For the past several years, Hispanic Retail 360 magazine's sister publication, Progressive Grocer has paid tribute to the outstanding women in the grocery industry through its Top Women in Grocery program. This year, HR 360 magazine launches its own recognition for Hispanic women who have emerged as leaders across all channels of retailing and among the leading companies that service the retail industry.

The first-ever 2011 Top Hispanic Women in Retail winners represent a diverse group of companies. One is the senior multicultural marketing manager for one of the largest big-box retailers in the world. Two others work for two of the leading grocery chains and wholesalers in the country. Another runs distribution operations for a large chain of small food warehouse stores, and the fifth woman heads multicultural sales for one of the world's largest convenience snack, food and beverage companies.

Our 2011 list of Top Hispanic Women in Retail, in alphabetical order, consists of:

• Alejandra Barron, senior manager, multicultural marketing, The Home Depot
• Teresa Chipps, vice president, independent marketing and education, Supervalu
• Mirna Franjul Evans, strategic sourcing manager, direct product, Delhaize America
• Marisol Gutierrez, general manager, distribution center, Smart & Final
• Marie Quintana, senior vice president, multicultural sales, PepsiCo

Alejandra Barron

ALEJANDRA BARRON
Alejandra Barron is senior manager of multicultural marketing at The Home Depot. She is responsible for plan development and implementation management of strategies that address niche segments: African-American and Hispanic. Barron has a decade of experience in multicultural marketing in both corporate and agency roles. Prior to joining The Home Depot, she was senior manager of marketing at JCPenney.

Barron was a featured panelist at the 2011 Hispanic Retail 360 Summit, held in La Jolla, Calif. Speaking on a panel discussing marketing to blue-collar Hispanic males, Barron emphasized the importance of connecting with this particular segment in a relevant and passionate way. "It is not just about the growth or the demographics," she said. "It's about the pyschographics." Home Depot, she said, strives to connect with Hispanic blue-collar workers through key passion points. For example, the home improvement and building supply retailer works hard to market to this consumer in a relevant way — making shopping as easy and comfortable as possible for them, and engaging them as consumers constantly and consistently.

Home Depot reaches this customer mostly through television and radio, utilizing key sponsorships like Major League Soccer (MLS). The Home Depot has been the "Official Home Improvement Sponsor" of the Mexican National Team since 2003 and serves as the "Official Home Improvement Retailer" of MLS. Also, The Home Depot sponsors five MLS teams — the New York Red Bulls, Los Angeles Galaxy, Seattle Sounders FC, Houston Dynamo and Chivas USA. In 2011, The Home Depot was the "Official Home Improvement Sponsor" of the CONCACAF Gold Cup Tournament.

Home Depot also uses in-store marketing techniques like signage, and customer service such as Spanish-speaking employees.

"We really want to develop a relationship with them [blue-collar Hispanic males]," Barron said. "We want to engage in a conversation with them, ideally."

Teresa Chipps

TERESA CHIPPS
Teresa Chipps was named vice president of independent marketing and education for all of Supervalu's independent grocers in June. She is responsible for leading the development of marketing capabilities that enhance the competitiveness of Supervalu-supplied independent grocers. She also oversees Supervalu University, which provides online and classroom training designed specifically for the independent retailing environment.

Chipps came to Supervalu from Kellogg Co., where she worked as the director of team sales for five years. Prior to joining Kellogg, she worked for 16 years in positions of increasing responsibility in sales, marketing and innovation at Procter & Gamble. She also worked for eight years at Mercantile Stores.

At Supervalu, Chipps' previous posts included vice president of marketing for the wholesaler/grocers' northern region and vice president of sales and market development. In 2010, she led a 130-person, multi-disciplinary team in developing the northern region's independent retailer base via new store acquisitions, store development, and sales and profit growth. Her work helped generate $58.2 million in sales secured through new/renewed supply agreements and store development.

Chipps also introduced a strategic planning unit to Supervalu for improved market sales planning and streamlined communication between merchandising and sales teams.

