Expert Details
Furniture Industry, Seating, Tables, Hospitality, Personal Injury, Marketing, Manufacturing, Sourcing
ID: 731630
Florida, USA
Expert has been working with product designers and various domestic and overseas suppliers to develop, launch and successfully market 250+ seating designs in wood, metal and upholstery, and 100+ table collections over his 28-year career. His experience has been gained with a "hands-on" approach while working at an executive level within the industry. He has developed chairs, bar stools, tables and benches mostly as original design collections -- all engineered for commercial and residential use alike.
Expert has successfully developed all types of chairs, seating and table products, including: stacking, pull-up, conference, dining, lounge, hotel guest room, outdoor and office. He has been recognized as an aggressive marketer, trainer and innovator within the seating and upholstery segments. Target markets include corporate, residential, hotels, timeshares, restaurants, stadiums, universities, cruise ships and retail store planning.
He has specialized expertise in sourcing, private label manufacturing and marketing. He has been an integral part of various company start-up, turnaround and aggressive growth situations. He maintains extensive industry contacts among other branded furniture manufacturers, domestic and foreign factory suppliers, product designers and independent sales rep groups. He has worked at an executive and/or equity ownership level for the substantial part of his career. He has successfully introduced furniture products which have sold in very high volumes in both residential and commercial applications. His hands-on experience also covers furniture industry customer service, shipping, packaging, freight damages, quality control, purchasing, supplier relations, contract negotiations, sales literature, costing and product launch and design/development.
Expert has gained intimate knowledge while working with domestic and overseas suppliers in his career. Areas of specialized expertise include furniture design, prototyping, testing, quality, vendor pre-qualification, supply chain management, purchasing negotiations and design trends.
Expert has extensive experience in the hospitality areas (i.e., hotels, restaurants, casinos, cruise lines, time shares) with all types of seating, table and furniture products. He has worked with interior designers, purchasing companies and end users on 1,000+ successful restaurant, hotel, timeshare, cruise line and retail store projects, including brands such as Marriott, Hilton, Four Seasons, Disney, Wyndham, Ritz Carlton, Embassy Suites, Chili's, Sbarro, JC Penney, Macy's Nordstrom, Zales, Dillard's, Belk and Saks Fifth Avenue. He has also worked with hundreds of independently owned hospitality, senior living and resort properties and boutique hotels.
As a consultant, Expert worked with certain branded furniture manufacturers on a confidential consulting basis. His responsibility was to develop various seating and table products to enhance the client's catalog offerings. Certain products also required that he set up sourcing for the client and handle vendor negotiations. Expert has completed many short-term consulting projects and consulting conference calls for private equity firms seeking expertise and guidance in various furniture-related areas.He has provided expert litigation consulting for various plaintiff lawsuits involving chairs and/or tables. He has conducted on-site inspections, causation analysis, facilities inspection procedures, and care- and maintenance-related issues.He has worked as an Expert Witness for multi-million-dollar plaintiff suits seeking damages for breach of fiduciary duty related to a furniture company's operations and management performance.He has worked as a strategic consultant for a high-end European furniture manufacturer seeking to enter the U.S. commercial and contract markets. Expert has worked for defense attorneys and insurance firms, aggressively supporting personal injury and product liability cases. Expert has been directly involved in many successful sourcing and product development initiatives for wood, metal, lounge, outdoor chairs and bar stools, as well as dining and occasional tables in metal, wood, glass, laminate, resin and veneer.
