Sphinx by Oriental Weavers shakes up team

-- Home Textiles Today, 11/24/2004 9:30:00 AM

DALTON , Ga. — Sphinx by Oriental Weavers recently promoted Bill Belardi to the newly created position of director of sourcing and promoted Kim Reynolds to another newly created position, public relations manager.

Before joining Sphinx four years ago as its import manager, Belardi served as a consultant to the import industry. Prior to that he was with Macy's for 32 years.

In his new post, Belardi reports to Mike Riley, executive vice president of sales and marketing for Sphinx.

Having recently opened buying offices in China and India to support growth into new home textiles product categories beyond area rugs, the company has assigned Belardi responsibility for sourcing product from these countries.

"Bill has done a remarkable job overseeing Sphinx's handmade imports, and his extensive experience as a buyer across a variety of home product lines while at Macy's, paired with his in depth knowledge of global imports, will play a pivotal role as we expand sourcing throughout Asia," said Riley.

Reynolds has been with Sphinx for more than two years as its sales support manager. Earlier, she worked for CompFirst out of Dalton , Ga. , as its provider relations coordinator. In her new post, she serves as the company's media liaison, reporting to Jonathan Witt, vice president of marketing.

"Over the past couple of years, Kim has done a great job developing our sales support department to better serve our customers and sales staff," Witt said. "Her hard work, dedication, and knowledge of the floor covering industry made her a natural choice to spearhead our media relations efforts."

In related news, Linda Harlow recently resigned from her post as managing director, handmade rugs — a post she held for almost four years. Harlow was responsible for spearheading the company's entry into handmade rugs in 2002. Her last day is Nov. 30.

Before joining Sphinx by Oriental Weavers, Harlow worked for Macy's West for 25 years, most recently as area rug buyer.