Gordon Segal
Chairman and Co-Founder
Crate and Barrel (USA)

Gordon Segal is Chairman and Co-Founder of Crate and Barrel, a $1.2 billion, multi-channel home furnishings retail chain, employing more than 7,000 associates.  The company has over 160 stores across the U.S. and Canada, as well as a successful gift registry program and a thriving direct marketing business.  Crate and Barrel is advancing its international expansion this spring with the opening of two stores in Dubai.

In 1962, Gordon and Carole Segal came up with the idea for a new contemporary housewares business.  They were newly married and wondered why the simple, well-designed tableware they had seen on their Caribbean honeymoon and in their European travels was not available in the United States.  The Segals knew there must be other young couples just like themselves – with more taste than money – so they decided to open a housewares store in Chicago’s Old Town neighborhood.  With the arrival of their first shipment of goods from Europe, and little cash to spare for fixtures, the Segals displayed their wares on the crates and barrels in which they arrived, inspiring both the store name and distinctive concept.

Forty-seven years later, Crate and Barrel continues to help lead the charge to make good design a part of everyday life in America.  Mr. Segal remains a driving force in the business and his eye for detail and passion for retailing inspire management to keep the company culture and merchandising style consistent from coast to coast.

A former Chairman of the National Retail Federation and a graduate and Trustee of Northwestern University, Mr. Segal also serves on several civic boards, including The Art Institute of Chicago, the University of Chicago Hospitals, the Chicago History Museum,  Window to the World Communications, Inc. (WWCI), and the Lyric Opera of Chicago.  Mr. Segal is also a member of the World Presidents’ Organization and the Chief Executives’ Organization.

In 2007, Gordon Segal was inducted into the World Retail Congress’ Hall of Fame.  Other recent awards include the Retailing Hall of Fame at Texas A & M, the Cooper-Hewitt’s Design Patron Award, House Beautiful magazine’s Giant of Design designation and the National Retail Federation Gold Medal Award.

Thomas Bergmark
Head of Global Sustainability
IKEA Group

Thomas Bergmark is 53 years old and has a background in business management since more than 33 years. Thomas is engineer and since 8 years has been Head of Global Sustainability within the IKEA Group. He has been working with IKEA during more than 21 years in various positions e.g. purchasing management, MD for IKEA companies and Business Area Manager.

Now Thomas is also member of the IKEA Strategical Purchasing Committee, the Retail Board at IKEA in Spain/Portugal and Chairman of the IKEA founded Saw a Seed Foundation. Since 2007 Thomas is also board member of the US based Business for Social Responsibility (BSR). 2007 Thomas was ranked as no 13 of the most influential people in Business Ethics by the US magazine Ethisphere.

As of May 1st 2010 Thomas will leave the IKEA group and start his own consultancy services offering senior competence within the field of sustainability.

Bob Every
Chairman
Wesfarmers

I am a Metallurgist by profession having completed my Bachelor’s Degree in 1968 and a Doctorate in 1971. In 1995 I completed a senior management course in Switzerland held by the University of Michigan and the University of Nawarra IESE. In 2000 I was awarded a Centenary Medal for service to Australian society in Metallurgy.

After a very brief time in Industrial Research I pursued a management career predominantly with Tubemakers of Australia Ltd, Australia’s largest steel pipe and tube manufacturer and distributor. 

From 1982 onwards I held various senior executive positions with Tubemakers of Australia Limited, including Chief Executive Officer of Steel & Tube Holdings Limited in New Zealand from 1988-91. In 1995 I was appointed Managing Director of Tubemakers.

After the takeover of Tubemakers by BHP in mid-1996, I worked on for BHP and held a number of senior roles before becoming President of BHP Steel in early 1999.

My first role with BHP was as Group General Manager International Division (Steel) and here I gained considerable experience as the executive responsible for the construction, commissioning, ramp-up and business development of steel mills, steelmaking and processing plants in the USA, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Saudi Arabia – all up an investment program amounting to some US$1.5b.

When I became President of BHP Steel, the then Managing Director (Paul Anderson) asked me to come up with a strategic plan for BHP Steel that would generate cash and downsize BHP’s exposure to Steel.  It was from this study that the spin-out of OneSteel originated.

