Hooker Furniture President Alan Cole to retire early next year

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Hooker Furniture President Alan Cole will retire at the close of the company's fiscal year, which ends Feb. 2. He will be succeeded by Michael Delgatti, president of Hooker Upholstery and executive vice president of sales.

Cole joined the company in 2007 as executive vice president of upholstery operations, which include the Sam Moore and Bradington-Young divisions. He was later promoted to president of Hooker Upholstery and became president of the company in the summer of 2011.

Delgatti joined the company in 2009 as vice president of Hooker Upholstery and was named president of Hooker Upholstery in 2011, when Cole was named president.

In a statement, company chairman and CEO Paul Toms Jr. said, "We greatly appreciate Alan's profound contributions to Hooker Furniture, Bradington-Young and Sam Moore. The strategic vision and team-building he has brought to our organization, as well as the two new businesses he conceived and launched, will make this a stronger company for many years to come."

"At the same time, we are very confident in Mike as he prepares to assume the presidency of Hooker Furniture Corp.," Toms added. "Mike is extremely capable, has had an extraordinarily positive impact on our upholstery companies, and has also made significant contributions during the last year as he assumed responsibility for sales in all divisions. Once he becomes president, he will add responsibility for marketing and case goods product development in his expanded role. I look forward to sharing leadership with Mike as I have with Alan."

In his new role, Delgatti will focus on domestic and international sales, merchandising and marketing. He also will oversee all upholstery operations. Toms will continue to focus on case goods operations, supply chain and logistics, corporate services, investor and bard relations and the new Homeware and H Contract businesses.

Commenting on the transition, Cole said, "The timing is as perfect as it could possibly be. We have been very intentional in our succession plans for an orderly transition, and we are exactly where we wanted to be at this time. It is gratifying to see that our organization is well positioned with good momentum and that important new initiatives have been launched and are moving forward."

"I don't think we could have written a better scenario," Cole added. "The confluence of events over the last seven years has brought us exactly to the point we wanted to be as a company, and now I'm looking forward to turning my attention towards my family and a very active retirement."