JCPenney, Best Buy, Coca-Cola, Anheuser-Busch, SONY Headline Hispanic Summit

DALLAS -- With a speaker lineup that includes top retailers, suppliers and Latino market experts, the third annual Hispanic Retail 360 Summit, Aug. 1-3, 2007, at the Westin Park Central Hotel in Dallas, promises to be the premier educational event for retailers looking to maximize their business with the growing Latino consumer market in the U.S.

Kal Patel, executive vice president, emerging business and strategy for Best Buy, and Manny Fernandez, manager of multicultural marketing for JCPenney, will be among the retailers taking the dais to share insights and practices for connecting with the Latino shopper.

Representatives of other grocery, convenience and department store retailers, including ExxonMobil, Southwest Convenience Stores (the largest 7-Eleven licensee in the U.S.), Pro's Ranch Markets and La Curacao, will also present case studies, along with major suppliers to the retail business, including Coca-Cola, Anheuser-Busch and SONY. In addition, Raul Reyes, strategy leader for U.S. Marketing for McDonald's Corp., has been named to the Summit's 23-member Retail Advisory Board, which provides feedback and helps shape conference content.

The 2007 format will also include more breakout sessions allowing participants to choose from an array of topics and areas of interest and experience levels that suit their needs.

The 2007 Hispanic Retail 360 Summit will feature:

-- A Marketing Track covering grassroots marketing (a Johnson & Johnson case study with Wal-Mart), direct mail/print (Latino Direct Mail Success Stories), and digital/broadcast.

-- A Retailing Track featuring sessions on grocery, convenience, consumer electronics and Internet retailing.

-- A Consumer Insights Track highlighted by ACNielsen's look into Hispanic consumers' shopping baskets, advice on how to target wealthy Hispanics, and cashing in on Hispanic holidays.

-- Live on-site focus group of Latino shoppers from different backgrounds and acculturation levels, conducted by NBC-Today Show Food Expert Phil Lempert, The Supermarket Guru.

-- More product areas from food to general merchandise and topics of interest to all retail channels including department stores, mass merchandisers, supermarkets, convenience stores, drug stores and specialty retailers in consumer electronics, home improvement, apparel and more.

-- Store tour to view best practices by Dallas-area retailers who serve the Hispanic community.

One of the highlights of the Summit will be the presentation of the Hispanic Retail Excellence Award. Last year's winner was Anaheim-based JAX Markets. The 2005 winner was Pros Ranch Market, which operates Hispanic market stores in southern California and four in Phoenix, Ariz.

Last year's Summit, held in Chicago, attracted more than 500 attendees composed of retailers from across all channels of retailing, major consumer products goods manufacturers, advertising agencies and consultants. Feedback from last year's attendees was extremely positive. "Great conference! It really is the 360 degrees. You start from point A and continue on. No matter what level of knowledge you come with, you leave with the total picture," said Maria St. Germain of Kroger, the giant supermarket chain.

Publication partners for Hispanic Retail 360 include Progressive Grocer, Adweek, Marketing y Medios, Brandweek, Mediaweek, and Convenience Store News. The Mexican American Grocer Association, NACS (The Association for Convenience & Petroleum Retailing), GMDC (General Merchandise Distributors Council) and the California Independent Grocers & Convenience Stores are among the trade association sponsors.

This year's sponsors include Coca-Cola, Anheuser-Busch, Vertis, CityReach Latino, Kraft, Hershey, and McLane Co. Several sponsorship packages are still available. For more information on sponsorships, please contact Jeff Friedman, vice president, customer media, Nielsen Business Media, at 646-654-7452, or email: [email protected].

For registration information, please contact Lois Miller at [email protected] or go to www.hispanicretail360.com.

The agenda will be shaped by the Hispanic Retail 360 Retailer Advisory Board consisting of market leaders across all channels of retailing.

Retailer Board of Advisors:
* Jim Hendrickson, Manager, Market Research, 7-Eleven;
* Angel L. Garcia, Director, Global Retail Operations, Ace Hardware Corp.;
* Jeff Weness, Director, Hispanic Initiatives, Best Buy;
* Jon Bratta, National Beverage Lead, BP/ampm;
* Paul Casadont, Merchandising Mgr., Chevron Corp.;
* Bob Pescarino, Merchandise Manager, CVS;
* Angela Martin, Director, Marketing, Dollar General;
* Bob Schwarz, VP, Merchandising, Duckwall-Alco;
* Nicolas Medina, Global Standards & Practices Manager, Convenience Retailing, ExxonMobil;
* David Atkins, Director, Int'l Foods, Giant Eagle;
* Pat Hensley, Asst. VP, Operations, HyVee Supermarkets;
* Dror Amir, Executive Manager, La Curacao;
* Raul A. Reyes, Strategy Leader, U.S. Marketing, McDonald's Corp.
* Poul E. Heilmann, SVP, Marketing & Strategic Planning, Minyards;
* John Learish, VP, Marketing, Rite Aid;
* Jim Peterson, VP, Store Operations, Ross Dress for Less;
* Lydia Jahn, Multicultural Mgr., ShopRite Supermarkets (Wakefern Food Corp.);
* Bill Hooper, VP, Sales & Marketing, Super S Foods;
* Judy Farniok, Category Manager, GM, SUPERVALU;
* Todd Williams, Dir., Multicultural Mkting, Target Stores;
* Al Plamann, President, Unified Western Grocers;
* Margie Davis, Director, Store of the Community, Wal-Mart; and,
* Andrea Rodriguez, Neighborhood Marketing Specialist, Winn Dixie.
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