Karastan senior vice president Bill Storey announced he will retire in early 2020 after 32 years with the brand. “I’ve got mixed feelings, a little trepidation, I guess, but in all, I’m excited,” he said. Storey said he plans to spend time with his wife, son and daughter-in-law and will soon be a first-time grandfather. “I’ll spend some time volunteering, giving back to the community, and then, who knows—I could be back in the industry.”
FT: You’ve been in your current position for eight years and ran Mohawk Home before that. Tell us about your career.
Storey: I was lucky that I was able to do a lot of different things with Karastan. I started as a territory manger, worked for another company, Lee’s Carpets, which was owned by Burlington, but I always admired the Karastan brand. Back then, it was really kind of department store driven—department stores are big customers. I started as a territory manager and then a few years later they decided they wanted to start the Karastan Gallery of Design, which was a store within a store concept, and sell into the top 200 retailers around the country. It was really just a blessing. I got to meet the top 200 retailers in the country, and a lot of them are friends today and I know their families; I watched their businesses grow and thrive. Then I went into marketing, where I got to do product development and learned a lot about manufacturing. It rounded me out and I learned what it takes to get product out and become important to our customers.