Former Saks CEO Sadove to lead new tech-focused division at Traub Associates

New York — Steve Sadove, former chairman and CEO of Saks Inc., has joined consulting firm Marvin Traub Associates to launch a new division focused on innovative technologies, concepts and platforms in the retail and consumer industries. Sadove is heading up the new Traub Accelerator division as co-founder, and will also advise Traub’s traditional clients and join the board of directors.



“We are thrilled to launch this new division under the direction of Steve Sadove, whose passion for innovation and technology in our industry aligns with our mission of helping cutting edge companies develop and grow fresh ideas to reach their full potential,” said Mortimer Singer, CEO of Marvin Traub Associates. “As technology continues to transform the way consumers shop, powerful results occur when innovative ideas connect with industry expertise and insight.”



Traub Accelerator’s first projects include helping Powa Technologies bring its “point of impulse” shopping app, PowaTag, to the United States. Pioneered in Europe, the app ets consumers use mobile devices to scan and instantly buy tagged products that they see in display ads, magazines, billboards and shop windows. Fast Retailing Co.’s Comptoir des Cotonniers division recently launched the service.



Sadove led Saks from 2006-2013, leaving in September, a couple months after Saks was acquired by Hudson’s Bay Company.. His career spans more than 25 years in consumer goods companies. He was the president of Clairol, as well as the president of worldwide beauty care and nutritionals at Bristol-Myers Squibb. Sadove also spent 17 years at Kraft General Foods, rising to the position of executive VP of General Foods USA, prior to taking on the Clairol position.



Sadove also serves as the chairman of the National Retail Federation (NRF), and is a board member of JCPenney, Aramark, Ruby Tuesday, and Colgate-Palmolive.