The Texas A&M University’s Center for Retailing Studies at Mays Business School will host its 30th annual Retailing Summit Conference on Oct. 8-9, 2015 at the Westin Galleria in Dallas, Texas. Executives from JCPenney, Bluemercury, GameStop, Neiman Marcus and several others will speak during the two-day event.
“I’m looking forward to sharing key insights from this rapid growth period and learning from some of the Industry’s leading executives,” said Barry Beck, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Bluemercury, a luxury beauty and cosmetics chain recently acquired by Macy’s for $210 million.
Touting the theme, “Redefining Retail,” the conference is designed to educate more than 300 executives in discussions about macro-industry trends, disruptive retail models and future industry predictions.
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Retail industry keynote speakers at the summit include (in alphabetical order):
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Barry Beck, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Bluemercury;
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Michelle Bogan, Partner at Kurt Salmon;
- Steve Brill, VP of Global B2C Strategy at UPS;
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Craig Ceccanti, CEO and Co-Founder of Pinot’s Palette;
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Jeff Donaldson, SVP of GameStop Technology Institute at GameStop;
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Marvin Ellison, CEO at JCPenney;
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Scott Emmons, Enterprise Architect and Innovation Lab Manager at Neiman Marcus;
- John Foley, Pilot of the U.S. Navy Blue Angels;
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Gautam Gupta, CEO of NatureBox;
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Karyn Maynard, Recruiting Director at The Container Store;
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Bryan McCormick, VP of Human Resources at PetSmart;
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Erik Medina, VP and Head of U.S. TRU Youth Monitor at The Futures Company;
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Sarah Quinlan, SVP and Head of Market Insights at MasterCard;
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Chris Valletta, Co-Founder of Mission Athletecare; and
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Karla Waddleton, Division VP at ALDI.
“As a university-hosted event, the Retailing Summit is about genuine sharing knowledge, not sales pitches. The conference gathers retail leaders who are willing to discuss best practices (or lessons learned from failures) that improve business,” said Kelli Hollinger, Director of the Center for Retailing Studies. “Attendees will hear stories from the trenches of retail about improving the customer experience, elevating the role of the store, rewarding loyalty and leveraging technology to drive sales.”
The conference raises funds to support retail curriculum and scholarships for students pursuing retail studies at Mays Business School.
BDO, Brierley + Partners, Kurt Salmon, PetSmart, Reflect Systems and Salesforce will serve as corporate sponsors of this year’s event; and Debbie Hauss, Editor-in-Chief of Retail TouchPoints will moderate a retail panel discussion. For more information, click here to access the event web site.
