Executive to lead Asian company
Las Vegas and former World Market Center CEO Harvey Dondero will lead an Asian furniture manufacturing company.
The magazine Home Furnishings Business reported Dondero was hired to be CEO of Paul Maitland International, a post that also includes leadership of Theodore Alexander Co.
Dondero caused a stir in the furniture industry by leaving his job at the World Market Center in downtown Las Vegas, a post he held less than a year.
Dondero’s short tenure at the furniture trading market in his hometown prompted speculation by rival market supporters in High Point, N.C., that leasing in the multibillion-dollar center was not moving as swiftly as planned.
The World Market Center, which opened in 2005, not only sought to shift the balance of trade in the $120 billion furnishings industry west from its traditional hub in North Carolina, it was credited as a catalyst to revive downtown Las Vegas.
Operators are now building the third of what will be eight buildings with about 12 million square feet of display space. Construction is on schedule.
Before returning to Las Vegas to operate the World Market Center, Dondero was president and CEO of Maitland-Smith Ltd. from 1994 to 1999, a company founded by Paul Maitland-Smith.
