The National Retail Federation is pleased to announce that Amazon,Crocs,Kohl's and lululemon are the recipients of its prestigious annual awards.The award winners are selected each year by select members of the NRF Board who comprise its Award Committee.The recipients,each company's top ranking executive,will accept their awards during the Annual Retail Industry Luncheon at NRF's Annual Convention and EXPO,Retail's BIG Show,on Tuesday,January 15,2013.The BIG Show will be held at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City,January 13-16,2013.Donna Karan,chief designer,Donna Karan New York and founder,Urban Zen,will be the guest speaker for the industry luncheon.
"In this highly competitive industry,it's important for retailers to continue to evolve with their customers'expectations,while also thinking outside the box when it comes to innovation and consumer value,"said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay."We know we don't have to look far to find our award winners each year as retailers are some of the most ground-breaking companies in the world,setting examples for other industries in customer service and experience,innovation and leadership.We applaud our winners this year and are thrilled to honor them in front of their peers."
Gold Medal Award:Amazon Founder and CEO,Jeff Bezos
The Gold Medal is the most coveted award in retail,given to an individual who has served the industry with distinction and achieved a national reputation for excellence.The recipient has also displayed creative genius and inspirational leadership and has won the respect of fellow merchants for devotion to the retail craft.This year's recipient of the Gold Medal Award is Jeff Bezos,founder and CEO of Amazon.com.Founded in 1994,Amazon's mission is to be Earth's most customer-centric company.Under Bezos'leadership,Amazon continues to re-invent both itself and entire industries.Amazon operates a global online retail business with low prices and fast delivery on millions of items,designs and builds the bestselling Kindle e-readers and tablets,and offers a world-class digital media ecosystem with over 22 million movies,TV shows,songs,apps,games,and books.Amazon even empowers companies and governments in over 190 countries around the world with the leading cloud computing infrastructure through its Amazon Web Services offering.
Retail Innovator of the Year:Crocs,Inc.,President and CEO,John McCarvel
The recipient of this award has successfully distinguished himself as a retail pioneer through the use of new,innovative or imaginative techniques,formats or service.Furthermore,this individual has demonstrated an ability to sustain and build this concept in the face of challenges.
John P.McCarvel has served as chief executive officer and president of Crocs,Inc.since 2010.Prior to this appointment,McCarvel served as Crocs chief operating officer and executive vice president since October 2006,in which time he was instrumental in building the company's global operations infrastructure,global wholesale and direct to consumer channels,as well as spearheading Crocs'Asian business operations.McCarvel previously served as senior vice president for global product development and operations from October 2005 to September 2006,and vice president of Crocs'Asia division from January 2005 to September 2005,after first serving as a consultant to the company in 2004.
Prior to joining Crocs,McCarvel spent four years as the Asian vice president for the design,test and semiconductor division of Flextronics,Inc.,where he responsible for establishing and growing the company's product development infrastructure throughout the Asian market.
International Retailer of the Year:lululemon athletica CEO,Christine Day
This award is given annually to an individual who has achieved international recognition for excellence in their native country and internationally.
Christine Day has been chief executive officer of lululemon athletica since June 2008.As CEO,Day is responsible for creating and executing lululemon athletica's long-term business strategies,directing the company's continued development,and reinforcing lululemon's position as a global leader of yoga-inspired women's athletic apparel.Day joined the lululemon team in January 2008 as executive vice president,retail operations,where she oversaw retail operations in North America and internationally.
Prior to lululemon,Day spent 20 years at Starbucks where she held several key senior management positions and learned the intricacies of high-growth business development in a strong cultural company.
Day has a BA degree from Central Washington University and is a graduate of Harvard Business School's Advanced Management Program.She is currently a director of Select Comfort Corporation,a provider of adjustable-firmness beds and other sleep-related accessory products.
Silver Plaque:Kohl's Senior Executive Vice President of Logistics,Ken Bonning
The Silver Plaque Award is presented to a senior executive with an NRF member company or retail-related organization who has achieved prominence in his or her individual field and,who has shown outstanding leadership in his or her NRF council or Committee work,making a major contribution to the retail industry and/or to NRF.
Kenneth Bonning was promoted to senior executive vice president at Kohl's in May 2011 and is responsible for logistics and information systems.He previously served as executive vice president,logistics,facilities and store planning from October 2006 to May 2011 and as executive vice president,logistics from February 2004 to October 2006.Bonning joined Kohl's as senior vice president,logistics in January 2001 and has more than 20 years experience in the retail industry.Bonning is the former chairman of NRF's Strategic Supply Chain Council and played an instrumental role in the planning,implementation and launch of NRF's Global Supply Chain Summit in May of 2011.
Retail's BIG Show and EXPO serve as the world's leading retail event,bringing 25,500 retail executives and vendors from more than 75 countries together for educational and networking opportunities.The convention has been ranked as one of the Top 200 events in North America,as well as one of the 50 fastest-growing events.Other speakers at Retail's BIG Show 2013 include executives from Coca-Cola,Starbucks,The Container Store and Whole Foods.
As the world's largest retail trade association and the voice of retail worldwide,NRF represents retailers of all types and sizes,including chain restaurants and industry partners,from the United States and more than 45 countries abroad.Retailers operate more than 3.6 million U.S.establishments that support one in four U.S.jobs–42 million working Americans.Contributing$2.5 trillion to annual GDP,retail is a daily barometer for the nation's economy.
