Retail Industry Leaders Association

The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) is a US trade association headquartered in Washington, DC. The association represents retailers who lead in both sales and aspiration.

Focus and membership

RILA represents the leading brands in retail. Premier members include Best Buy, Dollar General, Gap, The Home Depot, Lowe's, Target, and Walgreens. A full membership list can be found here.

RILA's board of directors sets the organization's strategic direction. From there, RILA staff works with executive communities to advance issues within the identified focus areas:

  • Asset Protection [1]
  • Supply Chain [2]
  • Workforce [3]
  • Finance [4]
  • Legal Affairs & Compliance [5]
  • Technology & Innovation [6]

Leadership

RILA's current president, Brian Dodge,[7] has served in the role in January 2020. Dodge, who previously served as the association's chief operating officer, was selected by RILA's Board of Directors to replace Sandy Kennedy upon her retirement in 2019.[8]

RILA's 2020 Board of Directors include:

  • Mary Dillon, Chief Executive Officer, Ulta Beauty (Chairperson)[9]
  • Todd Vasos, Chief Executive Officer, Dollar General Corporation (Vice Chairman)
  • Richard Johnson, Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer, Foot Locker, Inc. (Treasurer)
  • Alexander Gourlay, Co-Chief Operating Officer, Walgreens Boot Alliance and President, Walgreen Co. (Secretary)
  • Brian Cornell, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Target Corporation (Immediate Past Chairman)
  • Timothy Baer, Partner, TRB Partners, LLC (Counsel to the Board)
  • Corie Barry, Chief Executive Officer, Best Buy Co., Inc.
  • Chip Bergh, President & Chief Executive Officer, Levi Strauss
  • Dagmar Boggs, Chief Retail Sales & Bottler Operations Officer, The Coca-Cola Company
  • Mark Breitbard, President & Chief Executive Officer, Banana Republic, Gap Inc.
  • Martin Butler, Vice President, Consumer Industry Leader, USA, IBM Corporation
  • Michael Duffy, Chief Executive Officer, C&S Wholesale Grocers, Inc.
  • Marvin Ellison, President & Chief Executive Officer, Lowe’s Companies, Inc.
  • Fabian Garcia, President, North America, Unilever
  • Alan Hoskins, President & Chief Executive Officer, Energizer Holdings, Inc.
  • Joe Jensen, Vice President & General Manager, Retail Solutions Division, Intel Corporation
  • Richard Keyes, President & Chief Executive Officer, Meijer, Inc.
  • Craig Menear, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer & President, The Home Depot, Inc.
  • Steve Rendle, Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer, VF Corporation
  • William Rhodes, Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer, AutoZone, Inc.
  • J.K. Symancyk, President & Chief Executive Officer, PetSmart, Inc.
  • Jill Soltau, Chief Executive Officer, JCPenney
  • Jill Standish, Senior Managing Director, Global Retail Consulting Practice, Accenture
  • Brian Dodge, President, RILA

Public policy

The Retail Industry Leaders Association is a leading public policy advocate for the retail industry.

Key initiatives and policy victories:

  • E-fairness: RILA, along with their sister organization, the Retail Litigation Center, was instrumental in the fight to level the sales tax playing field. After years of advocacy work and careful legal strategy,[10] the U.S. Supreme Court voted in 2018 in South Dakota v. Wayfair to close a loophole they created in 1992 that allowed online-only retailers to avoid collecting state sales taxes. Now, over 80% of states have implemented economic nexus.
  • In 2009, RILA played a key role in the debate over health care reform. RILA successfully lobbied to protect existing health care options for part-time and seasonal employees in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.[11]

In 2010, RILA also led the effort to pass reforms introduced by Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) aimed at curbing the fees banks charge merchants who accept debit cards. RILA successfully defended these reforms from an effort in 2011 to unravel them.[12]

RILA is currently at the center of the fight to what they feel is to "level the playing field" between e-tailers and brick and mortar retailers as it relates to collecting and remitting sales taxes.[13][14] The effort, which has led to the passage of laws in a number of states, including Texas,[15] California,[16] Arkansas[17] and Illinois,[18] requires e-tailers to collect and remit sales taxes as traditional retailers are required to do.[19]

