295 Fifth's Claude Litton to retire

HTT Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 11/9/2010 3:27:53 PM

New York - Claude Litton, who has run the industry's major showroom building, 295 Fifth Avenue here for the past 32 years, is retiring at the end of the year.
A successor will be named next month.
Litton, 75, as president and ceo of the building, transformed it from a mixed use building to the anchor of the New York home textiles market while establishing an industry identity for himself that made him a single-name persona in the trade: Claude.
An attorney by trade and a one-time Air Force pilot, Litton is also well known for his world-class collection of movie memorabilia, some of which adorns both his office on the top floor of 295 as well as some of the public spaces in the building. That collection of over 1,200 original movie posters, plaster celebrity statues and other artifacts is one of the largest in the world.
Litton said he hopes to be visit with his children and grand-children more. "I'm 75 and I want to spend more time with my family. It's time."