The Council of State Retail Association (CSRA) met for its annual conference in Minneapolis Minnesota this past week. President and CEO, Renée Sunde and Mark Johnson, Sr. VP of Policy and Government Affairs attended this year’s event along with approximately 155 attendees including retail association executives from across the country and a broad range of national member retailers.
Topics explored the future of retail’s workforce, ORC and retail theft, packaging and plastics recycling and, corporate social responsibility and its implications across the states. As the industry responds to new challenges, the work of State Retail Associations has never been more important and valuable to retailers of every sector.
The conference included a visit to two of WR’s member headquarters. Both the Target Corporation and Best Buy have headquarters located in the heart of Minneapolis. State executives were welcomed with an impressive keynote address from Best Buy CEO Corey Barry named the 5th CEO of the company and the 8th female to run a Fortune 100 company.
Barry talked about how Best Buy’s commitment to enriching lives through technology has never been more important during the past several years during the pandemic. Damien Harmon, Executive VP of Omnichannel discussed the continued integration of digital and physical retail and the challenges impacting today’s retail workforce. Diversity and inclusion remain a top priority for leadership, with over 30% of their workforce women and approximately 40% minorities.
The event included a warm reception from the Target leadership team at their well-appointed state-of-the-art headquarters. Targets, Kent Wilson, Director of Government Affairs currently serves on WR’s Board of Directors and is slated to step in as the 2023 Board Chairman.
