New CEO shares her vision for HH2 Home

Angela Hsu is confident the company formerly known as Hillsdale Furniture has a bright future thanks to a strong executive team and existing product line

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The new chief executive officer of HH2 Home, formerly Hillsdale Furniture, believes the company has a bright future ahead based on the strength of its product line and the strength of the group that makes up its executive team.

In an interview with Home News Now, Angela Hsu spoke of the recent purchase of the company by Mellow River, a division of Asian furniture manufacturer Green River Group. Hsu is the granddaughter of Green River Group founder Omori Hsu and the daughter of Steve Hsu, who now runs Green River Group.

Hsu declined to reveal a purchase price for the company, but said that the acquisition included fixed assets such as inventory and intellectual property, as well as customer lists, open orders, software and the domain name for the website.

“Hillsdale is a company with a great reputation in our industry,” she said, adding that the company has been an industry leader for years, “providing great service to their customers regardless of the channel. This, combined with their highly sought-after designs and excellent team, made the deal very attractive.”

Hsu noted that the company also has brought back many of the former Hillsdale executive team and has been able to retain a majority of the staff in Louisville, where the company has long been based.

The executives include:

+ John Elting, chief marketing officer.

+ Jeremy Reeser, vice president of sales.

+ Katrina Van Howe, senior vice president of sales.

+ Matt Sansoe, senior vice president of sourcing.

+ Elizabeth Wood, head of merchandising.

+ Cory Neudeck, vice president product development and design.

“These executives did an amazing job at Hillsdale, and we are extremely excited to have them join HH2 Home,” Hsu said.

Hsu said that the company also has hired Jonathan Landis as chief operating officer. The industry retail veteran has nearly three decades of experience working in various senior merchandising roles at major retailers such as Jerome’s, Farmers Home Furniture and American Signature.

“We think this team sets us up for long-term success, and we are excited to see what they do,” she added. “We have a great team. In all reality, our goal is to provide them with the tools and environment to succeed. Whether that is funding, sourcing support, guidance in certain areas, developing additional processes and guardrails, we are here to support.”

Hsu said that short term, a key goal is to stabilize the company.

“We want to create a strong foundation to build upon,” she said, noting that “some relationships on the customer and factory sides were tested over the last six months. We want to ensure that we prove to our partners on both sides of the business that HH2 Home is a partner to grow with. To do this, we have to focus on our foundation.”

The foundation she described offers a strong item business in categories such as bar stools and beds, including a wide variety of decorative metal beds and upholstered beds.

“We plan to lean into these items while also developing collections in bedroom, dining and occasional, similar to what Hillsdale was doing over the last couple of years,” she said, noting that there may be new areas of product development to come over the next few months. “There is plenty of space for growth, and we at HH2 Home are excited to explore new categories.”

She said the company also continues to maintain a warehouse presence in Kentucky and that it also remains committed to the High Point Market. The company and some of its top executives also will be at the upcoming Las Vegas Market to meet with many of its suppliers and customers to determine whether to have a showroom presence there.

Using the term synergy to describe the dynamic in place at the company, she is pleased at the opportunities that lie ahead.

“This whole team — the old guard and the new guard — are really excited for this opportunity to reinvent ourselves,” Hsu said. “The existing team has a lot of experience and the new team members we have brought on just really complete the picture. What’s important is that we learn from each other and do what’s best for our customers and our factory partners. I myself have a lot to learn and I am very lucky to have such supportive colleagues, industry friends and veteran mentors.”