About The Coca‑Cola Retailing Research Council

EVP and Chief Merchandising Officer, Target

Lisa Roath is the executive vice president and chief merchandising officer of food, essentials and beauty for Target Corporation and a member of its leadership team.

She is responsible for all buying across the company’s frequency categories and an end-to-end food business that includes supply chain, store operations and product development. Her team is committed to bringing the joy Target is known for to special occasions and everyday shopping trips.

Lisa joined Target in 2006 and has held a variety of leadership roles within the company. Most recently, she served as chief marketing officer, where her team used a combination of data, insights, and the magic of the Target brand to deepen existing guest relationships and inspire consumers to choose Target.

She has also led food and beverage merchandising, essentials merchandising, pricing and promotions, and merchandising transformation and insights.

Prior to joining Target, Lisa held roles at Limited Brands, Marshall Field’s and U.K.-based L.E.K. consulting.

Lisa received her bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University and earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.

EVP, Chief Merchandising and Digital Officer, Albertsons

Omer resides as the EVP, Chief Merchandising & Digital Officer, responsible for a wide range of functions including, merchandising, marketing, data, pricing, Own Brands, health, business ventures, and the Albertsons Media Collective. He joined Albertsons in 2020 as the Company’s Executive Vice President, Health & Chief Digital Officer where he was responsible for accelerating growth in our Digital and Pharmacy businesses and expanding our health and wellness solutions. In 2022, Omer added Albertsons Cos. Digital Customer Experience and Ecommerce to his responsibilities, taking a customer-first approach to providing engaging digital and in-store shopping experiences.

Before joining Albertsons Cos., Omer was the General Manager for Amazon Marketplace business, across Hardlines, Softlines, and Consumables categories, for the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. In this role, he led sales, business development, product, program, and fulfillment teams to launch strategic sellers into North America. Prior to Amazon, Omer was with PepsiCo for fifteen years. He started as a Franchise Manager in the West Asia Business Unit and later held several marketing and business development roles in Dubai. Omer worked in Corporate Strategy at PepsiCo’s headquarters in NY and was named VP Global Strategy.

Omer graduated with a BE in Civil Engineering from the National University of Sciences and Technology, Risalpur, and received an MBA from the Johnson School at Cornell University.

EVP, CMO and Retail Operations Officer, Brookshire Grocery

Jerry leads BGC’s retail operations, category management, marketing, fuel, pharmacy, logistics and facility services teams.

He joined BGC in 2019 and has over 40 years of experience in the grocery industry. He started his career at Albertson’s, where he worked his way up from courtesy clerk to District Manager. He later served 13 years at Harris Teeter in category management senior leadership roles for deli/bakery and non-perishables before being promoted to SVP of Merchandising.

Before joining BGC, he also served six years at Giant Eagle in roles including EVP of Sales, Merchandising and Marketing and EVP and General Manager of Supermarket/Market District.

EVP and Chief Merchandising Officer, Dollar General

Emily Taylor is Dollar General’s executive vice president and chief merchandising officer.

Emily is responsible for the company’s merchandising, marketing, global sourcing, merchandise operations, channel innovation and in-store experience efforts. She joined Dollar General in 1998 and has held roles in numerous areas within the organization, including Pricing, Merchandising, Merchandise Planning, Financial Planning & Analysis and Investor Relations.

In 2014, she was named senior vice president of non-consumable merchandising where she helped create and launch the company’s non-consumable initiative (NCI). In 2019, Emily was named senior vice president of channel innovation, and she led the development and launch of the Company’s most recent concept store, pOpshelf℠.

Emily earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of North Carolina Asheville and a Master of Business Administration from Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University.

President, Wakefern Food Corp.

Mike Stigers joined Wakefern Food Corp., the largest retailer-owned cooperative in the United States, on June 1, 2023 as its President. Mike brings with him five decades of food industry knowledge having begun his career as a part-time courtesy clerk at Safeway in his home state of California.

Mike has a distinguished track record in both the retail and wholesale sides of the supermarket business having held executive roles in both operations, merchandising, supply chain and fresh. Mike also has experience on the vendor side of the grocery industry having worked for BASS, Inc., a retail automation software company, and for Sterilox Fresh, a food safety company, as regional vice president.

Prior to joining Wakefern, Mike served as executive vice president of SuperValu’s Fresh division from 2019 to 2020 as well as being named CEO at Cub Foods. Cub Foods is a subsidiary of UNFI, the natural and organic food company headquartered in Rhode Island.

In 2011, Mike joined SuperValu, as president of Shaw’s/Star Market grocery stores in New England. He went on to lead SuperValu’s northern wholesale region in Hopkins, MN in 2013, and was named president of Cub in March 2014. Two years later, he was promoted to executive vice president of SuperValu Wholesale and Supply Chain Services, serving three years in that role until SuperValu was purchased by UNFI in October 2018.

Mike has been active in industry trade associations including the California Grocers Association. He served as the past president of Western Association of Food Chains and is the past chair of the National Grocers Association (NGA), from 2020-2021. NGA represents thousands of independent, community grocery stores throughout the U.S. Mike is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business for the Food Industry Management Program.

Mike holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Economics from the University of San Francisco and a Master of Science in Food Industry Leadership from the University of Southern California. He resides in New Jersey with his wife Renee.

Chief Merchant Officer, H-E-B

Scott joined H-E-B in 2008 and has held leadership positions in Global Sourcing, Merchandising, Grocery Procurement, Own Brands, Fresh Procurement, and Store Operations.

He is currently serving as Chief Commercial Officer, where he leads H-E-B’s Marketing/Advertising, Sales & Promotion, Retail Media, Own Brand, and E-commerce Merchandising teams.

Before joining H-E-B, Scott began his career as a Communications Officer in the United States Air Force, with various assignments in Ohio, Tennessee, Florida, and Colorado. In his final assignment, he taught undergraduate Management and Finance courses at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. He later worked in the management consulting industry with projects in assortment planning and global sourcing.

Scott holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Information Systems Management from the University of Georgia, a Master of Science degree in Information Systems Management from the United States Air Force Institute of Technology, and a Master of Business Administration from Duke University.