NRF's Mullins Announces Retirement, NRF Merger With RILA

The National Retail Federation, the United States’ largest retail trade group, often makes news with its consumer surveys or its political advocacy; recently, it broke news when its president and chief executive, Tracy Mullin, announced her retirement on April 22. NRF also announced April 21 it would merge with the Retail Industry Leaders Association to form a single trade association for retailers in Washington, D.C.

Mullin is scheduled to retire later this year. No permanent replacement has been selected for Mullin, who has led NRF since 1993. Sandy Kennedy, the current president of RILA, will serve as the acting chief.

Mullin has worked at NRF for more than 30 years. In an open letter to NRF members, she said her employment contract was due to expire and she wanted to retire.

During her tenure, she oversaw a tripling of the NRF’s annual budget from $12 million to $35 million. NRF acquired several independent trade associations, including Menswear Retailers of America, Shop.org and the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association. She also opened the trade organization up to different kinds of businesses, including restaurants, e-commerce and catalogues.

The merger between NRF and RILA is expected to be completed by fall 2009. Before that time, it must go through a due-diligence process. The merger must be approved by the board of directors and the members of each organization.

The benefits of the merger include a unified voice for retailers in Washington, D.C., according to a trade-group statement. —Andrew Asch