Retail Observer

RETAILOBSERVER.COM AUGUST 2016 76 KEVIN BROWN NAMED PRESIDENT, VIKING RANGE Kevin Brown has been named president of Viking Range, a Middleby Corporation company, based in Greenwood, MS. Brown will be responsible for the overall operations, sales and engineering initiatives at Viking Range. "Kevin has been an effective and respected leader with Viking customers, employees and vendors over the past several years, and he has proven time and time again that he can deliver results," said Selim A. Bassoul, chairman and CEO of The Middleby Corporation. Under Kevin's direction, an entirely redesigned line of Viking product for all appliances was manufactured under new, rigorous quality-testing processes. This redesign of every product in a short period of time resulted in significant improvements in reliability and performance across all Viking product categories. "I am proud to lead Viking into a new era with our redesigned and award-winning residential technologies," said Brown. "Viking is a well-known, established brand and we now have everything in place to move forward and grow with our new product offerings and by expanding our domestic and global reach." Kevin brings more than 25 years of domestic and global appliance experience to his new position. Since joining Viking Range in 2007, Brown has held several senior engineering positions within the company. Most recently he was vice president of operations and engineering. Before joining Viking Range, Kevin held management positions at Whirlpool and Maytag. PERLICK ANNOUNCES DISTRIBUTION CHANGE IN CANADA Better Distribution named as exclusive partner in Eastern Canada Perlick, a leader in innovative, high quality undercounter refrigeration, announces Better Distribution as the exclusive distributor for Eastern Canada (Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, and Labrador), effective July 1, 2016. "The Canadian market continues to be an important area of growth," said Tim Ebner, vice president of marketing and business development at Perlick. "Better Distribution is a young, nimble, forward-thinking company, poised to take Perlick to new heights in the Eastern Canadian market and we're excited about what we can do together." "Perlick's unparalleled line of residential undercounter refrig- eration will be a strong addition to Better Distribution's offering," said Amir Girgis, president of Better Distribution. "We are thrilled to partner with Perlick. They are 'the' refrigeration product and add the perfect complement to our cooking brands. We intend to make Perlick the industry leader in Canada." For more information about Perlick's residential line of products, visit perlick.com/residential-products and for the latest news from Better Distribution visit www.betterdistribution.ca. SHARP ELECTRONICS MARKETING COMPANY OF AMERICA HIRES NEW DIRECTOR OF SALES - NATIONAL ACCOUNTS Kirk McIlraith joins company to further 'Simply Better Living' home appliance focus in U.S. Sharp is pleased to announce that Kirk McIlraith has joined Sharp Electronics as director of sales—national accounts. McIlraith will be responsible for expanding Sharp's business relationships with multiple national retailers in the United States for Sharp's full line of home appliances that include microwave ovens, SuperSteam+™ Combination Ovens, Plasmacluster™ Air Purifiers, and other home appliance products. McIlraith will report to Peter Weedfeld, senior vice president of sales and marketing. "Kirk brings over 25 years of highly effective sales leadership to Sharp. His extensive experience and knowledge will help us further accelerate our market potential and best serve our valuable customers," said Peter Weedfald. Prior to joining Sharp, McIlraith managed all national and regional account relationships in his role as director of national sales at electronics maker, Fuhu, and spent 15 years at Panasonic where he held various sales management positions including national accounts manager and product category specialist. McIIraith's hiring builds upon Sharp's growing sales team in its burgeoning home appliance focus. In April 2016, Sharp also announced the addition of Todd MacGregor as director of sales, and Jae H. Park as regional account manager. O N T H E M O V E I N T H E I N D U S T R Y K I R K M C I L R A I T H K E V I N B R O W N RO

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