Education
| Year | Degree | Subject | Institution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year: 1973 | Degree: BA | Subject: Economics/Management | Institution: Rutgers University |
Work History
| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
|---|---|---|---|
| Years: 2008 to Present | Employer: Undisclosed | Title: President | Department: |
Responsibilities:Recognized as one of the nation's leading Furniture and Seating Expert Witnesses. Directly involved in over 1,000 hospitality projects and 300 personal site visits and product inspections during a very successful 28+ year career in all areas of the furniture industry. Aggressively supports law firms and insurance companies handling both plaintiff and defense sides in personal injury matters and related Furniture, Seating, Table or Hospitality Litigation. Also available for Strategic Consulting, Sourcing or Product Development projects. Directly involved with the design and development of 250+ original design seating and table collections. Have worked with both domestic and overseas product designers and factory sources. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2005 to 2008 | Employer: Brown Jordan International | Title: Vice President Marketing | Department: |
Responsibilities:He directed all marketing and product-related areas. During this time, he traveled extensively to work with product designers and sources both in the U.S. and overseas. He was a member of the upper management team that successfully turned the company's operations around. He handled public relations, media, purchasing contract negotiations, and quality control. He also formulated sales literature, improved the product development processes, and coordinated all facets of successful seating and table product introductions. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2000 to 2005 | Employer: EPIC Furniture Group, Inc. | Title: Senior Vice President and Co-founder | Department: |
Responsibilities:He handled all key areas of this very successful startup company, developing the product line, catalog binder, website, brand image, costing, pricing, supplier qualification and ongoing vendor relationships. Dealt directly with all domestic and overseas factories. From initial concept stage, he shipped $17 million in the fourth full year. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 1987 to 2000 | Employer: Loewenstein Furniture Group, Inc. | Title: Vice President Marketing and Product Development | Department: |
Responsibilities:Expert had hands-on involvement in all areas of the business. He was part of the aggressive management team which grew the company from $12 million to $72 million in annual sales. He also started a high-volume private-label seating manufacturing division, working for companies such as Knoll, Herman Miller, Halcon and Wieland. He served as an in-house product expert, worked on various product liability, product design and other furniture related legal and insurance issues; coordinating defense strategy with insurers and outside law firms. |
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International Experience
| Years | Country / Region | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Years: 1987 to 2013 | Country / Region: Italy/Northern Region | Summary: He has regularly visited Italy, on average 3-4 times yearly, to directly handle all aspects of product design and development, price negotiations, quality and delivery issues and maintaining overall positive supplier relations. He has worked with wood, metal and upholstery factories; mostly around Florence, Venice and Milan areas. He works directly with the owners of these factories. |
| Years: 1988 to 1997 | Country / Region: Germany | Summary: He worked with a mid-range supplier of office seating, handling various logistical and some quality and delivery issues. |
| Years: 1995 to 2004 | Country / Region: Slovenia | Summary: Met with various wood factories, seeking lower cost sourcing versus the Italian factories. |
| Years: 1991 to 1998 | Country / Region: Czech Republic | Summary: Worked with a very large factory producing specialized bentwood chairs and stools. Met regularly with the government trade agency. |
| Years: 2009 to 2013 | Country / Region: Spain | Summary: He worked closely with a high end case goods manufacturer based in the Barcelona area to set up their U.S. marketing, branding and sales/distribution plan. Hired sales reps, redesigned their U.S. website and produced sales literature. |
Additional Experience
| Expert Witness Experience |
|---|
| He is experienced in researching and writing very strong expert witness reports, coordinating litigation strategies for plaintiffs or defense, attending hearings and depositions over many years. He is experienced with field inspections of damaged and/or defective seating products. He has worked in litigation consulting with attorneys and as a furniture industry and/or seating expert in various litigation support roles. |
| Training / Seminars |
|---|
| Expert has been giving product sales training seminars for over 15 years. He has been a speaker at a few industry events and trade shows, covering furniture manufacturing, seating design/development and marketing-related topics. |
| Vendor Selection |
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| Expert has gained extensive experience in identifying, qualifying and negotiating supply agreements with many domestic and overseas furniture and seating component vendors. He maintains ongoing relationships with a wide range of furniture suppliers. He directed negotiations and resolved service and/or quality issues on a continual basis throughout his career. In addition to domestic suppliers, he has sourced from Italy, Spain, Eastern Europe and Asia. |
| Marketing Experience |
|---|
| Expert has extensive knowledge of other furniture and seating and table manufacturers, competitive products, brand images, designer appeal, and other related fields. Has consulted with clients regarding branding and distribution strategies. He has been extensively involved in detailed costing for new product introductions, value engineering, product scale and functionality. He has kept updated on design trends and the changing tastes and desires of interior designers. |
Fields of Expertise
new product design, freight handling, restaurant injury, restaurant accident, hotel design, furniture safety, furniture component durability, chair, chair design, upholstery, furniture industry, furniture manufacturing, restaurant industry, restaurant hospitality, hotel hospitality, hospitality, furniture design, furniture upholstery, lawn furniture, wooden furniture, furniture material, furniture comfort, furniture component, furniture durability, office furniture, wood product manufacturing, wood product engineering, wood product