Niles Cornelius knows he’s a lucky man. He has a challenging job in an industry that he’s enjoyed for 40 years. He’s a devoted family man who has developed the ability to shift his attention away from work when he’s home. And, when the time comes to retire, he has no end of interesting plans for the future.
At home with Hickory Springs: Niles Cornelius took over as general manager of Hickory Springs Mfg. Co.’s direct–to–retail division in 2008. It produces and markets everything from bed frames to bed linens.
Cornelius began his career as a furniture and bedding salesman in a Cincinnati department store. In 1980, he joined Ohio–Sealy Mattress Mfg. Co. and spent nine years selling on the road. When Ohio–Sealy acquired Stearns & Foster, Cornelius became sales manager and then regional manager for the brand.
In 1988, Cornelius went to work for International Bedding Corp. At the time, the company was the largest Therapedic licensee and, as national sales manager, he ran that segment of the business.
In 1997, he became president of the Therapedic International licensing group, stepping down from the role a few years later when he had the opportunity to become a minority partner and chief operating officer for another licensee, Therapedic of Virginia.
When Therapedic of Virginia closed in 2008, Cornelius made the shift from the manufacturing side of the bedding business to the supplier side of the bedding business, joining as general manager of Hickory Springs Home, the Hickory, N.C.–based company’s direct–to–retail division.
Hickory Springs Home produces solid wood headboards, bed and futon frames, rollaway beds, bunk beds and a wide range of top–of–bed items for furniture stores and sleep shops, as well as national chains and catalogs.
“We produce everything that makes up a bedroom, except the mattress,” Cornelius says. “For the first time in my career, I’m out of the ‘mattress’ business and it still seems strange.”
Cornelius took the helm of the 10–year–old division at a difficult time.
“We’re heavily vested in independent retailers,” Cornelius says. “Because our customer base is primarily composed of small– to medium–size furniture retailers on the East Coast, it has been challenging. The smaller customers have taken a real hit in the past two years because of the recession and that’s affected our business.”
Cornelius’ response to the challenge has been to reshape Hickory Springs Home into four product categories, separating out commodity items like bedrails into their own group and revamping marketing efforts for the rest.
“We’ve built a three–legged stool for marketing purposes. We’ve rebranded futons and now call them convertibles,” he says. “Panama Jack has entered the home furnishings industry and we’ve become its official licensee for convertibles.”
Adjustable beds are receiving similar treatment.
“Most adjustable beds have a sameness about them,” Cornelius says. “We will have a major rollout of many new concepts for power bases at the October High Point Market. It’s very cool.”
Top–of–bed is a separate category—and the third leg of the marketing stool. Cornelius is developing a store–within–a–store concept called Final Touch to present the company’s linens, pillows and related products.
“It’s meant to be fully stocked and sit next to the mattress department,” he says. “We’re testing prototypes in major chains and smaller retailers and are excited about the prospects.”
Although he misses day–to–day involvement with mattress making, Cornelius has lost no enthusiasm for the larger industry.
“I love the sleep business, specifically mattresses, and I’m always thinking about how I’m going to create the next best thing in sleep,” he says. “I’m just as motivated now as I was when I was 20.”
Family man: During the week, Niles Cornelius lives and works in Hickory, N.C., but on the weekends, he heads home to Bluefield, W. Va., and devotes himself to spending time with his wife, Jane, and other family.
BRIEFLY
Name: Niles Cornelius
Title: General manager of Hickory Springs Home division
Company: Hickory Springs Mfg. Co.
Location: Hickory, N.C.
Age: 60
Education: Cornelius attended Temple Baptist College in Cincinnati.
Family: Cornelius and his wife, Jane, have been married for 40 years
and have four adult children.
ANOTHER SIDE
Making it work During the workweek, Cornelius lives in an RV on a lake outside Hickory, N.C. On Friday afternoons, he heads 150 miles north to Bluefield, W. Va., where his family lives. “I live for my family and I don’t take those relationships for granted,” he says. “Everyone lives within blocks of my house and nothing else matters when I pull into the driveway but them.”
A song in his heart A tenor, Cornelius has sung in amateur musical productions and with Good News for Modern Man, a traveling Christian choral group.
A book & Nook fanatic “I made a New Year’s resolution once that I would read a book a week,” Cornelius says. “It was exhausting and now I don’t put myself under that pressure.” Still, he is a voracious reader who can have four books going at a time. A history buff, he’ll read “anything on the Civil War” and is currently studying the Fort Sumter battle at Andersonville, Ga. “I bounce around among genres but I always try to include a biography and I read a lot of political books,” he says. “I absolutely love my Nook. It’s saved me from lugging all those books on airplanes.”
Fantasyland “I would really love to drive the RV down to Orlando, Fla., and work part time at Disney World,” he says. “I love to talk to people.”
The next stage “Because I don’t wear it on my sleeve, people might be surprised to know that I’m a person of deep faith,” Cornelius says. His two brothers are pastors, as was his father. His younger brother, Paul, founded Days of Noah Ministries and Cornelius hopes to go on the road with him to evangelize when he retires. “My father and brothers have been such a calming, assuring influence on me,” he says.
