|
The WorldWide Retail Exchange Announces New CEO
Christopher Sellers to Lead Premier Exchange for
Retailers and Suppliers
Alexandria, Paris, Tokyo (January 14, 2005) -- The World Wide Retail
Exchange (WWRE), the premier exchange for retailers and suppliers,
announced today the selection of Christopher Sellers as Chief Executive
Officer and member of the Board of Directors, effective February
1, 2005. He will report to the Board, which is chaired by Kevin
Smith, the senior vice president of supply chain and logistics for
CVS/pharmacy. Mr. Sellers will have overall responsibility for guiding
the WWRE's strategic vision and continued growth; he will also serve
as the most senior key contact with WWRE's global members and customers.
"Chris is a global leader with a proven reputation for enabling
value in the retail industry through technology and business process
improvement," said Mr. Smith. "Following an intense six-month
process, we are convinced that Chris is the right person to take
the WWRE to the next level of success for our members and customers.
He has exceptional industry credibility and passion for our business
and brings the WWRE vision to deliver our next generation of value
and services."
"With the considerable benefits of eSourcing already recognized at the Exchange, in 2005 our members will continue to concentrate on mass adoption of the collaboration platform at the WWRE," said Tom Tsuruta, executive vice president general manager for AEON USA and a member of the WWRE Board. "Mr. Sellers' vision and accomplishments in data synchronization and collaborative supply chain are second to none; we are extremely confident in his ability to drive us towards our aggressive global adoption goals."
Mr. Sellers brings international leadership and a technology background to the WWRE, most recently as the Global Director of Retail and Consumer Industries and a Vice President of the IT Outsourcing and Services firm, EDS. Previous to EDS he was a Co-Founder and President of Syncra Systems the leading collaborative technology and services provider. Mr. Sellers has also served as CEO and Managing Director of IRI Infoscan in the UK, and introduced the first POS scanning services in Europe for retailers and consumer products goods manufacturers to track their sales and product performance. Mr. Sellers was instrumental in establishing IRI businesses and joint ventures in France, Germany, Italy, Turkey, Holland and Scandinavia.
"I'm looking forward to working with so many of the world's leading companies as they embrace the changes and opportunity in the industry," said Mr. Sellers. "I am certain the recognized value of the WWRE's Sourcing and Collaboration platforms will dramatically improve business across the entire industry. The WWRE represents a business model where everyone wins; manufacturers reduce their costs, retailers see improvement in products, logistics and terms and the consumer realizes the benefit of improved availability and pricing."
Mr. Sellers won a Presidential Appointment to the United States
Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. He is a longstanding Member
of the Market Research Society in the UK, formerly an Executive
Board Member of the Voluntary Inter-industry Commerce Standards
Group and is a non-executive director and chairman of the customer
service committee for the State Bank Group, listed by "Crain's
Chicago Business" as one of the Chicago-area's most profitable
Banks.
About the WWRE®
The WWRE® is the premier Internet-based business-to-business
exchange for retailers and suppliers. Designed to facilitate and
simplify trading practices between manufacturers, retailers and
suppliers, the WWRE® currently consists of members from Asia,
Europe, North America and South America with combined sales of approximately
U.S. $900 billion. For more information, visit the website at www.wwre.org
or www.worldwideretailexchange.org.
The WWRE
Jane Smith
(703) 234-5208
jsmith@wwre.org
|