62nd International Retail Summit

Daniel Altman Harvard graduate and former New York Times economics journalist Altman published the bestselling “Outrageous Fortunes” in 2011. He teaches at Stern School of Business and is Director of Thought Leadership at Dalberg Global Development Advisors.

David Bosshart CEO of the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute, one of Europe‘s leading think tanks for business and society. The focuses of David Bosshart‘s work are trade, consumption, management and social change.

Robert Brozin Founder and CEO of Nando’s Restaurants, a chain famous for its provocative TV commercials. The South African corporation has become a global brand and is currently operating 980 restaurants in 28 countries around the world.

Christoph Bründl CEO of the family company Intersport Bründl. He studied business in Linz, Austria, and Miami, USA. The passionate entrepreneur
focuses on an emotional sales approach and shop aura. His flagship store in Kaprun won the EuroShop Retail Design Award 2010.

Kate Bull Co-founder of The People’s Supermarket in London, a community venture that highlights the possibilities of consumer power. Bull is also a retail expert and director of the consultancy firm CTWB Ltd, working with established brands, new businesses and the social economy.

Simonetta Carbonaro Expert on consumer psychology, strategic marketing and design management. Carbonaro carries out research on consumer ethics and behaviour and provides forecasts for the consumer culture. She is a professor at Borås University (SWE) and a partner at the REAL_ISE consultancy (GER).

Catherine Conway Social entrepreneur and founder of Unpackaged, a “refill” retail concept in London that radically rethinks the customer experience to inspire more environmentally sustainable consumption.

Gerhard Drexel Chairman of the Board of SPAR Austria. Gerhard Drexel studied business management at the Universities of St. Gallen and Innsbruck. Before joining the Board of SPAR in 1990, he worked for Coop Switzerland and then the Management Zentrum St. Gallen.

Caroline Drucker Partner Marketing Manager at SoundCloud, developing marketing strategies with content, integration and brand partners. Formerly in media publishing, helping establish magazines such as DUMMY and Der Freitag. Caroline Drucker graduated Magna Cum Laude from Bryn Mawr College.

Martin Elwert Began his career with Roland Berger Strategy Consultants,
working in China and Germany and focusing on market entry strategies and cost optimisation. Having co-founded Coffee Circle in 2010, Elwert is now responsible for corporate customers, financial planning and business development.

Oliver Hinz Chief of Business Informatics at the TU Darmstadt with a focus on electronic markets. Hinz’s publications on pricing have received wide acclaim and were awarded the Science Award Retail of the EHI Retail Institute e. V. and the Schmalenbach Prize.

Phillippe Houzé CEO and Chairman of the Executive Management Board at Galeries Lafayette Group, the French leader in the department store sector. Houzé developed a strategy for transforming Galeries Lafayette into a “creator of desire” with innovative concepts.

Andrew Merritt Artist and co-founder of Something & Son design agency (with Paul Smyth, see below). The agency realises unusual projects combining design and social solutions that take the environment into account, for instance FARM:shop, a groundbreaking London shop that grows food throughout the building.

Russ Miller Founder of Vacant, pioneer of pop-up retailing, specialist in creative retailing and brand marketing. Recently launched mypopupshop, a revolutionary f-commerce concept for social shopping. Develops intelligent brick & mortar retailing solutions using NFC (near field communications).

Götz Rehn Founder and General Manager of Alnatura, the successful German provider of organic food and textiles. Since its foundation in 1984 the enterprise has enjoyed constant sales growth. Rehn is also a member of the Supervisory Board of dm-drogerie markt.

Urs Riedener Since 2008 CEO of Emmi Group, Switzerland’s leading, and internationally expanding, dairy company. Riedener had previously held various market-oriented positions with Kraft Foods, Lindt & Sprüngli and the Federation of Migros Cooperatives (MGB).

Robert Rudnick Worked at Roland Berger for three years – mainly on marketing and sales questions for large corporations all over Europe and in the UAE. After co-founding Coffee Circle, Rudnick is now responsible for online marketing and sales, website development and HR.

Simona Scarpaleggia Country Manager Ikea Switzerland. Scarpaleggia was HR manager in different companies in Italy for 20 years. Since joining Ikea in 2000, she has held various management positions with responsibility for retail business, production management and customer contacts.

Petra Schäfer Managing Director of the German-based international drugstore chain dm-drogerie markt. After taking a degree in pharmacy, Schäfer joined the company in 1987. In 1999 she joined the Management Board and assumed responsibility for Marketing & Buying and for Regional Sales in over 100 branches.

Paul Smyth Engineer and co-founder of “Something & Son” design agency (with Andrew Merrit, see above). The agency realises unusual projects combining design and social solutions that take the environment into account, for instance FARM:shop, a groundbreaking London shop that grows food throughout the building.

Eric Tholomé Product Management Director at Google, in charge of Commerce products for Google EMEA (e.g. Wallet, Offers). He also managed products like YouTube, Gmail, and Calendar. Before joining Google, he worked for Handspring and Palm. Graduate of Stanford University and Ecole Centrale Paris.

Etsy is an online marketplace for handmade and vintage products. Founded in 2005, the site is financed by fees and commissions. The first international office was opened in Berlin in 2010.  Etsy had 25 million visitors a month in 2011, the year in which it also inaugurated Etsy Labs, an offline operation serving the German market.