Sara Al-Tukhaim
Principal Analyst

Sara Al-Tukhaim, Principal Analyst, leads Kantar Retail’s research on the club channel. Specializing in quantitative and qualitative research, Sara analyzes, interprets, and delivers retail insights relevant to Costco, Sam’s Club, and BJ’s Wholesale. She leverages her industry and club knowledge to forecast sales and building growth for each retailer, and to inform strategy for both vendors and retailers. Sara graduated from Boston University with an M.S. in Applied Communication Research. Spanning industries, her background is in journalism, market and consumer behavior research, and consulting.

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Frank Badillo
Vice President, Senior Economist

Frank Badillo, Senior Economist and Vice President, leads our analysis and forecasting of macroeconomic, retail, and consumer trends in the US and globally. He is a key contributor to Kantar Retail's research programs and events. Besides regularly writing and speaking about the outlook for the industry, Frank also directs Kantar Retail’s channel, category, and country forecasts from a macroeconomic perspective. His industry-related work began with the Management Horizons Division of Price Waterhouse and spans similar roles with PricewaterhouseCoopers and Retail Forward before Kantar Retail.

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Jessica Campbell
Analyst

Jessica Campbell, Analyst, works on Kantar Retail’s chain drug channel team. She is responsible for research and insights on the three major U.S. chain drug retailers, Walgreens, CVS, and Rite Aid and is a frequent contributor to KRIQ, event presentations and custom work. Jessica joined Kantar Retail in June 2011, bringing with her experience in digital marketing and social media, as well as a BS in International Business and Spanish language from Northeastern University.

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Alida Destrempe
Analyst

Alida Destrempe is on Kantar Retail’s grocery channel team. She focuses on many regional players including Kroger and Safeway. Alida frequently contributes to KRiQ, event presentations, webinars, and custom work. She attended St. Michael’s College in Burlington, VT where she studied Journalism and Mass Communications. Alida also has experience in client relations and supplier operations, where she previously worked for Wayfair, an e-commerce home furnishing retailer based out of Boston, MA.

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Bryan Gildenberg
Chief Knowledge Officer

Bryan Gildenberg, a world-renowned expert in retail insight, is Kantar Retail’s Chief Knowledge Officer and a member of the company’s leadership team. He is responsible for the company’s analysis and insight, driving the direction of content with in-depth knowledge and intuitive skills few can match. Bryan provides a clear, ever-changing, and always topical focus on a variety of channels and retailers around the world. An award-winning and prolific writer, Bryan has authored numerous professional articles for various Kantar Retail publications and third-party periodicals such as The Hub and GMA Forum. He is frequently cited in The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, and The Boston Globe in the USA and globally in the China Economic Times, BBC Radio, and ETRetailBiz India. An engaging speaker, he has addressed numerous Kantar Retail forums and conferences sponsored by WPP’s The Store, GMA, FMI, CIES, NACDS and NARMS.

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Doug Hermanson
Economist

Doug Hermanson, Economist, specializes in data management, forecasting, and applied economics. He focuses on the home improvement sector in addition to the broader retail market. He is a key developer of the econometric models and methodologies used to forecast all of the channel, category, and country level retail market forecasts produced at Kantar Retail. He additionally contributes economic, retail, and consumer insights through customized research, presentations, and syndicated publications. He holds a M.S. degree in economics from The Ohio State University where he developed research on regional retail market development and financial commodity markets.

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Laura Kennedy
Senior Analyst

Laura Kennedy, Senior Analyst, leads research and analysis on home improvement and home goods and also tracks the consumer electronics and office retailers for Kantar Retail. Laura develops forecasts, insights, and content for KRiQ.com as well for direct communication with and presentations for clients. She joined KR after reporting on retail and marketing for the Kiplinger Letter, a business forecasting publication in Washington, DC. Laura graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park, with a B.A. in Economics.

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Vadim Khetsuriani
Director, Retail Insights, Central Eastern Europe and Middle East

Vadim Khetsuriani is the Retail Insights Director, Central Eastern Europe and Middle East. Vadim leads retailer specific merchandising, trade marketing, and trade terms consulting projects in the region of CEE and MENA and manages modern trade growth forecasts and analytics. Being a subject matter expert on business planning with Metro C&C, Auchan, and Carrefour in the CEE and MENA, Vadim works with global manufacturers to develop their sales and marketing teams’ skills and capabilities to engage effectively with these retailers as they expand in fragmented markets.

