The University of Arizona's Terry J. Lundgren Center for Retailing will hold its annual Global Retailing Conference April 12-13. This year's event will be at the JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort in Tucson.

A number of the retail industry's innovators will present during the two-day conference, the 16th in the series. Among the speakers will be senior executives from Macy's, Home Depot, Walmart, PetSmart, General Growth Partners, Kraft, Nielsen and Li and Fung.

UA alumnus Terry J. Lundgren, the chairman, president and CEO of Macy's, Inc., is scheduled to deliver the opening remarks.

The annual conference serves as a forum and think tank for emerging ideas in a setting that fuses business and academia. Presentations will focus on strategies and techniques for engaging customers in an increasingly sophisticated landscape for retailing and related industries.

"Our industry is changing quickly, with new practices and technologies emerging at every turn to help us win with customers," said Lundgren.

"This conference is designed to provide an in-depth look at some of the leading companies that are changing the face of retailing, and the ideas that continue to drive their success," he said.

"As one of the nation's largest and most accomplished centers for retailing education, the University of Arizona provides a unique setting to see and hear the thinking of our industry's leading executives within the collaborative context of an academic institution that is brimming with ideas for engaging our customers in the future." 

In addition to Lundgren, speakers will include:

• Frank Blake, CEO, Home Depot
• David L. Calhoun, CEO, Nielsen
• Barry Calpino, vice president for innovation, Kraft Foods
• Steve Church, senior vice president, Avnet, Inc.
• Rick Darling, president, LF USA Inc. (Li and Fung Limited)
• Elie Dekel, president, Saban Brands
  
• Michelle Gloeckler, senior vice president and general merchandising manager for the Home division of Walmart
• Poppy King, cosmetics entrepreneur and innovation business leader
• Kasey M. Lobaugh, Omnichannel Retail Leader, Deloitte Consulting LLP
• Sandeep Mathrani, CEO, General Growth Properties
• Robert F. Moran, chairman and CEO, PetSmart
• Gwen Dixon Morrison, CEO-Americas and Australasia, The Store (WPP)
• Debra A. Pruent, member of the management board, GfK Group
• Paula Rosenblum, managing partner, Retail Systems Research
• Peter Sachse, chief stores officer, Macy's

The Global Retailing Conference is presented through the support of sponsors Macy's, Deloitte, J.G. Boswell Company, PetSmart, Supima Cotton, Saban Brands, Home Depot, Walmart, Yahoo!, Green Mountain Consulting, Hudson River Group, Microsoft, Dick's Sporting Goods, Acento, Bridgestone/Firestone, Defero, SAP, E&J Gallo Winery, Verizon Wireless and Avnet.  

Details of the conference, including a complete agenda, are posted online with pages on Facebook.com (keyword Global Retailing Conference), Twitter.com/globalretailcon and LinkedIn.com.

Attendance is limited, and registration is required.

The Terry J. Lundgren Center for Retailing is part of the UA's John and Doris Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences. It brings together the resources and expertise of academia and the retail industry, with a shared goal of developing strong future retail professionals.

The Norton School is among the nation's leading retailing and consumer sciences programs, with about 500 students enrolled in classes and degree tracks.