The Board asked me to consider heading up OneSteel through the public listing and then become Managing Director & CEO of the public company.  I took up this role in February 2000 and remained in that role until 1 May 2005 when I retired from that position. 

Since that time I have pursued a career as a non executive director and I am now Chairman of Wesfarmers Limited and Chairman of Boral Limited.

Bernie Brookes
CEO and Managing Director
Myer

Bernie was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Myer in June 2006. In his role Bernie is responsible for the transition of Myer following the separation from the Coles Group and for rebuilding the Myer business under new ownership. Bernie has spent 34 years working within the retail industry in local and in International roles in India and China. Prior to joining Myer, Bernie was a Management Director of Woolworths and was a chief architect of Woolworth’s Project Refresh, which reduced costs by more than $5 billion over five years and reinvested these savings back into the business. His Woolworths experience also included a variety of General Management positions in three states across the Buying, IT, Marketing and Operations departments.

Bernie has also held a number of roles as President and executive of various industry organisations including Retail Traders Association in Queensland, Victoria and President of the Queensland Grocery Association, and has assisted on a number of charitable and Government ventures and committees.

Bernie has received many awards, including Food Week Retail Executive of the Year, National Retail Association Food Industry Executive of the Year and Food Week Buyer of the Year for four years during the 1980s and 1990s.

Bernie is currently patron of the Australian Joe Berry Memorial Award and the Australian representative judge of the World Retail Awards each year.

Bernie holds a Bachelor of Arts and Diploma of Education degrees from Macquarie University.

Jason Murray
Group Managing Director and CEO
The Just Group

Jason Murray was appointed as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Just Group in September 2006, having joined the company in mid 2003 and previously been Chief Financial Officer.

Just Group has over 900 stores across seven fashion brands in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa and was until October 2008, an ASX 200 listed company.  It is now a 100% owned subsidiary of Premier Investments, which is itself listed on the ASX.

Prior to joining Just Group, Jason worked for 10 years at the international management consultancy, McKinsey & Company.  During that time he specialised in retail, working with some of the leading brands in the UK, Australia and New Zealand.

Jason has a University medal in Economics from Sydney University and an MBA (Hons) from IMD in Luasanne, Switzerland.

John Slack-Smith
Executive Director and COO
Harvey Norman Holdings

John Slack-Smith is Director and Chief Operating Officer of Harvey Norman Holdings.  He has overall executive responsibility for the operations of the consolidated entity. John has approximately 20 years experience in the retail sector, 18 of which have been with Harvey Norman.  John was a Harvey Norman computers franchisee between 1993 and 1999.  John is also a member of the Lifehouse (previously Sydney Cancer Centre Foundation) Board.

Deborah Sharkey
Managing Director
eBay Australia & New Zealand

Deborah Sharkey has been Managing Director, eBay Australia & New Zealand Pty Ltd since December 2008.

eBay is Australia's leading online marketplace with 5.8 million unique visitors in March 2010, according to Nielsen//NetRatings Netview. With over 50k product categories globally, eBay offers the widest selection of products online in Australia and over 56% of global sales on eBay are within the Buy It Now (set price) format.

Increasingly global and local manufacturers and retailers are leveraging eBay as a cost-effective sales channel. In 2009, the top 2000 sellers on eBay.com.au had an annual turnover ranging from over $10 million to just under $100k, with 106 sellers generating over $1 million each in total sales. Deborah has specialized in ecommerce strategy and marketing for 12 years.

Deborah joined eBay Australia & New Zealand Pty Ltd in October 2003 and prior to taking on the role of Managing Director led several areas of the of the organisation including Customer Experience, New Business and Internet Marketing.

As Managing Director, Deborah has led the local team through a number of innovations such as the creation of stores pricing strategy for business sellers, a nationwide business development team and the Big Deal - daily marketing of products available on eBay.com.au at heavily discounted prices.

Before joining eBay, Deborah spent four years establishing and managing the Asia Pacific internet media arm of MindShare, a WPP-owned media agency, in Tokyo and Sydney. She also worked for the Discovery Communications in the US. Deborah has a BA in Foreign Affairs and Asian Studies from the University of Virginia. Deborah is a passionate about the internet…and the way it's empowering consumers and enabling new business models.

