Why engage a small and highly focused retail executive search firm?

You know that successful retailing requires special insights — and a special breed of person to transform those insights into reality. Now, big search firms are discovering what you've known all along: Identifying those exceptional individuals and ensuring a good fit with your organization requires more than a superficial "understanding" of your business. How do you know if you're thinking outside the box if you don't know what the box looks like?

The retail specialist with the expertise you need

By focusing exclusively on the retail industry, Plummer & Associates has gained the knowledge, experience and perspective of a specialist — an expert. In the process, we've earned a reputation that few, if any, executive search firms can match. What's more, in this niche market, our reputation is on the line every day. We've got to earn your trust — and keep it. We are tough judges of talent because we grasp the issues more deeply. We know the players. But more importantly, the pretenders.

Reaching Beyond the Expected

You might be surprised to learn that as a retail specialist, we often reach outside the retail industry to discover the talent needed to fit a specific engagement.
We have discovered that disciplines such as marketing, information systems, logistics, human resources, and corporate finance are not as well developed or as sophisticated in the retail industry. The key to success has been identifying key executives in industries with analogous issues to those so important to being successful in the day-to-day customer interaction of the retail industry.
It is easy to recruit people from outside the retail industry into a retail position. The insight and experience to find those who have the characteristics to be successful in the retail industry is our specialty.

Global Retailing Reach

One of the best-kept secrets about Plummer & Associates is our global experience. It takes marketing visionaries to bridge continents and cultures. Many of the successfully filled positions listed here required candidates with international experience. We have successfully built teams to lead retailers in Europe, Asia and Latin America. Teams we have built have also successfully led overseas owned ventures in the U.S.
From the beginning, we established relationships with both international retailers and independent search firms worldwide. We continue to develop and enhance these relationships. Based on your needs we can consult and refer work to be conducted in other countries and/or identify retailers abroad for U.S. positions.

Some are bigger, none is better

Because we're small, nothing is delegated. Each associate must excel at his or her responsibilities. You work only with people who know what they are doing, and do it with confidence. We are not learning the search business at your expense. At Plummer & Associates, we never end up competing with each other. Our searches are tightly coordinated to capture the best of team synergy and individual effort. Another critical reason for selecting a small, highly focused firm such as Plummer & Associates is that we carefully select the number of searches we engage in, so that you avoid missing outstanding candidates due to "off-limit" policies.

The Plummer Difference

You know how important it is to have a defining difference in retailing. In executive searches for the retail industry, the defining difference is Plummer & Associates.