When you think of buying office supplies, what comes to mind? Bob Thacker hopes it’s dancing elves, giant rubber band balls, and a penny tray the size of a swimming pool. Thacker, the senior vice president of marketing and advertising at OfficeMax, says that when it comes to building a brand, if you don’t have big bucks, you’d better have big ideas.
While retailers scramble to survive in this challenging economic environment, examination of best practices and new research is vital to finding smarter ways to do business. That exchange of ideas is the goal of two events to be hosted this week by the Center for Retailing Studies at Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School.
Matt Rubel, president and CEO of Payless ShoeSource, spoke to students during a recent visit to the Texas A&M campus about his mission to “democratize fashion” through reasonably priced footwear. He was the guest of Mays Business School’s Center for Retailing Studies, which recognized Rubel with the 2008 M.B. Zale Visionary Merchant Award for his efforts to reinvent the Payless brand.
The Center for Retailing Studies at Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School has announced that Payless ShoeSource CEO and President Matt Rubel will receive the 2008 M.B. Zale Visionary Merchant Award. The award, which recognizes vision and outstanding achievements in retailing, will be presented on April 2 and is part of the center’s 25th anniversary celebration.
