After spending the last 14 years working in various positions with Markor International Home Furnishings, industry veteran Jeff Young left his most recent leadership role as President and CEO of Jonathan Charles Designs on December 31, 2022.
Young joined Markor in 2009 as President and CEO of Schnadig International Corporation which was acquired by Markor the same year. Young was the driving force behind Markor’s effort to transform Schnadig into a distinctive Caracole brand. Today, the Caracole brand is known as a major high-end resource with distribution in metropolitan cities throughout the world.
Young subsequently served as Markor’s Chief Branding Officer and led Markor’s other US home furnishings divisions. He was president and CEO of A.R.T Home Furnishings from 2019 to 2021, and led Jonathan Charles Designs as president and CEO from 2021 to the end of 2022.
“I have thoroughly enjoyed each of my many stops along the Markor furniture highway these past 14 years”, Young reminisced. “It seems like just yesterday that Chairman Richard Feng and I met in a Los Angeles hotel meeting room in 2009, where together we charted a most innovative and new course for Markor, namely, the design and production of a new-generation of pace-setting products to serve both Markor manufacturing and its China-based retail furniture stores.”
“Jeff is an extraordinary product talent and an effective leader,” said Mark Feng, Chairman of Markor International Home Furnishings, and CEO of Markor International. “His contrition to solidifying our product design and industry position is most consequential. We are deeply grateful for his service, dedication, and loyalty. We wish Jeff the best of time with his family and friends.“
Young concluded: “In addition to the privilege of managing these U.S.-based wholesale businesses, I will forever be thankful for the opportunity I was given to learn about the latest in manufacturing methodology, and to witness the inspiration behind the most innovative home furnishings stores in the world. I was positioned with a bird’s-eye view of one of the most creative, complex, and successful furniture empires ever built in this industry.”
Young’s tenure with Markor caps a 50-year career in the home furnishings industry. Upon graduation from Wake Forest University in 1972, Young joined family-owned businesses, Dixie Furniture, Link Taylor, Young Hinkle and Henry Link. Following the sale of these companies in 1987 to Masco Corporation, Young served as president and CEO of the newly named Lexington Furniture Industries from 1990 to 1999. He subsequently served as president and CEO of Fine Furniture, Drexel Heritage, and HDM (consolidation of Henredon, Drexel Heritage and Maitland Smith, divisions of Furniture Brands International).
