News Room

Statement By Leslie G. Sarasin, President and CEO, Food Marketing Institute on Retirement of Tracy Mullin, President and CEO, National Retail Federation (NRF) and Merger of NRF and Retail Industry Leaders Association

April 22, 2009
Washington, DC – (April 22, 2009) – Leslie G. Sarasin, president and chief executive officer, Food Marketing Institute (FMI) today issued the following statement following the announcement of the retirement of Tracy Mullin, president and CEO, National Retail Federation (NRF), the merger of NRF and the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), and the leadership of Sandy Kennedy, president, RILA who is handling the merger transition:


“On behalf of FMI, I wish Tracy much success in her future endeavors; her leadership and representation of the retail industry will be missed by all of us. It will be my pleasure to continue working collaboratively with Sandy on critical industry issues before Congress and the Obama Administration, as well as to support the leadership of the new organization that emerges.”

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Food Marketing Institute proudly advocates on behalf of the food retail industry. FMI’s U.S. members operate nearly 40,000 retail food stores and 25,000 pharmacies, representing a combined annual sales volume of almost $770 billion. Through programs in public affairs, food safety, research, education and industry relations, FMI offers resources and provides valuable benefits to more than 1,225 food retail and wholesale member companies in the United States and around the world. FMI membership covers the spectrum of diverse venues where food is sold, including single owner grocery stores, large multi-store supermarket chains and mixed retail stores. For more information, visit www.fmi.org and for information regarding the FMI foundation, visit www.fmifoundation.org

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