted and can fit into niches and market trends that might not necessarily be filled by the company’s brand portfolio.

Chris Metz, managing director of Sun Capital Partners, which owns Lexington, said he got to know Haney through the recruiting process for a new CEO. Haney was hired to succeed Bob Stec, who left the company earlier this year.

Metz said the new boss’s mandate is clear — support better, listen better, partner better with customers and consumers, and figure out the best way to develop the best products.

“He’s an accomplished executive with great experience who comes in with a hungry attitude,” said Metz. “What we had heard about Phil is that he’s smart, he understands the industry and he’s a strong leader.”

As for those rumors earlier this year that Lexington might be for sale, Metz said Haney’s hiring should help put them to rest.

“Lexington has not been for sale and it is not for sale,” he said. “Us going out and hiring Phil is as strong an endorsement as we can put in place to support and grow the business.”