Designing OUR FUTURE THROUGH... The international sales team includes Charlene Brandon, Brad Miller and Meshea Hennis (left to right) International operations staff includes, left to right: Bill Reece, Keith Tan, Annie Dou, Derek Pennington and Gary Tien Erica Wingo, left, and Cindy Hall were winners of the 2011 Pinnacle Award DESIGN LEADERSHIP HOOKER WINS 2011 PINNACLE DESIGN AWAR D WORLD CLASS SALES, LOGISTICS AND SERVICE INTERNATIONAL GROWTH After years of being recognized in the furniture industry for leadership  in product innovation, quality, function and selection, Hooker is emerg- ing as a design leader. Collaboration between experienced merchants  and new merchandising talent has resulted in fresh product ideas and  directions. As confirmation of our refreshed product line, Hooker  Furniture received a 2011 Pinnacle Award for design excellence and  originality. Director of Merchandising Cindy Hall and Senior Product  Manager Erica Wingo were winners in the occasional table category for the Rafferty Console, part of the Mélange accents collection they  developed over the last few years. Often referred to as the “Oscars of  Furniture,” the Pinnacle Awards are given annually by the American  Society of Furniture Designers to recognize design achievement in 16  furniture categories. Hooker also was a finalist for Pinnacle Awards in three other product categories. As we mature as a global marketing and logistics company, we’re making  significant progress in both international sales and operations. On the sales side, our international sales volume increased 40% this  year and now comprises about 5% of total company revenues. During  the year, we tripled the number of international customers we sell to  include a total of 37 countries. On the operations side, we expanded our sourcing to include factories  in Vietnam and Indonesia in order to offer our customers the best prod- uct values available in the world. We opened a Vietnam office, appoint- ing Keith Tan, previously stationed in China, as manager of operations  in that country. Five quality auditors were added to support quality  assurance in Vietnam. We also expanded our China office staff, adding a process engineer  position to improve our current efforts and to prepare for a product life- cycle management system to facilitate product development, supplier  collaboration and quality assurance processes. Finally, we expanded our  China Cross Dock program, which allows the consolidation of our most  popular products for direct shipment to our customers, by adding  imported leather to the product offering.