San Francisco, CA – November 8, 2016, Simpactful LLC is pleased to welcome two new proven and connected retail leaders to our team – Kara Rubin and Rich Shea. These individuals come to Simpactful with great retail experience and results with Whole Foods Market and Kroger. Kara and Rich join Simpactful’s team of retail experts, which include Kathee Tesija from Target, Taylor Smith from Walmart, Kelly Griffith from Albertsons/Safeway, and more.
Kara Rubin
Kara brings nearly 15 years of retail operations and strategy experience, 10 of which were spent leading the Grocery Division for Whole Foods Market’s Northeast Region. At Whole Foods, Kara guided the growth of the department as the region grew from 13 to 33 stores in the NYC metro area, including several of the highest volume stores in the company. During that time, she also worked closely with local and national brand partners to build their businesses strategically within stores both in the region and nationally. She was recognized company-wide as one of the most successful leaders of the product team that represented the largest portion of store sales.
Kara has worked with a wide range of brands across the category spectrum. She also has experience at NYC-based Gourmet Garage and at the specialty importer, The Rogers Collection. Kara’s specialty is advising retailers and brands on product development, retail channel strategy, distribution, and other critical considerations driving growth.
Rich Shea
Rich is a seasoned retail executive with more than 40 years of experience in operations, merchandising, procurement, and marketing, including 34 years with The Kroger Co. in roles across store operations, division management, and corporate. Rich had corporate responsibility for Health and Beauty Care and Non-Food Merchandising during which the company experienced 49 straight quarters of same store sales growth and continuous market share gains. He played key roles in reinventing store categories and layouts, and he led the application of customer data and insights into executable and successful strategies and tactics.
Rich is recognized in the industry as a collaborative leader with expertise in driving retail strategy and execution, a passion for partnering with suppliers to create mutual wins for the retailer, supplier, and customer, and an unyielding focus on store personnel.
About Simpactful
Proven | Connected | Results
Simpactful is a CPG/retail consulting firm comprised of experienced leaders who have recently filled positions of significant responsibility in multi-national & U.S. corporations. Simpactful offers expertise in multiple “high impact” disciplines, an experienced network of industry-leading talent, and proven results across every significant channel/retailer.
Simpactful delivers real-world solutions enabling clients to accelerate sales and profits by efficiently capitalizing on their biggest opportunities and solving their most complex challenges.
Visit www.simpactful.com or contact us at contact@simpactful.com or 925-234-6394 to learn more.