Las Vegas – Elly Valas has resigned as president/CEO of the North American Retail Dealers Association (NARDA) following 12 years of service with the trade group. She will remain in her post through January 2004 and the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) unless a successor can be found before then.
Valas, who is a guest speaker and exhibitor at this week’s Brand Source/AVB buying group convention at the Paris hotel here, told TWICE that ‘All organizations need new blood,’ and that she ‘felt it was time to move on.’
Valas, who was also a past president of NARDA, from 1987 to 1988, said she would continue to work with the group on its NARDA Vision Program, although her new focus will be on management training and consulting within the CE and major appliance industries.
She is also working on two books: ‘Guerilla Retailing,’ for the Guerilla Marketing Association, and ‘Lessons I Learned On the Back Nine,’ which finds lessons in pro golf that can be applied to business, such as playing to one’s strengths.
Valas coincidentally gave notice on the same day that executive director Deborah Smith submitted her resignation to the Professional Audio Video Retailers Association (PARA). Smith will also be leaving that group after 12 years to start her own business.
