New York, NY-- Thomas Hamilton has retired as CEO and president of Designtex, a division of Steelcase Inc. after 28 years with this fabric jobber, 18 years as president.

Steelcase brands include Steelcase, Coalesse, Designtex, Details, Nurture, PolyVision, and Turnstone. It is a global publicly traded company with fiscal 2011 revenue of approximately $2.4 billion.

Currently Designtex is searching for a successor. In the interim, George Whalen will serve as acting president and CEO of Designtex. Whalen joined Designtex 12 years ago and has served as the CFO since joining the company.

Under Hamilton's direction, “Designtex has been steadily profitable and pioneered International expansion into Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, China, Australia, Great Britain, Turkey and the Middle East and Mexico,” a company spokesman said.

"While I'm very confident about Designtex's future, it is a little hard to imagine the place without Tom,” says Frank Merlotti, president of Coalesse. “He was there when it was a small venture making drapery fabrics, and he's been at the helm as Designtex has evolved into a powerful global brand, with an expanded portfolio that ranges from hand-made rugs to digital surface imaging."

Hamilton joined Designtex in 1984 and served as vice president, sales and marketing, until he was elected president in 1994. He led the company through the 1990s and is one of the founding members and a past four term president of the Association of Contract Textiles (ACT).

Founded in 1961, Designtex is a design, marketing, sales and distribution business focused on providing insight-led environment enhancement through the application of premium surfaces.