In February 2017, RILA launched a campaign called Americans for Affordable Products to fight a proposed border tax that would tax retailers on goods they import and sell in the U.S.[20]

2009 proposed merger with NRF

In April 2009, RILA and NRF announced that they would merge.[21] NRF, based in Washington, DC, had about 100 employees; RILA had a staff of about 30.[22] The process was expected to be completed by summer 2009, after both NRF and RILA went through a due diligence process. The boards of directors of both associations needed to recommend the merger, and members of both groups needed to approve it.[23] The combined association was to be run during the transition by RILA President Sandy Kennedy. Kennedy said in May that she envisioned a smaller staff, of about 75, after the merger was fully completed.[24]

In late June, the NRF and RILA announced that the merger had been called off.[25] The decision was by the boards; members had not yet been asked to vote on the matter. "NRF and RILA will devote all resources to continuing the work they are each doing to address the serious issues that America's consumers and retailers are facing in today's economic environment," the groups said in a joint statement.[26]

References
  1. RILA https://www.rila.org/focus-areas/asset-protection. Retrieved 20 August 2020. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. RILA https://www.rila.org/focus-areas/supply-chain. Retrieved 20 August 2020. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. RILA https://www.rila.org/focus-areas/human-resources. Retrieved 20 August 2020. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. RILA https://www.rila.org/focus-areas/finance. Retrieved 20 August 2020. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. RILA https://www.rila.org/focus-areas/legal-affairs-compliance. Retrieved 20 August 2020. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. RILA https://www.rila.org/focus-areas/technology-and-innovation. Retrieved 20 August 2020. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. "Brian Dodge". www.rila.org. Retrieved 2020-08-20.
  8. "RILA's incoming president talks trade, antitrust and 2020 priorities". Retail Dive. Retrieved 2020-08-20.
  9. "Ulta CEO Mary Dillon to chair retail leaders board". www.bizjournals.com. January 29, 2020. Retrieved 2020-08-20.
  10. Bravin, Jess (2018-06-22). "Retailers' Careful Strategy to Overturn Sales-Tax Precedent". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2020-08-20.
  11. "Industries See Reform as Victory". Roll Call. March 23, 2010.
  12. Mattingly, Phil; Schmidt, Robert (June 28, 2011). "How Wal-Mart Swiped JPMorgan in $16 Billion Debit-Card Lobbying Battle". Bloomberg.
  13. "TN considers tax break for Internet Goliath". StandwithMainStreet.com. June 28, 2011.
  14. "Durbin Announces Legislation to Level the Playing Field for Illinois Retailers". durbin.senate.gov. April 27, 2011.
  15. "Day 25: Texas to Require Online Retailers to Collect Sales Taxes". The Texas Tribune. August 25, 2011.
  16. Lifsher, Marc (June 30, 2011). "California tells online retailers to start collecting sales taxes from customers". The Los Angeles Times.
  17. "Arkansas Senate approves online sales tax bill". Bloomberg Businessweek. March 10, 2011.
  18. "Illinois jumps aboard the online sales tax bandwagon". InternetRetailer.com. March 10, 2011.
  19. "The Internet Tax Mirage". The Wall Street Journal. April 8, 2011.
  20. Gustafson, Krystina (2017-02-01). "With a crippling border tax looming, retailers head to Washington". CNBC. Retrieved 2017-02-02.
  21. Plumb, Tierney (April 22, 2009). "National retail groups to merge". Pacific Business News.
  22. Ylan Q. Mui (April 22, 2009). "Retail Groups Plan Merger To Boost Lobbying Efforts". Washington Post.
  23. "NRF, Retail Industry Leaders Association to Merge". Home Furnishings Business. Apr 24, 2009. Archived from the original on 2009-05-02.
  24. Mark Albright (May 5, 2009). "Tampa's new Ikea to feature 2010 style". St. Petersburg Times. Archived from the original on 2009-05-18. Retrieved 2009-05-06.
  25. "Trade groups NRF and RILA call off planned merger". InternetRetailer.com. June 25, 2009.
  26. Ylan Q. Mui (June 25, 2009). "National Retail Trade Groups Decide to Nix Planned Merger". Washington Post.
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