As you know, in April, RILA and the National Retail Federation (NRF) began the process of exploring a merger of the two organizations. That process has now been completed and RILA’s Board of Directors has decided not to move forward with the merger.
Throughout this process, RILA has continued to lead on issues of importance to the retail industry and to deliver the highest quality service to our members. RILA remains committed to our members and to building upon our successes in public policy, operational excellence and educational programming. Specifically, RILA will continue our leadership in those areas that are a priority for our member companies, including reducing unfair interchange fees, fighting organized retail crime, and defeating the Employee Free Choice Act. Further, RILA will aggressively promote the retail industry’s achievements in expanding health care access and reducing the cost of care to consumers. Finally, RILA will continue to advocate for and support innovation, including research and benchmarking, among the many retail disciplines associated with our strategic core competencies; supply chain, finance, asset protection, human resources, sustainability and product safety.
RILA as an organization is membership and service driven. Our strategic plan is guided by our Board of Directors and specific issues and objectives outlined by our councils and committees. This attention to our members has allowed RILA to build a tremendous amount of positive momentum on the public policy side, in productive committee meetings and successful educational conferences, and has led to increases in membership. We look forward to continuing this and striving toward our mission to promote consumer choice and economic freedom through public policy and industry operational excellence. Our priority remains service to our members and advocacy for our industry.
Sandy KennedyPresident