Emerging Specialty Retail Organization Announces Executive Director

Executive Director Jill Cartwright

The new Specialty Retail Organization has appointed Jill Cartwright as Executive Director. Jill was formerly the President and Founder of Go GaGa, a manufacturer of diaper bags.

Jill is a Summa cum Laude graduate of the MBA program at Babson College, and she studied Public Policy and German at Duke University as an undergraduate. She has spent more than 15 years working in businesses of all sizes. She is a skilled strategist, an innovative marketer, and an experienced manager with a deep understanding of entrepreneurship, the juvenile industry and the specialty retail sector.

“I am so thrilled to be able to highlight what an important role specialty retailers play in our economy and our industry,” Jill said. “Not only do they provide important jobs to communities, but they also enable manufacturers to launch new products into the marketplace while helping customers to make educated buying decisions.”

“Over 100 people applied for this position,” said Philip Fairey, the Specialty Retail Board member who coordinated the search and selection process. “We unanimously felt that Jill had the most to offer the retailers, based on her skill set, her experience and her ideas.”

“On behalf of both the Specialty Retail Board and the ABC Board, I want to congratulate Jill Cartwright on this new position,” said Mark Simon, the ABC Board liaison to the Specialty Retail Board. “We are all incredibly excited to be moving forward and putting all the pieces in place to officially launch this new organization at the upcoming ABC Show in October.”

Independent specialty retailers, manufacturers and sales representatives are invited to meet Jill Cartwright and the Specialty Retail Board during a Town Hall meeting to be held at the ABC Show, Monday October 15th at 5pm.