by Batten named VP, sales and marketing; Richardson named director, national sales
MANLIUS, N.Y. — Case goods and upholstery manufacturer L.&J.G. Stickley has named two professionals to its senior management team.
John Batten has been named vice president of sales and marketing, and Jack Richardson has been named director of national sales, a new position. Batten replaces Mark Wiltshire, who left the company in late June 2023 to become president of Streamline Art & Frame.
Batten most recently was chief marketing officer for American Freight Furniture and before this he was vice president of marketing and business development at Harbor Freight Tools.
Before this he was a managing director at Arietis Partners and Patriarch Partners. He also was previously senior vice president of sales and business development at Local Matters and before this held a similar role at InnMedia.
In his new position, he reports to Stickley President Edward Audi and will be responsible for driving growth across all sales channels including dealer, contract, trade, OEM and e-commerce.
“John is a collaborative sales and marketing executive with deep knowledge in sales growth and channel expansion, finding existing synergies, teaching and building new processes to meet customer needs and improve business performance,” Audi said. “We are excited to have him join the team.”
Richardson was most recently vice president of sales at motion upholstery resource Barcalounger. Before this he was owner of Greensboro, North Carolina-based furniture retailer Hot Buys LLC and before this was senior vice president of sales at case goods importer Home Insights.
Prior to joining Home Insights, he worked for more than 16 years at La-Z-Boy, where he held executive roles including senior vice president of sales and marketing and president of American Drew. During his tenure he also oversaw the operational and financial performance of American Drew and sister companies Lea Industries and Hammary.
Richardson also previously held management roles at Universal Furniture and Broyhill.
He reports to Batten and will have responsibility for Stickley dealer sales and dealer sales representatives.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Jack, an industry veteran with an outstanding track record of nurturing strong account relationships, building and supporting effective sales teams, and driving growth,” Audi said. “Jack and John represent an aggressive investment in our team and will help ensure the strongest possible sales effort, an effort that is critical to successfully achieve our business goals.”