Joe Barberis
CEO
Harris Scarfe

Joe Barberis is Managing Director of Harris Scarfe Australia Limited.
Prior to this Joe was Managing Director of Officeworks and was founding Managing Director of Coles Express.
Joe spent the first 20 years of his career working for Shell, with senior roles in Shell’s retail businesses in Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific Islands and Italy.

Peter Birtles
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer,
Supercheap Auto Group

Peter Birtles joined Super Cheap Auto in April 2001 as Chief Financial Officer and was appointed as Managing Director in January 2006. Over the last four years he has overseen the reinvigoration of the Supercheap Auto business, the development of the BCF Boating, Camping, Fishing business and the launch of the Goldcross Cycles business. During this time, Group sales have grown from $500 million to $900 million. Supercheap Auto was recognised for its progress in 2008, being named as Australian Retailer of the Year.

Prior to joining Super Cheap Auto, Peter spent 12 years working with The Boots Company in the United Kingdom and Australia in a variety of senior finance, operations and information technology roles. Peter is a Chartered Accountant who started his career working with Coopers & Lybrand.

John has been in Australia for 10 years now and has had his entire career in retailing – 20 years in all.

Having worked with ASDA (now ASDA-Wal Mart) in the UK for 6 years he was head hunted to Aldi UK as part of the initial buying team. During his 13 years tenure with Aldi Group, John spent 7 of those in Australia setting up the Australian division. Responsible for the Buying, Advertising/ Marketing/ PR teams he launched Aldi to be a phenomenal success in this market.

John has led the Rebel Group of companies for 2 years and has been instrumental in the changes in the business across the Group to ensure that the 150 strong network of stores remains the leading force in Sports retailing and benchmarks itself against world practice in order to become a true world leading retailer in this field.

John holds a degree in Business and an MBA from his time in the UK and has also been seconded to the HEC in Paris as part of an intense two year MBA. A catalyst for change, John has driven many new initiatives into the retail environment in Australia and will lead a discussion today on Retail Re-invention from the Rebel Group of stores perspective.

Chris Beer
CEO, Asia Pacific, Greater China & South Africa
Luxottica

As CEO, Luxottica Asia-Pacific, South Africa and most recently, Greater China Chris Beer has responsibility for 2,130 retail outlets for leading brands OPSM, Laubman & Pank, Budget Eyewear, Sunglass Hut, Bright Eyes and Lenscrafters across the region.

Chris has a strong retail background, with more than 26 years in the Australian retail industry.

He was appointed CEO of Luxottica Australia in 2006, following his role in the successful acquisition of OPSM Group by Luxottica Global. Since then, his exceptional leadership and vision has resulted in responsibility for Asia Pacific, including Greater China, and South Africa.

The regional business continues to grow significantly, employing more than 8,500 people across the business.

Under Chris’s direction, Luxottica continues to expand in region – most recently announcing a presence in The Philippines, as well as strengthening its foothold in established markets across the region.

In 2009, despite tough economic conditions, Luxottica continued to grow.

The Sun sector, including has grown 21% over last three years (2006-2009). Retail brand Oakley saw a 110% growth and Ray-Ban an 80% growth in region.

Last year also saw the introduction of Sunglass Hut to Myer stores across Australia.

Luxottica Australia has developed an enviable reputation as the ‘innovation’ hub among the Luxottica global community, with many projects developed by the Australian team, rolled out globally.

Fundamental to Chris’ leadership is his belief that people drive the success of the business and culture plays a fundamental role in leadership and people.

He is passionate about Luxottica’s Global Community Initiative, OneSight Foundation, Luxottica’s community initiative dedicated to improving vision through outreach, research and education, worldwide.

Paul Greenberg
Co-Founder
Dealsdirect.com.au

Paul Greenberg is co-founder and Managing Director of DealsDirect.com.au. When eBay launched in 1999 Paul became the first commercial seller on eBay trading as Auction Alliance.  In 2004 Paul and Michael Rosenbaum launched Australia’s number one online department store, DealsDirect.com.au and created their own identity to meet the needs of customers who were looking for fixed price goods. In 2009, DealsDirect celebrated its 5th Birthday and continues to build from strength to strength.  With a 40,000sqm warehouse located in Ingleburn, 120 staff,  900,000 customers, over 1 million unique visitors per month, and four million items sold, DealsDirect.com.au is Australia’s is the leading online department store in Australia. Prior to starting deals direct, Paul lived and worked in South Africa first for Old Mutual and then for a family auction business specialising in general and motor auctions.