She holds a bachelor's degree in business and marketing from Regis College in Denver and is a member of the Network of Executive Women (NEW), an organization that promotes diversity, career development and networking opportunities for female leaders in the consumer packaged goods and retail industries. A tireless advocate for diversity, Chipps launched the Supervalu "Women Connect" program, which aims to build collaboration and long-term relationships among women within Supervalu's organization and its retail customers.

Originally from Denver, Chips and her husband, John, are residents of Eden Prairie, Minn. She has two sons, Michael and Ryan.

Chipps was also recognized as a 2011 Top Women in Grocery by Progressive Grocer magazine.

Mirna Franjul Evans

MIRNA FRANJUL EVANS
Mirna Franjul Evans is strategic sourcing manager, private brand, for Delhaize America. In this position, she is responsible for sourcing private brand categories for the seven U.S. banners in Delhaize America, including Food Lion. Her goal is to ensure the most-qualified suppliers are chosen to deliver great-quality private brand products to Delhaize America's customers.

With more than 20 years of retail experience, Evans has held leadership positions in purchasing, operations, organizational development, retail training, merchandising, category management, and most recently, private brand.

She is most proud of her leadership role in the creation and growth of the Hispanic foods category at Food Lion from 2001 to 2007. In this role, Evans was responsible for procuring and merchandising products that cater to the explosively growing Hispanic population — helping to make Food Lion a grocery shopping destination for Hispanics residing in the communities it serves.

Evans was also one of the founding members of the Retailer Advisory Board of the Hispanic Retail 360 Summit. A native of the Dominican Republic, she is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Catawba College.

This Hispanic marketing pioneer serves on the regional team of the Carolina Chapter for NEW. She has a 20-year-old daughter and currently resides in Salisbury, N.C.

Marisol Gutierrez

MARISOL GUTIERREZ
As general manager of Smart & Final's Commerce, Calif., distribution center (DC), Marisol Gutierrez oversees its daily operations, including a $27 million operating budget, 300 associates and service to all 182 of the chain's warehouse stores. She also manages the yearly strategies for growth within the DC, oversees the leadership development program for her direct reports, and is responsible for working with transportation to ensure uninterrupted service to Smart & Final's stores.

Last year, her leadership played a critical role in driving efficiency and maintaining a low-cost structure in Smart & Final's supply chain. Her team at the Commerce DC processed 7 percent more cubes and cases, while still lowering their variable dollars by 4 percent vs. 2009.

In addition, her team achieved a nearly 10-percent improvement in productivity, with no new capital investment and no new software. Gutierrez's team also significantly improved safety results through a comprehensive safety awareness initiative that led to more than $600,000 in savings related to worker's compensation and related costs.

Outside the workplace, Gutierrez received the Class Spokesperson award for the USC Food Industry Management Program in 2009. She spoke at the awards banquet, as well as at the Western Association of Food Chains convention. She is also a member of the Smart & Final Scholarship Task Force.

Gutierrez was also recognized as a 2011 Top Women in Grocery by Progressive Grocer magazine.

Marie Quintana

MARIE QUINTANA
Marie Quintana is senior vice president of PepsiCo multicultural sales, leading the sales activation of PepsiCo's ethnic programs. In this role, Quintana drives the customer strategy for PepsiCo's multicultural markets, taking an integrated approach to align brands, retail activation programs and community initiatives. She also develops strategies to enhance consumer loyalty and strengthen partnerships with PepsiCo's strategic customers.

Quintana's list of accolades is lengthy. She's been named one of the top five Latina Executives in Corporate America by Latina Style magazine. She's featured in a book called "The NEW Woman Rules." She's been recognized multiple times by Progressive Grocer in its Top Women in Grocery list.

Recently, Quintana developed an integrated Hispanic PepsiCo strategy, working with PepsiCo's external ethnic advisory board to deliver companywide industry-leading Hispanic insights, and teamed with various c-suite members of retailers on how to align their internal organizations with the multicultural demographic changes of shoppers.

She also collaborated with the Feed the Children organization, pulling together employees and retailers in five cities to deliver meals to 16,000 families. A founding member of the Women of Color Alliance, she is an active leader and participant in a variety of local and national boards and organizations.

Quintana was also a featured panelist at the 2011 Hispanic Retail 360 Summit and PepsiCo was the presenting sponsor of the event.