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Retail mirrors industry in employment

WOMEN ELITE 2007: Women rise through ranks of biggest chains

By Wendy Wilson -- Video Business, 3/26/2006

The 2007 Women Elite: Retail Click here for Studios Click here for Independent Suppliers Click here for Specialties Click here for Technology

MARCH 26 | Blockbuster’s Joyce Woodward considers herself lucky to have grown up professionally in a company that was “gender agnostic.”

Woodward, senior VP of rental product for Blockbuster, joined the company as a buyer in 1993, climbing up through the corporate ranks from there.

“We have women in key management roles in every department,” Woodward says, citing as examples Lori Flynn, VP of product for the online rental service, and Karen Raskopf, senior VP of corporate communications.

“At Blockbuster, [being a woman] has never been a problem on an individual level, and I can also see that so many of these women in key roles have been promoted from within,” Woodward says.

Women in various fields

Woodward believes that Blockbuster’s openness toward women at the executive level extends to the broader retail community, perhaps inspired by the attitudes that spring from the entertainment industry.

That theory would seem to be supported by a quick glance over the organizational charts at competing rental retailers, where women have made inroads in various fields: Michelle Lewis is senior VP and treasurer at Movie Gallery, for example, and Leslie Kilgore is chief marketing officer at Netflix. On the sell-through front, Leigh Ann Moore is divisional merchandise manager for Circuit City.

Although some of the Women Elite retailers weren’t able to comment for this section because of corporate policy, others in the industry attest to their accomplishments.

“Leigh Ann understands DVD and music in exceptional depth,” says Bo Andersen, president of the Entertainment Merchants Assn., of Circuit City’s Moore. “She knows the products, she knows the industry, and she knows retailing. Using her knowledge and a measure of personal fortitude, she has positioned Circuit City as a leader in the category.”

Branching out

Starbucks likes to concentrate on making coffee—and making music selections for customers while it’s at it. And while Nikkole Denson has served as the company’s director of business development, the corporate caffeine giant has begun to test the reception of select video titles as well.

Last February, Starbucks brought We Are … The Laurie Berkner Band to its retail locations. Packaged with a music CD containing five original songs, the DVD marked the first original music video collection offered by Starbucks. In June, Starbucks began offering a music and video collection for adults with Image’s Chuck Berry CD/DVD title, Hail!Hail! Rock ‘n’ Roll.

Those releases paved the way for Denson’s specialty, feature film. A partnership with Lionsgate for promotion of the theatrical release Akeelah and the Bee followed, bringing that title into Starbucks locations in August.

Through the fourth quarter, Starbucks’ interest in video was still percolating. The company teamed with Turner Classic Movies for another video exclusive, this one for the holidays: a DVD/CD edition of the 1954 classic White Christmas (DVD available from Paramount Home Entertainment).

2007 WOMEN ELITE: RETAIL

Nikkole Denson Starbucks Entertainment, Director of Business Development

Leslie Kilgore Netflix, Chief Marketing Officer

Michelle Lewis Movie Gallery, Senior VP and Treasurer

Leigh Ann Moore Circuit City, Divisional Merchandise Manager

Joyce Woodward Blockbuster, Senior VP and General Merchandise Manager

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