ATLANTA--Steve Fendrich has been appointed president and chief operating officer at Simmons, effective Jan. 1.
Fendrich, who joined the nation's number-two mattress manufacturer two years ago, will assume charge over the company's sales, marketing and operations, and report to Charlie Eitel, chairman and chief executive officer.
Under the new management structure, reporting to Fendrich is Dominick Azevedo, who has moved from senior vice president of sales to Fendrich's previous role as executive vice president of sales; Tim Oakhill, executive vice president of marketing; Rob Burch, executive vice president of operations; Scott Smalling, president of the Simmons specialty division; and Paul Bognar, president of Simmons Canada.
Late last year, Gary Matthews had been named president of Simmons, but he left the company in May. Eitel has been overseeing the sales, marketing and operations functions since then. It has yet to be determined whether this move puts Fendrich in line to eventually succeed Eitel as chairman and CEO.
Before joining Simmons in 2005, Fendrich was president and CEO of the manufacturer's Sleep Country USA retail operation, which was sold in 2006. A Simmons statement credited Fendrich with leading roles in the company's decision to sell Sleep Country; its acquisition of Simmons Canada, also in 2006; and its acquisition of ComforPedic, the specialty mattress manufacturer, earlier this year.
