Holden moving to SPAR Canada

By Admin

Date → Thursday, June 9, 2011

Industry Veteran James Holden to Lead SPAR Canada

SPAR Group, Inc. today announced that James H. Holden has been selected to be its president of their Canadian division, SPAR Canada Company, bringing to the company several decades of senior management, marketing and sales experience. He also possesses a wealth of experience around building high performing teams and actively aligning business segments to new and changing company values and growth strategies.

Holden, 48, joined SPAR Group effective May 24th, after most recently serving as National Sales Director of Mars Canada, Inc. While at Mars he also held the position of Director of Strategic Business Development before directing national sales on key accounts such as Loblaw Companies Limited and Costco as part of the chocolate, rice and pet food categories. He also led Virgin Mobile's In-store execution initiatives while Director of Customer Planning and Merchandising, overachieving launch objectives and developing the sales strategy for this start-up operation.

"James brings valuable customer, strategic, and team-building experience to SPAR, and we believe he will hit the ground running," said Gary Raymond, CEO of SPAR Group, Inc.

"SPAR is poised to expand our business both organically and through acquisition in Canada, and we are confident that James, who is well respected throughout various retail segments, has the expertise and drive to expand our company in a way that best serves our clients."

Previously, Holden spent nine years with Campbell Company of Canada (The Campbell Soup Company) in roles of progressive responsibility including National Account Manager Wal-Mart, Loblaw Companies Limited, and Costco, Category Development Director, Soup, and Director of Customer Marketing. It was in his role as Category Development Director that Holden's leadership skills led a team to success in launching a new product nationally ahead of plan, increasing profitability, and growing market share.

"There is a tremendous opportunity for SPAR Group to enhance its footprint in Canada," Raymond said. "The addition of James to our team is an important step to SPAR's overall growth strategy in Canada."

About SPAR Group:
SPAR Group, Inc. is a diversified international merchandising and marketing services company that provides a broad array of services worldwide to help companies improve their sales, operating efficiency and profits at retail locations. SPAR Group provides product services, project services, in-store events, radio frequency identification ("RFID"), technology services and marketing research covering all product and trade classifications, including mass market, drug store, convenience store and grocery chains. Product services include product additions; placement, reordering, replenishment, labeling, evaluation and deletions, and project services include seasonal and special product promotions, product recalls and complete setups of departments and stores. The company operates throughout the United States and internationally in 9 of the most populated countries, including China and India.
Contact: James R. Segreto Chief Financial Officer SPAR Group, Inc. (914) 332-4100