John Schroder
CEO, Commercial Property
Stockland

Stockland is one of the largest retail property owners, managers and developers in Australia. As Stockland’s Chief Executive Officer - Retail, John is responsible for Stockland’s retail portfolio, which comprises 42 shopping centres valued in excess of $4 billion. The properties accommodate more than 3,300 tenants and generate more than $5 billion in retail sales per annum.

Prior to commencing at Stockland in 2006, John was the Chief Operating Officer for Westfield Corporation in Los Angeles. In this role since 2000, John was responsible for expanding the Westfield United States operation which included 66 retail centres across 12 states, 10 major airport terminals and the management of 1,500 staff.

John joined Westfield in 1994 and held numerous senior roles.  Before joining Westfield, John spent a short period with Vox Retail Group as Executive General Manager - Marketing & Property.

He commenced his career with Lend Lease in 1985 in a marketing capacity and quickly rose through the ranks. After successfully completing local and overseas assignments John was appointed Marketing and Leasing Director in 1992. John was also on the Board of Directors of Lend Lease Retail Pty Ltd as well as Lend Lease Property Services.

Maria Palazzolo
CEO
GS1 Australia

As CEO of GS1 Australia, Maria is ultimately responsible for the Australian management of global multi-industry standards dedicated to the unique identification of products, automatic data capture communications, and product traceability.

With more than twenty years’ at GS1 Australia, Maria has developed a unique appreciation of how GS1 can change the way an entire nation does business. From the introduction of bar codes into the grocery sector, to demonstrating how RFID (radio frequency identification) can improve traceability and stock management; and from replacing paperwork with electronic messaging; to replacing proprietary hardcopy catalogues with online data synchronisation.

A large part of Maria’s role is to encourage industry-led innovations and collaboration: to drive the competitiveness and profitability of Australian industry through quality supply-chain management. Her business acumen and leadership have successfully positioned GS1 Australia as a change agent in this highly dynamic field.

A sort-after facilitator, Maria also sits on several global committees, advisory councils and boards. Her ability to influence whatever sphere she is in marks her as a leader and inspires others.

GS1 Australia is a not-for-profit and independent organisation. Its members range from micro businesses to multi-national organisations spanning industries as diverse as fresh produce and hardware, defence and healthcare, electronics and surfwear.

Owen McCall
CIO
The Warehouse Group

Owen joined The Warehouse in November 2003. As CIO, Owen is responsible for group information technology. His focus is on ensuring that all the IS systems for The Warehouse Group directly support our business strategy and that our technology investment provides clear and quantifiable benefit to the Group. Owen has spent 24 years in the IT industry and has gained a wide variety of experience in all elements of the systems lifecycle from IT strategy through to implementation and operations.

Before joining The Warehouse, Owen was the Principal for Deloitte’s Outsourcing practice in Australia and New Zealand.

Jack Hanrahan
General Manager Retailer Relations
Westfield

Jack Hanrahan has over 30 years of retail experience in Europe and Australia across sectors as diverse as food, fashion, “Big Box” and department stores.  Prior to joining Westfield Group as General Manager, Retailer Relations; he had his own consulting company focusing on strategy and training in Asia Pacific region. Jack brings to the role expertise in retail developed with both publicly listed retailers as well as private organisations and as owner of his own retail business. 

Jack has a Masters Degree from MGSM and is the co-author of “Retail Strategy Planning & Control”, a textbook.  He has taught MBA & Graduate programs in marketing, retail and strategy at several Universities and a company director for a number of commercial and not for profit organisations for over 15 years. 

He started his career in supermarkets and moved on to discount department stores as a trainee manager - both being subsidiaries of Associated British Foods.  After moving to Australia in 1981, Jack worked for Grace Bros department stores and later moved into specialty retailing with retailers as diverse as Darrell Lea Chocolates, WC Penfold, Dick Smith Electronics and Vodafone.