Through a special arrangement, what follows is an excerpt of an article from FierceRetail, an e-newsletter and website covering the latest retail technology news and analysis
Several years ago, I wrote a column wondering why there weren't more powerful women in retail. It was a response to Forbes' annual "Most Powerful Women" list, one that included preciously few women from this industry.
That was in May 2013. There were seven women in retail named to the list, although two — Spanx founder Sara Blakely and Tory Burch — were primarily designers with a foothold in retail.
At the time, I wrote: "This is an industry who's primary customer base is female. Apparel retailers, department stores, discount stores and supermarkets all refer to their customers as 'she.' ... Women shop for, consume and prepare a majority of products purchased today. Every retail executive is devoted to finding out what makes her tick. Why haven't more woman risen from the ranks of the 15 million U.S. retail employees to lead these companies?"
Women, it seemed to me, would not only be better able to relate to their customers, but would have more insight into what they expected from the stores and merchandise selection as well.
A year later when Forbes updated the list, the names and number of female retail luminaries remained the same.
Change has been slow to come to retail.
And that is why we chose to launch the FierceRetail inaugural list of the "Most Powerful Women in Retail."
It's heartening to see women in top leadership roles at leading retailers such as Apple, Sam's Club and TJX. It's especially heartening to include Sam's Club President and CEO Rosalind Brewer who was invited to speak at Forbes' "Most Powerful Women Summit" this year and is No. 65 on the list.
FierceRetail is a young publication and, for our first list, we combed through corporate directories, cross-referenced other awards programs (including Forbes) and scoured women's groups and organizations.
In the end, we decided to feature only those women in president or CEO positions, and only those at traditional brick-and-mortar retailers.
We apologize to those we may have missed and hope to be forgiven for any slights.
Fierce Retail's Most Powerful Women in Retail 2015
- Laura Alber, director, president and CEO, Williams-Sonoma
- Angela Ahrendts, SVP of retail and online stores, Apple
- Shari Ballard, president of US retail and chief human resources officer, Best Buy
- Rosalind G. Brewer, president and CEO, Sam's Club
- Lizanne Kindler, CEO, Talbots Inc.
- Kay Krill, president and CEO, Ann Inc.
- Carol Meyrowitz, chairman and CEO, TJX Companies Inc.
- Barbara Rentler, CEO and director, Ross Stores Inc.
- Laura Sen, president and CEO, BJ's Wholesale Club
- LuAnn Via, president and CEO, Christopher & Banks