SPRING LAKE, Mich. -- Victory Electronic Cigarettes Corp., has announced the Bill Fields has joined the company's board of directors. Fields is chairman of Fields Texas Ltd. LLC, Four Corners Sourcing International and a managing partner of Strategic Brands LLC. Fields Texas recently completed a partnership arrangement with Victory to expand retail sales and distribution to major strategic retailers and distributors worldwide.
"Early on, our team identified the e-cigarette industry as one of the most disruptive consumer package good technologies within the past 50 years and understood that retail distribution would be the key to success," Fields said.
Fields Texas partners with brands and management teams to accelerate growth, expand distribution and gain retail penetration. Victory's existing sales and leadership team will be working closely with the Fields Texas team to expand into major strategic retailers and partner with major U.S. and international distributors.
Building on a well-developed direct to consumer business, Victory began retail expansion in March 2013 after significant investment to become a low-cost producer with one of the most efficient supply chains in the industry. Victory's platform and systems now enable rapid scaling of the business to national and regional retail accounts and distributors in the United States, and major distributors, markets and global retailers internationally, the company said.
This new partnership fully leverages Victory's platform and recent expansion to offer new retailer and distribution partners enhanced service, support and customized brand solutions.
"This agreement represents a significant step forward in our global expansion strategy," said Brent Willis, chairman and CEO of Victory and former CCO at InBev and division president at The Coca-Cola Co. "We believe a key to quickly becoming the leader in the fast-growing e-cigarette industry is global distribution. The Fields Texas team will be an excellent partner to help achieve this. In addition, Bill Field's deep knowledge of the retail industry and leadership on our board of directors will be invaluable as we work towards our goal of building the leading electronic cigarette company in the world."
Fields is a former Wal-Mart executive. During his 25-year career with Wal-Mart, he held numerous senior executive positions within the organization, including assistant to Wal-Mart founder, Sam Walton; senior vice president of distribution and transportation; and executive vice president of Wal-Mart Inc. culminating in the role of president and CEO of the Wal-Mart Stores Division. Fields was responsible for more than 2,000 stores and 600,000 employees, and was responsible for strategic planning in operations, merchandising, marketing and logistics.
Previously, Fields also served as chairman and CEO of Factory 2-U Stores Inc.; president and CEO of Hudson's Bay Co.; and as chairman and CEO of Blockbuster Entertainment Group, a division of Viacom Inc.
Austin, Texas-based Fields Texas is a private holding company owned and operated by Fields. Through its management consultancy and private-equity group, it seeks to partner with companies within the consumer product, retail and retail service sectors to accelerate growth through implementation of organic and non-organic revenue growth initiatives.
Spring Lake, Mich.-based Victory offers a range of e-cigarette brands for different markets and customers, and it has applied for patents on new technology.
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