Brookes adds breadth to advisory board

Brookes adds breadth to advisory board

Cinde W. Ingram -- Casual Living, 11/1/2008 12:00:00 AM

Brookes

Casual Living has added a well-rounded sales representative to its Editorial Advisory Board.

Ed Brookes' experience includes retailing and manufacturing in both the casual and residential home furnishings industries. He plans to share his expertise with the casual furnishings industry through a bi-monthly column, starting with this issue (see page 61).

"All of my experiences have taught me that all three parts of this channel of distribution must work together at high levels to insure success," he said.

Brookes started working in Pennsylvania for a furniture store on the sales floor and as a buyer during the late 1970s after he graduated college. In 1981, he was hired by a three-store chain of pool/patio/Christmas stores in central Pennsylvania. He became vice president of merchandising and also handled advertising during his 10 years there.

In 1991, Brookes joined Tropitone Furniture as its Eastern sales manager. Eventually promoted to vice president of sales, he became responsible for all of Tropitone's retail and contract sales and helped guide the company through a turnaround.

Winsloew hired Brookes in 2001 as executive vice president of sales for Brown Jordan. He moved to Florida along with the company headquarters after Bruce Albertson became CEO.

Brookes left BJI in 2006 when an opportunity became available as an independent sales rep for Tropitone in South Florida. He also represents Acacia Home & Garden.