Rethink Retail Names Chris Parsons, Vice President of Audience

Retail strategist and Retail Rewired author joins Rethink Retail to deepen audience engagement and connect its growing media, community, research and event ecosystem

NEW YORK, Sept. 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Rethink Retail today named Chris Parsons Vice President of Audience, a newly created role. Parsons will unite the company's media, executive communities, research, podcasts, events and partnerships into a single, connected audience experience, turning individual moments of engagement into ongoing conversations and extending the reach of Rethink's insights across the retail industry.

The appointment follows the debut of Rethink's new brand and website, which position the company as a community-first platform and the home for retail's most forward-looking leaders. The new identity rests on a simple belief: retail's biggest challenges can't be solved in silos. Research identifies the industry's most important questions. Editorial and podcasts explore them, communities bring together the people facing them, and events and partnerships turn those conversations into real progress. Parsons' job is to make those pieces work as one.

Parsons brings more than 25 years of experience across dealer networks, national retailers and ecommerce. His career includes the launch of Walmart.ca, along with leadership and advisory roles at Home Hardware, Newegg and Ren's Pets. At Home Hardware, he spent six years in senior ecommerce and omnichannel roles, bridging digital strategy and in-store execution across a national network of independent dealers. That work shaped a simple conviction: retail strategy has to start with how stores actually run and how customers actually shop.

"Chris understands retail from the inside out," said Marie Chevrier Schwartz, CEO, Rethink Retail. "He has worked across very different retail models, and his focus has always been connecting strategy to what works for customers and operators. As Rethink grows, Chris will help us build stronger connections between our communities, content and experiences, and make sure the value we create reaches more of the industry."

Parsons also arrives with an audience of his own. More than 24,000 retail and ecommerce professionals follow him on LinkedIn, and his Retail Rewired Roundup reaches thousands of subscribers. Through his book, Retail Rewired, his speaking and the AI Moment of Discovery (AIMOD) framework, he turns complex topics like omnichannel, customer data and AI into ideas retailers can put to work. Rethink named him a Top Retail Expert in 2026, and he contributed to the community well before formally joining.

"Retail doesn't need more people repeating what everyone already knows," said Parsons. "It needs people willing to ask better questions, use data differently and bring new voices into the conversation. Rethink has already brought together some of the sharpest minds in retail. My job is to connect those conversations and make every interaction with Rethink useful."

The appointment comes as Rethink Retail expands its executive communities in AI, retail media and supply chain, alongside its research, editorial, podcast and event programming.

About Rethink Retail

Rethink Retail is a community-first media platform and the home for retail's most forward-looking leaders. Through executive communities, original research, editorial content, podcasts, events and strategic industry partnerships, Rethink Retail brings together the people and ideas actively moving retail forward. Learn more at: https://rethink.industries/.

SOURCE Rethink Retail