San Diego, Calif.—Duchateau, the luxury architectural surfaces brand, has named Sergio Alvarez as its chief executive officer. He will assume the day-to-day leadership of the company effective July 6, 2020. Alvarez is an accomplished executive with a strong entrepreneurial spirit and a passion for fast growth and has been serving in the chief operating officer role for the past year at Duchateau.
“Sergio will be stepping into the CEO role at an exciting time for Duchateau,” said Benjamin Buzali, co-founder. “We are known as disruptors in the luxury surfaces industry. Misael Tagle and I started this business fourteen years ago with a vision to become the premiere luxury flooring brand. Sergio is unique in his ability to translate our vision and strategy into world-class execution, bringing together teams and efficiencies to drive results. He understands our brand differentiators and will continue to move the company forward with the speed required to capitalize on the opportunities in front of us.”
Tagle and Buzali will both assume the title of co-founder and co-chairman. Their vision and passion are key ingredients in Duchateau’s on-going success, and both will continue to have advisory roles in the organization, according to the company.
The company remains an essential business in San Diego and Calif., during the COVID-19 pandemic as a supplier to the construction industry (both residential and commercial), which is deemed critical infrastructure. “We doubled our business during the recession, so while COVID-19 presents unique challenges, we have learned from past experience where there are challenges, there are also opportunities,” explained Tagle. “Benjamin Buzali and I are confident Sergio is the right person to continue our strong growth.”
Before joining Duchateau, Alvarez served in senior positions in multiple industries. For two years, he served as the chief operating officer of Vessel Health, a San Diego-based biotech company. Prior to Vessel, Alvarez was as the chief executive officer of Chuao Chocolatier for seven years, where he executed one of the most impressive turnarounds in the premium chocolate bar industry and grew it to the 8th largest premium chocolate bar maker in the U.S., the company said.
His background also includes 15 years at Hewlett Packard working in various capacities on leading-edge teams including R&D, high-volume manufacturing, warranty prevention, technical marketing, global supply chain and operations. He ended his tenure at HP managing a global team that contributed more than $400 million in profit contribution via cost elimination in just 12 months.
“I am incredibly excited to assume this new role and for the exciting future of the company,” Alvarez said. “We have an exceptionally talented team at Duchateau that is focused on taking decisive actions to transform the business. We are continuing to innovate our product lines in new and creative ways and are unlocking future growth opportunities.”