US-based furniture producer Hooker Furniture Corporation has announced that president and chief operating officer Doug Williams will retire from management and the board of directors at the end of October. He has worked for the company for 35 years.

Mr Williams' responsibilities will be carried out by chief executive officer Paul Toms Jr. and others on the executive management team.

With over 1,000 employees, the company operates three manufacturing plants, two supply plants, six distribution centres and warehouses, four showrooms and a corporate office in Virginia and North Carolina as well as a distribution centre and two warehouses in China.