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Arcadia Group: World Exclusive - Green and Drexler to share stage at World Retail Congress.(M2 PressWIRE Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) RDATE:07022008 Millard (Mickey) Drexler, CEO and chairman of J Crew and Sir Philip Green, billionaire owner of the Arcadia Group, will share a stage for the first time ever, as they join forces at the World Retail Congress. In an unmissable World exclusive, Drexler, who grew clothing company Gap from a 400 million to a 14 billion dollar company and is now credited with the phenomenal turnaround of J Crew, and Green, the force behind market leading brands such as Topshop, Miss Selfridge and Dorothy Perkins, will share their combined insight on today's retail market. Two of the most innovative and entrepreneurial fashion retailers, the pair will be interviewed live on stage in front of an audience of Congress delegates. They are not alone. Four out of the five top retailers in the world will speak as part of the three day programme, including Wal-Mart, Carrefour, Tesco and Metro. For Dr Eckhard Cordes, CEO and Chairman of Metro Group, the Congress will constitute his first major address. In total, more than one hundred of the world's leading retail decision makers will speak, including such luminaries as Patrick Bousquet-Chavanne, Group President, The Estee Lauder Companies Inc., Anders Dahlvig, President and CEO, Ikea; Dr William Fung, Group Managing Director, Li & Fung; Joe Gromek, President and CEO, Warnaco; Jon sgeir Johannesson, CEO, Baugur Group; Dr Lev Khasis, CEO, X5; Michael Luscombe, CEO, Woolworths Australia; Stefano Pessina, Executive Chairman, Alliance Boots Limited; James Stanway, Senior Director, Global Supply Chain Initiatives, Wal-Mart; Trudy Sullivan, President, Talbots; and Wu Jiangzhong, Chairman, Wumart Stores Inc. Issues ranging from the business of sustainability, to driving growth in international markets and the global customer revolution will all feature strongly on the 2008 Congress agenda, which will comprise five plenary sessions and twenty focused business streams. In many sessions the debate will be thrown open to the floor for discussion by an audience not only of retailers, but also policy makers and their influencers, providing a unique and comprehensive insight into many of the critical issues affecting the industry. Government Ministers from the emerging markets of Braziland Turkeywill equally be taking part, as will the Executive Director of the United Nations Global Compact, Georg Kell. Ian McGarrigle of the World Retail Congress said: "The opportunity to hear such luminaries as Sir Philip Green and Mickey Drexler on stage together for the first time will be an unmissable event for anyone involved in the retail sector. Their combined insight into today's retail market will form an invaluable part of the World Retail Congress programme for the thousands of retail decision-makers and influencers that are expected to attend this April." The World Retail Congress will be held at the CCIB International Conference Centre in Barcelonafrom 9 to 11 April 2008. The Congress is organised by Emap Communications, with key sponsors including Visa, CBRE, Deloitte, Fujitsu and Oracle. Notes to editors WORLD RETAIL CONGRESS: Created in direct response to the demands of retailers, and supported by major international players including Tesco, Carrefour, Ikea, Alshaya, and Best Buy, the World Retail Congress will again bring together the world's retail leaders for high-level debate with international policy makers. The aim is to drive growth in the global retail economy, promote the benefits of global retail excellence and gain sustainable, competitive edge in domestic and international markets. With thousands of key retail professionals and politicians expected to attend, the focus will be on discussing and influencingthe issues for change. Further details are available at www.worldretailcongress.com or email [email protected] Millard (Mickey) Drexler: Millard (Mickey) Drexler invested in and became Chairman, CEO of J.Crew Group, Inc. in January 2003. Over the past five years, he and his team have brought new inspiration to the J.Crew brand, taking it public on the New York Stock Exchange in June 2006. J.Crew Group recently launched two new companies: Crewcuts-a children's collection for ages 2 through 10, and Madewell, a casual denim-based line of clothing for cool, hip women of all ages. Prior to joining J.Crew, Mr. Drexler spent eighteen years at Gap, Inc. where he was named president in 1987 and CEO in 1995. While there, the company grew from 400 million to 14 billion dollars in sales. Mr. Drexler also engineered a business turnaround at Ann Taylor, while serving as president and CEO from 1980-1983. Born and raised in the Bronx, he began his career at Bloomingdale's in 1968. Mr. Drexler also serves as a Director on the Board of Apple Inc. Sir Philip Green: Sir Philip Green owns some of the United Kingdom's largest retailers, including Bhs and the Arcadia Group. He first came to prominence in 1985 turning around and finally selling denim retailer Jean Jeanie. In 1988, he became Chairman and Chief Executive ofAmber Day a publicly quoted company. In the early 1990s Sir Philip bought the department store chain Owen Owen which at the time had 12 branches trading under the Owen Owen and Lewis's brand names. In 2000 Sir Philip and his family bought the then ailing department store BHS for GBP200 million, and today it is thought to be worth over GBP1.2 billion. In 2002 Sir Philip and his family purchased the Arcadia Group which owns well-known High Street brands including Burton, Dorothy Perkins, Evans, Miss Selfridge, Topshop,Topman and Wallis, and has more than 2300 stores in the UKas well as a growing significant international and on-line business. Tanya Bolton Senior Consultant Holborn Gate, 26 Southampton Buildings London, WC2A 1PB London, New York, Bahrain, Beijing, Bogota, Boston, Cape Town, Chicago, Dubai, Dublin, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, Los Angeles, Manchester, Moscow, Panama City, Paris, San Francisco, Shanghai, Sydneyand WashingtonD.C. CONTACT: Victoria Wallin, FD Tamesis Tel: + 44 (0)20 7269 9360 Tanya Bolton, Senior Consultant, FD Tamesis Tel: +44 (0)20 7269 7296 Tel: +44 (0)7966 293 434 Fax:+44 (0)20 7831 6038 e-mail: [email protected] WWW: http://www.fdtamesis.com ((M2 Communications Ltd disclaims all liability for information provided within M2 PressWIRE. Data supplied by named party/parties. Further information on M2 PressWIRE can be obtained at http://www.presswire.net on the world wide web. Inquiries to [email protected])). Copyright ? 2008 M2 Communications Ltd. |