DALLAS -- 7-Eleven Inc. President and CEO Jim Keyes has named Alan Beach vice president of field merchandising and Doug Foster vice president of marketing. Beach and Foster will report to David Podeschi, senior vice president of merchandising.
Doug brings an accomplished track record in marketing and advertising to 7-Eleven," said Keyes "Alan has an extensive operations and merchandising background with the company and in this new capacity, he will be a significant contributor to our merchandising initiatives. I'm looking forward to working with both [image-nocss] of them to continue improving the performance of 7-Eleven and strengthen the brand."
Beach, of Carrollton, Texas, is responsible for leading the execution of merchandising and marketing strategies through the field merchandising organization. In this capacity, sales and merchandising managers for the company's eight regional divisions will report to him.
He joined 7-Eleven in 1977 as a management trainee in Baltimore, Md., following in his father's footsteps, who had just retired after a 23-year career with the company. He continued to excel in a number of business functions such as operations, field merchandising and merchandising, where he successfully led seven different product categories, including Fresh Foods.
Beach also was instrumental in developing the Burger Bite grill item, the Slurpee Splitz-O Cup, Cafe Cooler beverages, 24-oz. Big Brew coffee cup, Dark Mountain Roast coffee and a number of merchandising guidelines, processes and procedures.
Foster, of Irving, Texas, joined the marketing department at 7-Eleven in April 2004 as managing director. He is responsible for 7-Eleven advertising, promotions and marketing plans.
He has an extensive background in marketing. Before joining 7-Eleven, he served as executive vice president and chief marketing officer at FreshLoc Technologies and worked 12 years at the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency in New York as senior vice president and account director. Throughout his career, he has managed a number of high-level business-to-consumer accounts including Procter & Gamble, HJ Heinz, Borden Foods, Pace Foods and retail accounts such as Long John Silvers and Goodyear Auto Service.
Foster's background includes five years as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, a bachelor's degree from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., and six American Marketing Association awards for marketing effectiveness.
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