Board members seek re-election

Eight board members have been nominated for 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 29 at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island.

MRA board members seeking re-election to three-year terms are:

W. Bruce Rogers, retired president of the former Bartling’s, Inc., Traverse City. He is a past chairman of the MRA board and currently a member of several boards relating to the Traverse City area. He was first elected to the Retailers Fund board in 1986 and the MRA board in 1992.

Douglas A. Schubot, chair of Jules R. Schubot Jewellers, a third-generation, family-owned business in Troy. Schubot was a 1998 Michigan Retailer of the Year for his involvement in civic and community organizations. He was first elected to the MRA board in 1992.

Barb Stein, owner/operator of Great Northern Trading Co., Rockford, a specialty gifts and home décor store she opened in 1977. She served on the Michigan Retailers Services, Inc., board and was first elected to the MRA board in 2001.

Joe Swanson, north metro Detroit district team leader for Target Corporation. He is responsible for operations, profitability and human resources for 11 Target stores in Oakland and Macomb counties, with a total of 2,000 employees. He was first elected to the MRA board in 2001.

Retailers Fund trustees seeking re-election to three-year terms are:

James P. Hallan, Retailers Fund administrator and MRA president and chief operating officer. He serves on the boards of Delta Dental Plan of Michigan and Ohio, the Association Advisory Council for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and the state YMCA. He was named MRA president in 1989 after serving as the Association’s general counsel since 1985.

Joseph Kay, co-owner of Northland Tire and Service, Inc., an automotive service facility established in Southfield in 1981. He serves as president of the Michigan Tire and Vehicle Service Association. He was first elected to the Retailers Fund board in 1998.

Dan Marshall, president of Marshall Music Company, one of the largest full-line music retailers in the country. The Lansing-based, family-owned company operates stores in Lansing, Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids, Detroit and Traverse City. He was first elected to the Retailers Fund board in 1998 and is its current chair.

Barb Tronstein, vice president in charge of finances and operations for Warren-based Gardner-White, which operates six furniture stores in the metropolitan Detroit area. She was first elected to the Retailers Fund board in 2001.

In addition, the MRA board welcomed a new member at its April meeting: Winfrey Smith eastern Michigan district manager for Sears, Roebuck & Co. Smith fills the vacancy created when James Schwark resigned from the board earlier this year. Smith’s term will expire in 2005.

Please return your proxy ballots in the envelopes provided by June 24, 2004.