HORSE
SHOE, NC - Handmade decorative rug maker Michaelian & Kohlberg announced
the promotion of Jennifer Hillyer to head of its wholesale business. The
company with main offices in Hillside, NJ, and a sales division based in
Horse Shoe, NC, said Hillyer, who replaces Ali Khalid Chaundhry, joined
the North Carolina office of Michaelian in June of 2011 as an
administrative assistant and quickly worked her way up the ranks.
She
will now focus on reaching out to stocking dealers to rekindle past
relationships and add new ones to the company's roster, Sandra Lemke,
long-time chief executive officer of M&K, told RugNews.com.
Hillyer,
who has a background in sales management, was named sales manager of M&K's
Wilton broadloom carpet division, which accounts for approximately 10%
of the company's business after her first year, and
shortly thereafter took over management of its fledgling textile
division (crafted in India), created as a complement to the company's
rugs, Lemke said.
"In
November of 2014, [Teddy] Sumner asked me to begin rebuilding the
Southeast territory by establishing new wholesale rug dealer accounts
and revitalizing existing accounts," Hillyer explained of her prior
promotion. "Now, I manage the entire wholesale division where my focus
is on quality customer service and establishing great working
relationships with our dealers. My goal is to see Michaelian & Kohlberg,
Inc. continue to grow as a nationally recognized purveyor of fine
hand-knotted rugs."
In
fact, because of Hillyer's initiative, Michaelian exhibited last week at
the Suites at High Point market after a long hiatus, interrupted
approximately four years ago, when the company set up at market to debut
its line of textiles. Founded in 1921, Michaelian & Kohlberg designs and
creates fine handmade decorative carpets, made in Nepal, India,
Afghanistan and China, for high-end residential, office and hospitality
interiors.
"Jennifer
comes from an extensive sales background, and joined us about four years
ago," Lemke said. "Stationed in our North Carolina location, Jennifer
started her rug venture through our Wilton designs and from there took
over our textiles division, which under her tutelage has done really
well. But people come to us for handmade carpets, which are the lion's
share of our business, and we now want Jennifer to concentrate on our
dealers - the people who have given us our success.
"A few
years ago, we restructured our business and broke our states into
territories and we found that we had stocking dealers with whom we had
lost touch. In the Southeast territory, Jennifer was able to bring
people back into contact with M&K very successfully. She is the person
we want to put in the field to reach out to dealers and rekindle
relationships."