The Dixie Group is bringing in fresh managers to oversee the company's commercial division, in hopes that the shake-up will boost flagging sales.
Vinson Lee Martin will take over for Ken Dempsey as president of Masland Contract brand, and David Hobbs has begun work as the company's modular business manager — a newly created position.
Although the Chattanooga-based carpetmaker's residential sales have outpaced the industry, the commercial business has dipped, said Dan Frierson, president and CEO of Dixie.
"We have outperformed the industry on the residential side and we have not on commercial side, and we are making some changes to ensure that we do," Frierson said.
Adjusted net sales of commercial carpet decreased 17.3 percent in the first six months of the year, as overall sales fell by $1 million to $129 million during the same period.
Residential sales, on the other hand, ticked up 5.6 percent over the same period in 2011.
Martin, who has spent 38 years in the carpet and textile business, will work with Hobbs at Dixie's Saraland, Ala., facillity.
Ellis Smith joined the Chattanooga Times Free Press in January 2010 as a business reporter. His beat includes the flooring industry, Chattem, Unum, Krystal, the automobile market, real estate and technology. Ellis is from Marietta, Ga., and has a bachelor’s degree in mass communication at the University of West Georgia. He previously worked at UTV-13 News, Carrollton, Ga., as a producer; at the The West Georgian, Carrollton, Ga., as editor; and at the Times-Georgian, Carrollton, ...
