Board members seek electionEight individuals have been nominated for election or
re-election to the Michigan Retailers Association Board of Directors and
the Retailers Fund Board of Trustees. Ballots for voting on the nominees have been mailed to
all MRA members and Retailers Fund participants. Directors and trustees
will be elected at the respective annual meetings of the Association and
the fund, to be held June 25 at Brook Lodge in Augusta. MRA board members seeking re-election are:
Bruce Johnson, president and co-founder of Gazelle
Sports, a specialty athletic footwear and apparel retailer with stores
in downtown Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids and downtown Holland. A graduate of
Kalamazoo College, he opened Gazelle Sports in 1985. The business was
named 2001 Regional Corporate Sponsor of the Year by the Governor’s
Council on Physical Fitness, Health and Sports. Johnson was first elected
to the MRA board in 1996. Mark Schrag, owner of Seasons, an Okemos specialty
store offering unique gifts, furniture, jewelry, gourmet foods and other
personally selected merchandise. He is a Michigan State University graduate
and a former Michigan Department of Transportation planner. He is also
a past board member of Michigan Retailers Services, Inc. Schrag was first
elected to the MRA board in 1996 and currently serves as chair-elect of
the Executive Committee. James Schwark, president of Schwark Furniture,
Shelby Township, a second-generation, family-owned business that operates
four stores in Greater Detroit. A University of Michigan graduate, he
is past president of the Michigan Chapter of the National Home Furnishings
Association and a board member of the national organization. Schwark previously
served on the Michigan Retailers Services, Inc., board and was first elected
to the MRA board in 1998. D. Larry Sherman, retired president of Sherman
Shoes, Inc., Birmingham. He is a former chairman of MRA, Retailers Fund
and the National Shoe Retailers Association. A University of Michigan
graduate, he was named “Business Person of the Year” by the
Birmingham-Bloomfield Chamber of Commerce in 1992 and received that area’s
1996 Community Service Award. Sherman was first elected to the MRA board
in 1982 and currently serves as treasurer. Jean Sarasin, MRA senior
vice president, is a first-time nominee for the MRA board. She joined
MRA in 1981 after working in the banking and accounting fields. Named
vice president of finance in 1990, she was promoted to senior vice president
in 2001 and oversees the Association’s finance and customer service
areas. Sarasin serves on the boards of Michigan Retailers Services, Inc.,
Retailers Fund and the South Lansing Hilltoppers Adult Day Care Center. Retailers Fund board members seeking re-election are:
Ann Gail, owner and president of Gail’s Office
Supply Co., Detroit, a family-owned business that operates three stores
in Greater Detroit. She serves on the board of the Metropolitan Affairs
Coalition - an alliance of business, labor and government focused on improving
quality of life in southeast Michigan - and the National Dealer Advisory
Board for S.P. Richards Company, the office products distribution group
of Genuine Parts Co. (NAPA). Gail was first elected to the Retailers Fund
board in 1991 and currently serves as chair. Rod Phillips, owner of Country Casuals, Petoskey,
a small chain of year-round and seasonal ladies’ apparel stores located
throughout northwest Michigan. He attended Michigan State University and
worked as a commercial pilot before starting the retail business with
his wife, Judy, in 1974. He serves as a member of the Petoskey Downtown
Development Authority. Phillips was first elected to the Retailers Fund
board in 1999. Ray Rau, president of Oscar Rau’s Fine Furniture & Interiors, Frankenmuth and Owosso, a family-owned furniture and floor covering business established in 1945. He is also owner of La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries in Saginaw. Rau is active with the Frankenmuth Chamber of Commerce, Rotary, the American Red Cross and the Board of Directors of the National Interior Design Society. Rau was first elected to the Retailers Fund board in 1998. |
