General Session Emcees Announced for Multicultural Retail 360 Summit

This year’s Multicultural Retail 360 Summit will be hosted by three prominent multicultural experts, who will serve as general session emcees for the retail industry’s biggest multicultural educational event.

Terry Soto, president and CEO of About Marketing Solutions Inc.; Tracy Galindo, multicultural & specialty marketing consultant for Albertsons Southern California and Jewel-Osco; and Angel Colon, director, multicultural development for Kroger and co-chair of the Multicultural Retail 360 Summit, will serve as co-emcees for this year’s event (previously called Hispanic Retail 360), being held Aug. 12-14 in Anaheim, Calif.

Soto, a well-respected voice in strategy consulting and a speaker at previous Hispanic Retail 360 Summits, will handle hosting duties on Wednesday, Aug. 12, when the conference formally kicks off with a special Nielsen presentation called “Rising Super Consumers,” presented by Eddie Yoon, principal, The Cambridge Group, and Guy Garcia, president, New Mainstream Initiatives, EthniFacts, LLC. The Wednesday afternoon session also includes a panel discussion on supplier and employee diversity, moderated by Armando Martin, CEO, XL Edge, and featuring panelists Rona Fourté, director, supplier diversity, Walgreens; Reuben Shaffer, chief diversity officer, Kroger; and Michael Byron, senior director, supplier diversity, Walmart.

Galindo, a member of the Multicultural Retail 360 Retailer Advisory Board and whose company has spearheaded the Summit’s social media efforts the past several years, will host the Thursday, Aug. 13, general sessions, which run from 8:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The speaker card that day includes Marissa Fernandez, director, fan strategy & marketing for the National Football League; Tara Frank, VP, multicultural strategy for Hallmark Cards; and Stephen Romero, VP U.S. sales, and Jose Espinoza, U.S. Hispanic market and Mexico lead, McIllhenny Company.

Colon, the Kroger multicultural chief who along with Javier Delgado-Granados of Walmart, serves as co-chair of the conference, will host Friday morning’s general sessions. Closing day sessions include a panel of Walmart's three multicultural agencies of record who will discuss the development of the retailer’s multicultural strategy. Managers at Texas-based Brookshire’s Grocery Co., one of the supermarket industry’s leading independent grocers, will discuss how they are meeting the needs of America’s changing consumer base, and leaders of three major retail food chains will discuss the vision and execution behind their strategy for serving their diverse, multicultural customer bases.

Multicultural Retail 360 Summit is produced by Stagnito Business Information, the only complete provider of retail industry information, insights and strategic communication programs for CPG retailers and suppliers. Its brand portfolio includes Progressive Grocer, Convenience Store News, Store Brands and Retail Leader.

To register to attend the conference, go to www.multiculturalretail360.com.