New leaders elected, re-elected at RILA

Dollar General chairman and CEO Rick Dreiling was elected chairman of the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) to fill a position held the past two years by Target chairman, president and CEO Gregg Steinhafel.

Dreiling’s appointment was announced at RILA’s semi-annual board of directors meeting held Sunday in Naples, Fla. Steinhafel will continue to serve as a member of organization’s executive committee.

“I am honored to have the opportunity to serve as board chairman for RILA and to work with this exceptional group of retail leaders to strengthen our industry,” said Dreiling. “RILA is a critical strategic partner in empowering our industry to speak with one voice to champion issues that affect the retail sector, our workforce and our valued customers.”

RILA’s executive committee is a who’s who of the retail industry, including retailers such as Gregory Wasson, president and CEO of Walgreen as vice chairman, Eric Wiseman, chairman, president and CEO of VF Corporation as treasurer and Robert Niblock, chairman and CEO of Lowe’s as secretary. At-large executive committee members include William Rhodes, chairman, president and CEO of AutoZone and Hubert Joly, president and CEO of Best Buy.

The retail trade group also elected Ken Hicks, chairman, president and CEO of Foot Locker to its board. Re-elected to serve two year terms were Walter Robb, co-CEO of Whole Foods Market and Alan Hoskins, president and CEO of Energizer Household Products.

“RILA benefits tremendously from its highly engaged and strategic board of directors. Their valuable insight into the short- and long-term issues facing the retail industry is critical to our ability to deliver on the industry’s behalf,” said RILA president and board member Sandy Kennedy.

Other members of RILA’s board include:

• Frank Blake, chairman and CEO of the Home Depot.


• Ronald Boire, president of Sears and Kmart and chief merchandising officer of Sears Holdings.


• Joseph DePinto, president and CEO of 7-Eleven.


• Karen Lowe, general manager, global retail industry, IBM Corporation.


• James Myers, CEO of Petco Animal Supplies.


• Madison Riley, managing partner, North America, Kurt Salmon.


• Bill Simon, president and CEO of Walmart U.S.


• David Steiner, president and CEO of Waste Management.


• Todd Tillemans, president of customer development at Unilever.


• Myron Ullman, CEO of J.C. Penney Company.


• Glen Walter, president COO of Coca-Cola Refreshments.