MATERA, Italy —Italian upholstery supplier DiGio Leather Sofas has hired Peter Halunen as director of sales for the North American market. Halunen will be replacing Steve Lush and will lead all sales directives for both the DiGio brand as well as the company’s newly launched motion upholstery Today Sofas.

Halunen will focus on structuring the sales team to enhance support for retailers and foster more efficient procedures and services for retailer success, according to DiGio.

Halunen comes to DiGio from Natuzzi Italia where he led the company’s strategic accounts division. Previously, Halunen was president of Kuka Home as well as vice president of product development for Violino.

“Peter has demonstrated a great eye for product and trends, but what we really wanted to capitalize on is his extensive retail experience in working for some of the industry’s best retailers in Jordan’s Furniture, Baers and Robb & Stucky,” said Giovanni Sforza, president of DiGio, adding, “We are striving to be a very retailer-friendly supplier, and we believe Peter’s experience will be invaluable as we grow our business in North America.”

According to the company, it has seen growth this year with retailers looking for product supply outside of Asia given supply chain challenges and freight issues. DiGio’s production facilities in Italy provide stationary upholstery, and its recently opened factory in Albania provides motion upholstery.

“I am excited to join the team as I have been very impressed in DiGio’s growth over the past two years,” said Halunen, “and I love their proactive approach to working with retailers and with the growth strategy for the future.”

DiGio has two showrooms in High Point featuring DiGio products in one and Today Sofa motion upholstery in the second showroom.

Jean Marie Layton is senior editor for upholstery at Furniture Today. A design and furniture aficionado, she has worked as a writer/editor in industry and non-profits, in academic administration and in retail furniture sales. She pursued a master’s degree in the history of design at Parsons/Cooper-Hewitt and has a BA in history from Mount Holyoke College and an MA in liberal arts from Stanford University. Reach out to Jean Marie with your story ideas, tips and more at jlayton@furnituretoday.com

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