Former 7-11 & Blockbuster CEO James W. KeyesBusiness Acceleration 2.0

James W. Keyes is currently the Chairman of Wild Oats Marketing LLC and formerly chief executive to two Fortune 500 companies, Blockbuster Inc. and 7-Eleven, Inc.

Jim will discuss:

• Adversity is strength…learning from crisis – he will share stories of his experience as CEO of Blockbuster.
• Identity…learning to build a personal brand. Let’s hear from him on how this applies to your business.
• Opportunities abound but only if we are receptive. How does this apply to you with your own personal antennae?

Keyes became Chairman and CEO of the Wild Oats Marketing LLC after the intellectual property was acquired in 2011 following the sale of Wild Oats to Whole Foods. He developed a line of consumer products in a strategic collaboration with Walmart creating more than 250 items offered at more than 3,000 Walmart stores. The company then acquired 180 Fresh & Easy stores (YFE, LLC) from Tesco in 2013. Keyes served as CEO from 2013-2015 leading the transformation of the business and disposition of assets. The Company retained assets including cash, investments and intellectual property of brands and product formulations for over 10,000 natural/organic products and is currently exploring alternative platforms for deployment of the Wild Oats brand.

Keyes served from 2007-2011 as chairman and chief executive officer of Blockbuster Inc. (NYSE: BBI), one of the world’s leading providers of movie and game entertainment with reported worldwide revenues of over $5 billion and more than 7,000 corporate and franchise stores throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia and Australia. At Blockbuster, he was able to diversify the offering to provide the Blockbuster customer access to their favorite movies in store, by mail, in kiosks and via the internet with Blockbuster OnDemand. Although his transformation of the company was curtailed by the financial market collapse of 2008, Keyes led a restructuring of the company and the successful sale of assets to Dish Networks, preserving over 19,000 jobs and providing continuity for the Blockbuster brand, it’s customers and it’s suppliers.

Keyes served as global President and CEO of 7-Eleven, Inc. (NYSE: SEI) the world’s largest chain of convenience stores from 2000 through 2005. Leading over 40,000 corporate, franchise and licensed stores in 19 countries worldwide, he opened new markets and led the introduction of 7-Eleven stores into China.

He renamed the company from The Southland Corporation to 7-Eleven, Inc. and led an IPO to list the company on the New York Stock Exchange in 2001. Under his leadership, the company experienced record sales and profits. Following a period of over 10 years of same store sales decline, Keyes drove the initiatives that resulted in nearly 40 quarters of improved same store sales from 1995-2005. Innovation in new products, services, and technology was the hallmark of Keyes’ leadership. During his tenure, the company implemented new retail systems technology that improved product assortment decisions in every store. He also ushered in a new era for 7-Eleven through the introduction of a host of new electronic services. Keyes greatest accomplishment was the introduction of fresh foods at 7-Eleven, building a nationwide network of commissaries and daily distribution systems to provide fresh daily product to each 7-Eleven store, growing fresh food sales to over 20% of the product mix.

Keyes led a global franchise network and domestically partnered with the national coalition of Franchisees to develop a new franchise agreement that facilitated collaboration and innovation for the chain.

Prior to serving as president and CEO, Keyes held a variety of positions at 7-Eleven, including chief financial officer and chief operating officer. During his tenure as CEO, the company enjoyed a 10x improvement in shareholder value.

Jim Keyes has experience in successfully leading multi-national corporations with a deep understanding of global and local franchise operations. His creativity, innovation, and adoption of leading-edge technology contributed to the successful transformation of both public and private organizations. He is a seasoned executive, known internationally for leading transformational change. His passion is to bring innovation to fresh foods. By leveraging emerging technology, logistics and scale, Keyes believes that we can better meet the increasing consumer demand for higher quality fresh foods at affordable prices, changing the landscape of fast food as we know it today.