Former Marketing Guru Focuses on Finery

PEOPLE PROFILE Former Marketing Guru Focuses on Finery creative at heart, Lisa Powelson WHERE ARE THEY NOW? for long. As a stay-at-home mom, I still was able to find use for her talents had the need and desire to create. I Aas director of marketing at three began designing and fabricating home large convenience store retailers during interiors, soft furnishings (window her 16-year industry career, beginning treatments, bedding, decorator with Dallas-based 7-Eleven Inc., which pillows), and children’s themed rooms. she joined in 1988. Now that my son is full-time in school, “My training ground and where I I’ve launched a small business in the found my passion for convenience are Atlanta area called Encore Décor. attributed to 7-Eleven,”says Powelson. Q: How does it differ from being a “At 7-Eleven, I gained invaluable retailer? knowledge and experience in operations, finance, foodservice, marketing and A: Actually, it’s quite similar to retail. building winning teams.” You get to do it all—operating, finance, When she moved on to Mobil in negotiation, marketing, you name it. 1997, Powelson’s creativity was The biggest difference is that I go to my harnessed to help develop the first On Lisa Powelson client’s home or business, rather than The Run Café concept. She ended up them coming to a store. Perhaps in the at Irving Oil, based in St. John, New future, I’ll launch a retail concept for “The industry must continue Brunswick, in 2000, where she helped Encore Décor. remodel, remerchandise and rethink to evolve to meet the needs Q: What are your thoughts about everything from vendor relationships of the time-starved, your former c-store companies today? to bakery concepts. Powelson left Irving in May 2004 multitasking customer.” A: ExxonMobil’s focus on convenience care for her son, Bruce, who was and speed is inspiring. Its Speedpass and having health problems. Fortunately, he is fully recovered ewiz [financial services kiosk] products help those customers and she has found a new outlet for her creative energies: “on the run” to keep up the pace with their busy lives. I’ve interior design. always admired 7-Eleven’s commitment to quality foods with its daily delivery of fresh product. Its constant addition Q: What was the last position you held as a retailer? of new offers keeps the menu enticing and fresh. Irving’s A: My last position as director of marketing was with focus on its customers is evident in its newly branded Irving Oil in New England and Eastern Canada. At Irving, Bluecanoe sites. The offer is focused on the customers and I developed a marketing department from the ground up the fresh, new look is fun. for their convenience retail channel, Mainway. Q: What advice would you offer to today’s c-store operators? In four short years at Irving I accomplished a tremendous amount. We remerchandised every store, A: There is no silver bullet. Businesses are built on launched a new coffee and bakery concept, developed relationships, especially with your customer. The industry strong relationships with key vendors and suppliers, must continue to evolve to meet the needs of the time-starved, remodeled nearly half of the sites, developed and trained multitasking customer. Think outside of the box and consider every store manager on marketing, designed a new store several concepts in your portfolio to meet the customer’s concept, and launched a new convenience store brand. needs in different micro-markets. —Samantha Oller Q: What are you doing now? To submit an item for People Profile, please e-mail A: My character and personality aren’t designed to go idle Samantha Oller at [email protected]. 2.

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