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Amy Koo
Senior Analyst

Amy Koo is the lead Target analyst, and integrates her experiences in strategic problem solving, technology, and teaching. She was previously Technology Project Manager at the Asian Community Development Corporation and Technology Consultant at Common Impact. Prior to that, she worked with an apparel sizing consultancy that served both mass retailers and designer brands. Amy earned her bachelor’s at Brown University in computer science, with a minor in sociology.

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Jim Leonard
Vice President

Jim Leonard, Vice President of Custom & Applied Research, leads custom research and facilitated workshops for clients. He brings a strong background in international market development and benchmarking work, translating best practices information into actionable insight for manufacturers and retailers. His background includes product development and content syndication, custom training, custom publishing, and survey services.

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Steve Mader
Director, Digital Retail

Steve Mader, Director of Digital Retail, leads Kantar Retail’s research on the global impact technology has on retail—from inside the store, to online, and everywhere in between. He also tracks Walmart International for KR and is responsible for research and insights on retailing in Canada as well as across Latin America. Steve is a trainer for KR’s syndicated events and webinars, and has given speeches to industry organizations on technology, digital path to purchase, and the store of the future. Steve joined Kantar Retail in July 2008, after completing his Masters of Business & Technology from the University of Waterloo.

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David Marcotte
Senior Vice President, Retail Insights

David Marcotte, Senior Vice President, Retail Insights, leads the cross-channel team and focuses on core retail processes, international retail, and multi-channel. He is a consultant and public speaker on these and other topics such as merchandising, M&A, IT design, loss prevention, pricing, category management, supply chain, and business intelligence. He spent 20 years in retail, half in the stores and half in executive management. He has also been a member of the Association for Retail Technology Standards (ARTS) and the IBM Academy of Sciences.

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Rachel McGuire
Senior Analyst

Rachel McGuire, Senior Analyst, is the lead analyst for Kantar Retail’s shopper insights research. She analyzes shopper data from the ShopperScape® survey to supply shopper insights for numerous Kantar Retail reports and events. She also works extensively with clients to help them mine actionable shopper insights to answer a broad range of business questions. Rachel came to Kantar Retail in 2008 with a background in political science, research methodology, statistics, and survey research.

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Leon Nicholas
Senior Vice President, Retail Insights

Leon Nicholas, Senior Vice President, Retail Insights, focuses on mass merchandisers. With nearly twenty years of experience in the consumer goods and retail industry, Leon brings a diverse background in syndicated data, store management, sales force development, consulting, and client relations. He is frequently cited in both the national and trade press. A sought-after speaker, he has addressed the National Retail Federation, FMI, Outdoor Industry Conference, and the World Economic Conference.

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Mike Paglia
Principal Analyst

Mike Paglia, Principal Analyst, is the lead analyst for Kantar Retail’s research on both the US grocery channel and the US value discounter channel.  A regular blogger, writer, and presenter, Mike shares insights on various aspects of the supermarket industry, as well as how it intersects with the world of social media, digital marketing, and mobile technology.  Mike joined Kantar Retail in June 2008, bringing with him a background in both traditional retail and e-commerce, as well as a BA in Psychology from Providence College.

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Himanshu Pal
Director, Retail Insights

Himanshu Pal, Director of Retail Insights, leads Kantar Retail’s research and analysis on leading European grocery channels and retailers. His area of specialization includes hypermarket, drug, and proximity channels along with global retailers such as Carrefour and Tesco. Himanshu is a trainer for Kantar Retail’s syndicated events, customized onsites, and competency based workshops such as Retailer Financial Models. He holds two master’s degrees in Business Administration and Financial Management, and a bachelor’s degree in economics and commerce.

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John Rand
Senior Vice President, Retail Insights

John Rand, Senior Vice President, Retail Insights, focuses on supermarket, club, and value discounter channels. He advises retailers and suppliers, leveraging his background in store operations and design, branded product sales, merchandising, and category management. John has been featured on FMI, GMA, NACDS, and CHPA programs; he has served on IRI’s Product Advisory Board and the GMA/ASMC Technology Steering Committee.

