Retail Marketing Agency SPAR Names New CEO

In the US, retail merchandising and marketing services provider SPAR Group has appointed R. Scott Popaditch as President and CEO, replacing Jill Blanchard who left last month.

SPAR Group offers a range of retail services to ensure client products are in stock and on the shelf. These include category implementation, price and point-of-sale audits, and marketing research covering all product and trade classifications, in addition to logistics and store set-up services. The company currently works in nine countries through its operations in the US, Canada, Japan, South Africa, India and China.

Popaditch (pictured) joins with a background of leadership roles in retail services, staffing and investment banking, focused on mergers and acquisitions. Most recently, he served as Chief Commercial Officer at Suntree Snack Foods, prior to which he was CEO of investment firm ICC Capital, and of insurance risk auditing firm IQ Reports; and he held senior roles with retail marketing firms the Sunflower Group and PromoWorks. Earlier, he co-founded in-store marketing and fulfilment agency Serv Corp.

Blanchard has left to become President USA at grocery retailer loyalty specialist BrandLoyalty. Chairman Robert Brown said: 'Scott comes to us with a proven track record of success in multiple areas including, sales, marketing, operations, technology and M&A. Combined with his leadership credentials, and significant experience in merchandising services, we are confident in his ability to lead SPAR's global mission of being a solutions provider dedicated to helping clients get more out of the store'.

Web site: www.sparinc.com .