Washington, DC – (April 22, 2009) – Leslie G. Sarasin, president and chief executive officer, Food Marketing Institute (FMI) today issued the following statement following the announcement of the retirement of Tracy Mullin, president and CEO, National Retail Federation (NRF), the merger of NRF and the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), and the leadership of Sandy Kennedy, president, RILA who is handling the merger transition:


“On behalf of FMI, I wish Tracy much success in her future endeavors; her leadership and representation of the retail industry will be missed by all of us. It will be my pleasure to continue working collaboratively with Sandy on critical industry issues before Congress and the Obama Administration, as well as to support the leadership of the new organization that emerges.”

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