Cathy Mitchell Parker

Bachelor of Science, Interior Design, University of Illinois


Cathy is the Vice President of Merchandising at Hickory Chair Co in Hickory, NC. After graduating from the University of Illinois, Cathy spent two years working as a residential interior designer for a high end retail/design store in Southport, CT. From there, she relocated to Chicago and began working as a designer/sales associate for the Century Furniture Showroom in the Merchandise Mart. In 1989, Cathy accepted a position with Baker Furniture where she spent the next 15 years doing visual merchandising for the Baker Knapp & Tubbs Showrooms, managing the Boston and the Chicago Baker Knapp & Tubbs Showrooms, and spending the last 2 years of her tenure there in Case Goods Product Development and Merchandising, working with licensing partners such as Historic Charleston, Stately Homes, Barbara Barry, Thomas Pheasant, Bill Sofield, Parish Hadley, MacMillan Co, Charles Pfister and others.  

Cathy relocated again in 2004 to accept a position with Hickory Chair Company in Hickory, NC. She is responsible for merchandising the architecture of their assortment and for developing new case goods and upholstery products in partnership with their family of product designers and licensing partners including Thomas O’Brien, Mariette Himes Gomez, Alexa Hampton, Suzanne Kasler, Albert Sack, and Winterthur Country Estate. Cathy was recently profiled in the newly released book re-de-sign: New Directions for Your Interior Design Career by Cathy Whitlock (Fairchild Press/Conde Nast).