Manchester, N.H.—With summer convention and the upcoming launch of Retail 2.0, CCA Global Retail Group has updated its team with an expanded role for Cathey Gundlach Links, vice president of retail merchandising. Links, who has been with CCA Global Partners since 2006, will now lead the entirety of the retail merchandising efforts in-store and digitally.
Additionally, Chris Gaglio has been promoted to senior director of merchandising, specializing in soft surface. Gaglio has been with CCA for more than 20 years. In his new role, Gaglio will drive the retail group’s soft surface initiatives.
“Our merchandising team is well positioned for Retail 2.0 and beyond,” said Keith Spano, president of Flooring America, Flooring Canada, the International Design Guild and Floor Trader. “As a company, we are so fortunate to have such a dynamic and tenured merchandising team supporting our membership. We’re excited to share more about our newest retail initiatives in Nashville in August.”
The Retail 2.0 initiative was unveiled at last year’s summer convention—the first in two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During the conference, CCA Global executives touted the forthcoming Retail 2.0 initiative as one of the most significant in CCA history as it entails new merchandising, digital tools and other ways to enhance the in-store experience.
Select members from Flooring America and Carpet One are testing Retail 2.0 in their stores. How fast it gets fully implemented is largely dependent on member buy-in. Spano told FCNews that the feedback at convention was “overwhelmingly positive,” adding, “I wouldn’t be surprised if we didn’t step on the gas a little bit on this [roll out]. One member came up to me and said, ‘Why are you slowing down on this? We need it now.’”
CCA Global retailers were similarly impressed with availability of digital price tags, which, they said, will help them re-price inventory in a fraction of the time compared to the old way. And, in an environment of periodic price hikes, the program is coming at just the right time.