The August 15 edition of HOMEWORLD BUSINESS® revealed the 11th Annual “Players,” people to watch in housewares during the next 12 months.
Selected by HomeWorld Business editors, the Players represent a cross section of a diverse housewares business— from established to newly installed company leaders; from large to small operations, from big-box to specialty retailers; from trade show managers to celebrity endorsers.
The HomeWorld Players are in the spotlight not only for how they might impact their respective organizations in the coming months, but also for how they might impact the overall housewares business.
Marc Sculler, Twin-Star International, Co-President
PLAYER’S CREDENTIALS: A little more than a year ago, Marc Sculler was named co-president of Twin-Star International and, along with co-president Peter Harper and evp Andy Bandremer, became an established leadership team that is dynamically expanding the company’s scope. The change in leadership came not long after Twin-Star acquired Bell’O in 2014, a company that Sculler headed as CEO. Harper joined Twin-Star in 2013 as CFO, previously filling that position at Ironshore Insurance Co. Bandremer was an established Twin-Star executive and had been svp at the time of his promotion, overseeing new business and product development. Earlier this year, Z Capital Partners acquired Twin-Star and affirmed the appointments of the leadership team.
WHAT TO WATCH: With Z Capital Partners coming in as new owners, Twin-Star has the backing to grow under the new leadership team including Sculler, who brings in some fresh perspective from Bell’O. Already, under its leadership team, Twin-Star has been rapidly combining its core lines and Bell’O business as part of a growth push. Bell’O helped Twin-Star explore opportunities in the electronics retail space with media furniture and other products. As Twin-Star has looked at how it can grow its business, the company determined to use the Bell’O brand for electric fireplaces sold into the electronics retail channel. At the same time, Twin-Star decided to brand electric fireplaces for the furniture store channel under its established ClassicFlame banner.
Twin-Star has been positioning itself to test new frontiers in product and technology. The company has expanded its corporate headquarters to accommodate continuing growth and future market development plans. Twin-Star has been developing and expanding new product lines ranging from curio cabinet and storage mirror groups to speaker shelves. In addition, the company has been expanding its 3D flame technology within its portfolio to provide an aesthetic advantage by generating a more realistic flame effect in electric fireplaces and heaters.
In the year ahead, the company plans to push its new product development capacity to build sales. To that end, Twin-Star launched a new product line that is specifically targeted at e-commerce retailers, with designs developed to ease delivery.
PERSPECTIVE: On Twin-Star’s acquisition by Z Capital Partners, Sculler said, “Z Capital’s extensive support will continue to augment and accelerate Twin-Star’s market-leading product innovation in both current and new product categories.”
2017 HomeWorld Business Players (click on name for profile):
- Jeff Gennette, Macy’s
- Ulrik Garde Due, Fiskars
- Patrick Schneider, International Innovation Company
- Ernie Herrman, TJX Companies
- Bill Foley, Libbey
- Doug Kellam, ZeroWater
- Steve Greenspon, Honey-Can-Do International
- Anne Willis, Whitford Corporation
- Michael Polk, Newell Brands
- Karen and Brad Hughes, Artichoke
- Don Saller, Jokari
- Carmen Nestares, Amazon
- Neal Asbury, The Legacy Companies
- Jay Jordan, Ameriwood
- Dave Richmond, Tre Milano/InStyler
- Robert Gamgort, Keurig Green Mountain
- Jennifer Dalquist, Nordic Ware
- Steve Matyas, Staples
- Marc Sculler, Twin-Star International
- Bob Kellermann and Henry Lodge, Lodge Manufacturing
