An array of the best and brightest leaders from retail,
technology and business will address the urgency of strategic
business transformation, uniting the retail industry and unlocking
its full impact as more than 37,000 attendees from nearly 100
countries come together in New York City in January at NRF 2019:
Retail’s Big Show.
“Retail is a dynamic industry, with a far-reaching impact on the
global economy and the lives of citizens around the world,” NRF
President and CEO Matthew Shay said. “Our speakers will share their
unique perspectives on retail, providing insights on how to create
a culture of collaboration, adapt to shifting consumer tastes and
redefine business models to shape the future of the industry.”
The three-day conference will begin January 13, 2019, when BJ’s
Wholesale Club Chairman, President and CEO Chris Baldwin, who also
chairs the NRF Board of Directors, will welcome attendees with
opening remarks that consider retail’s broad reach and the
unbridled power of consumerism.
Kicking off the event’s featured speakers, Nordstrom President
of Stores Jamie Nordstrom will headline the session, “Consumer
Consciousness: Strategies for Relentless Focus on the
Customer”, addressing how his
organization expresses the full extent of its brands in local
markets and ramps up innovations to serve its customers no matter
how they choose to shop.
Immediately following, YUM! Brands Chief Diversity and Inclusion
Officer James Fripp, IKEA U.S. President Lars Petersson, Procter & Gamble Group President for North
America and Executive Sponsor of Gender Equality Carolyn Tastad and
PwC Chief Purpose Officer Shannon Schuyler will discuss how
diversity and inclusion should be seen as a societal commitment in
a session titled “The inclusion imperative: Responding to and
advancing real-time D&I challenges.”
Next that morning, The Kroger Co. Chairman and CEO Rodney
McMullen will speak on “Restocking the future: Kroger’s insatiable
appetite to play and win the long game”. In a fireside chat with
CNBC "Squawk on the Street" and "Power Lunch" Co-Anchor Sara Eisen,
Rodney will discuss Kroger’s three-year plan to transform the
grocery retail experience through accelerated innovation and new
technology, and a more data-driven effort around pricing,
personalized customer communications and product assortment.
Sunday’s Feature Stage will include Walmart Executive Vice
President and Enterprise Chief Information Officer Clay
Johnson, Walmart Executive Vice
President and Chief Technology Officer Jeremy King, Rodan + Fields
President and CEO Diane Dietz, Rebecca Minkoff Co-Founder and
Creative Director Rebecca Minkoff and WD Partners Executive Vice
President for Brand, Strategy and Design Lee Peterson.
The first day will close with two keynote sessions. In three
consecutive fireside chats on “Company Consciousness: Leading with
Conviction”, Levi Strauss & Co.
President and CEO Chip Bergh, Best Buy Co. Chairman and CEO Hubert
Joly and Dick’s Sporting Goods Chairman and CEO Edward Stack will
discuss their principles of purposeful leadership. In the day’s
last session, titled “For the fans: Why open marketplaces matter
and breed enthusiast culture,” StubHub
President Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, TaskRabbit CEO Stacy
Brown-Philpot, Poshmark Founder and CEO Manish Chandra, and CaaStle CEO and Founder Christine Hunsicker
will explore how communities of fans help build brand reach and
prominence.
On Monday, January 14, former Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet
L. Yellen and Recode Co-Founder and Editor-at-Large Kara Swisher
along with CNBC Senior Economics Reporter Steve Liesman will open
the day by exploring retail’s impact in the session, “Economy at
scale: Global socioeconomic opportunities for retail success.” The
discussion will be followed by Target Corp. Chairman and CEO Brian
Cornell in a session called “More in store: Target invests in its
guests and its future.”
Later, Walgreens Boots Alliance Co-Chief Operating Officer Alex
Gourlay and Alibaba Group President Michael Evans will speak in
back-to-back fireside chats during the session “On top of the
world: Commanding today’s international retail markets” and discuss
what it takes to successfully grow beyond domestic borders, enter
emerging markets and tap into local consumer sentiment.
Monday’s Feature Stage will include Chobani Chief Commercial and
Marketing Officer Peter McGuinness, Allbirds Co-CEO and Co-Founder
Tim Brown, Fanatics Founder and Executive Chairman Michael Rubin,
Chico’s FAS Brand President Diane Ellis, Kohl’s Executive Vice
President for Product Development Michael Gilbert, rue21 Chief
Analytics Officer Mark Chrystal and First Insight Founder and CEO
Greg Petro.