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Bryan Roberts
Director, Retail Insights

Bryan Roberts is the Retail Insights Director for Kantar Retail EMEA, based in London. Prior to joining Kantar Retail, Bryan was the Global Research Director at an international retail intelligence provider. Bryan has around 15 years of experience in the retail research and insights industry and has specialised in themes such as private label strategy, store concept development, Walmart and discount retailing, working for clients including some of the world’s largest retailers and suppliers. Bryan is a frequent commentator on retail issues for the global media and a sought after speaker at trade events.

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Jahnia Sandford
Analyst

Jahnia Sandford, Analyst, leads Kantar Retail’s research on apparel retailing. Using both quantitative and qualitative research approaches, she monitors apparel developments across leading department, specialty, and mass retailers to develop insights about how the apparel retailer landscape will evolve going forward. Jahnia graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a degree in finance and accounting and holds an M.S. in Management. Her industry work experience includes time at Macy’s Inc. and DSW in finance and marketing positions.

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Kate Senzamici
Analyst

Kate Senzamici is an Analyst on Kantar Retail’s shopper insights team and has a hand in all aspects of the ShopperScape® product. She supports both internal and external clients in applying ShopperScape® data across all components of retail, as well as creates syndicated, shopper-based web content. Kate studied English at Providence College and an earned an M.A. in Applied Sociology from UMASS Boston. She came to Kantar Retail in late 2010.

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Robin Sherk
Director, Retail Insights

Robin Sherk, Director of Retail Insights for Kantar Retail’s syndicated research on Walmart and the Canadian market. She often contributes to the company’s publication, Breakthrough Insights, and is instrumental in developing the research and framing the analysis for Kantar Retail’s exclusive interpretations and supplier implications. She is a trainer for syndicated seminars, providing guidance to numerous Fortune 500 consumer packaged goods companies. Her background is in market research, branding, and marketing consulting.

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Phil Smiley
CEO Kantar Retail Asia Pacific

Philip Smiley, CEO, Kantar Retail Asia Pacific, started life in the retail business, working for eight years in a UK retail chain in a variety of roles including store operations, supply chain, corporate marketing, and buying and merchandising. He joined Glendinning in 1999 and after spending four years in the Glendinning UK/Europe division working with both retailer and supplier clients, relocated to the US to help establish the firm’s American consultancy. Following three and a half years in the US, working with leading consumer and B2B clients, Phil moved to Asia to take over the Glendinning Asia Pacific consulting unit. In 2010, Glendinning Management Consultants joined Cannondale Associates, MVI, and Retail Forward to create Kantar Retail. Phil became the CEO of Kantar Retail Asia Pacific.

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Ben Than Soe
Analyst

Ben Than Soe, Analyst, holds responsibility for research, analysis, and insights pertaining to Amazon, eCommerce, and digital retailing. He regularly contributes to an array of KRiQ publications, and also develops content used for client engagements such as webinars, events, and forum presentations. Prior to joining Kantar Retail, Ben managed consumer and B2B online communities at Communispace Corporation, worked as a professional services analyst for CPG clients at The Nielsen Company, and led a retail merchandising team within Kraft Food’s field sales organization.

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Mary Brett Whitfield
Senior Vice President

Mary Brett Whitfield, Senior Vice President, leads shopper insights research and content development for Kantar Retail. Mary Brett has extensive experience helping retailers and suppliers leverage shopper insights and other primary research data for performance improvement. She has worked at retail companies in market research, strategic planning, and sales development roles and has a strong background in industry and company analysis, competitive positioning work, apparel retailing, and online retailing.

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Anne Zybowski
Vice President

Anne Zybowski, Vice President, Retail Insights, leads all of Kantar Retail’s digital retailing research and insights. In addition to her focus on e-commerce and how digital is impacting the path-to-purchase and the bricks-and-mortar store, she is also involved in our apparel line of trade. Anne recently worked as the lead analyst on Target, Walmart, and Sears/Kmart. She has recently been featured in National Retail Federation’s “Big Show” and Mobile Marketing Association programs among other industry events. Before joining Kantar Retail, Anne was a Vice President at Stern Stewart & Co. working as the lead project manager and consultant for a variety of retailers including JCPenney, Whole Foods Market, and Ahold. Other industry experience includes pharmaceutical, automotive, CPG, and Information Technology.

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