Leading Retailers Ready to Help Lead Healing, Rebuilding

By [ Brian Dodge ]
Washington, DC
06/01/2020

Today the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) issued the following statement from President Brian Dodge.

"This morning retailers are cleaning up broken storefronts, preparing to rebuild burned out stores, and mending broken hearts.

"The COVID-19 crisis brought the entire retail family together over the past few months. As an industry, we’ve worked collaboratively with the singular mission of keeping employees and customers safe while ensuring that every family, in every community, had access to food, medicine, and the necessities to persevere.

"There was a feeling in recent weeks that things were headed in the right direction, and that carefully reopening the economy was possible, and that a sense of normalcy was around the corner.

"But the senseless death of George Floyd and the ensuing violence of the last few nights has shattered more than storefronts, it has broken the fragile confidence of a nation already struggling with anxiety, frustration, and fear.

"Hate is its own virus, and when allowed to spread, its impact is devastating. We must tackle the spread of hate and fear with the same determination we’ve fought the coronavirus. Retailers are proud to be an incredibly diverse industry filled with talented people from all walks of life, and we are ready to help lead the rebuilding and healing."

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RILA is the US trade association for leading retailers. We convene decision-makers, advocate for the industry, and promote operational excellence and innovation. Our aim is to elevate a dynamic industry by transforming the environment in which retailers operate.

RILA members include more than 200 retailers, product manufacturers, and service suppliers, which together account for more than $1.5 trillion in annual sales, millions of American jobs, and more than 100,000 stores, manufacturing facilities, and distribution centers domestically and abroad.