The second day of the show will close with two keynotes. In the
first session, “Fortunes in the fundamentals: Leveraging
operational prowess as a strategic advantage,” Lowe’s Companies
President and CEO Marvin Ellison will share his vision for
strengthening the home improvement retailer through a relentless
focus on operational excellence and retail fundamentals. The last
session, “Beyond the buzz: State of
retail 2019” will feature L2 Founder, now Gartner L2, and retail
industry provocateur Scott Galloway who will review the biggest
trends and challenges impacting organizations and retailers going
into 2019. Galloway will later be joined on stage by Forerunner
Ventures Founder and Managing Partner Kirsten Green to exchange
insights on what they see impacting the retail industry most.
Tuesday, January 15, the show’s final day, will open with Macy’s
Chairman and CEO Jeff Gennette leading a discussion with b8ta CEO
and Co-Founder Vibhu Norby, Marxent Founder and CEO Beck Besecker,
and Macy’s Brand Experience Officer, Rachel Shechtman, in a keynote
panel “Reimagining the customer journey through the lens of
experience.” The group will explore how reimagining experiential
retail across stores, online and mobile is a recipe for success to
capture the new consumer mindset.
Immediately following, JD.com Global Business Development Head
for JD Fashion Harlan Bratcher and Deloitte Vice Chairman and U.S.
Leader of Retail, Wholesale and Distribution Practice Rod Sides
will headline the session titled “Future now: How China today
foreshadows shopping and consumerism of tomorrow.” The two will
discuss China’s retail landscape and explore the country’s consumer
behavior changes and technological developments that have
transformed traditional thinking.
The Tuesday Feature Stage will be presented in partnership with
Fast Company and will include TOMS Chief Giving Officer Amy Smith,
Patagonia Works and Patagonia, Inc. President and CEO Rose
Marcario, Unilever EVP of Food and Refreshment and former Ben &
Jerry’s CEO Jostein Solheim, Stitch Fix Chief People & Culture
Officer Margo Downs, and Sephora SVP of HR Karalyn Smith, moderated
across three sessions by Fast Company Staff Editor Jeff Beer.
Later that afternoon, Brandless CEO and Co-Founder Tina Sharkey,
Warby Parker Co-Founder and Co-CEO Neil Blumenthal, and Boston
Consulting Group Partner and Managing Director Nicholas Goad will
participate in a keynote session “Retail reinvention: Disrupt
yourself or be disrupted,” exploring
maturing new commerce models and their ability to disrupt
themselves and remain at the top of their game.
Following this session, IBM Corporation SVP, Global Industries,
Clients, Platforms & Blockchain Bridget van Kralingen will lead
a discussion with retailers on exploring future possibilities by
placing trust in their organization’s strengths with the strengths
of third parties, resulting in new and unexpected operating models
in a keynote session titled “Trust and courage: Key ingredients for
new platforms in retail.”
In addition to keynote and feature stage speakers, the
conference will include a series of sessions on the Innovation
Stage and concurrent sessions featuring speakers from Retail
Institute Italy, Retail Minded, Getaway, The Hershey Company,
StockX, Khare Communications, M.M. LaFleur, INDOCHINO, Casper,
Euromonitor International, Afterpay, ThirdLove, Varese Retail,
Cacau Show, mindbodygreen, Eileen Fisher, COYUCHI, PwC, Saje
Natural Wellness, Rich Roll Enterprise, The Walt Disney Company,
Framebridge, Coresight Research, Guess?, Markable AI, Sleep Number,
JGA, Red Antler, SNOWE, Keeps, Burrow, MedMen, IA Interior
Architects, The Phluid Project, Deloitte, Walmart eCommerce, Bain
Capital Ventures, New Enterprise Associates, General Catalyst, The
Block, Signet Jewelers, Blockchange Ventures, EVERY* and
Subway.
Members of the news media can click here to register for the
show. Click here for a full list of program speakers and
sessions.
About NRF
The National Retail Federation is the world’s largest retail
trade association. Based in Washington, D.C., NRF represents
discount and department stores, home goods and specialty stores,
Main Street merchants, grocers, wholesalers, chain restaurants and
internet retailers from the United States and more than 45
countries. Retail is the nation’s largest private-sector employer,
supporting one in four U.S. jobs — 42 million working Americans.
Contributing $2.6 trillion to annual GDP, retail is a daily
barometer for the nation’s economy. NRF.com
PERMALINK
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181128005536/en/
Ana Serafin Smith (855) NRF-PRESSpress@nrf.com