School of Business and Economics Honors Retailer of the Year

Annual Event Fetes Smart & Final's Roger M. Laverty

At its 14th annual Retailer-of-the-Year luncheon in October, Cal State L.A.'s Institute of Retail Management honored Roger M. Laverty III, President and CEO of Smart & Final, Inc. Also recognized at what is considered by some within the field to be "our industry's most significant annual event," were 48 high school and college students who each received an $800 scholarship. Close to 1,000 retailers and other dignitaries attended.

Seven of the honored students are business administration majors at Cal State L.A. They include: Gary La Franais, Leandra Olague and Chivoan Kao (Marketing Management); Shantai Powell, Michael Resendez and Kil Young Oh(Retailing); and Yolanda Corral (Marketing/Fashion Merchandising).

Since 1982, the institute has honored a senior retail executive each year for a lifetime of dedicated, outstanding service to the retailing industry. Laverty joins a prestigious group of past honorees that includes, among others, William S. "Bill" Davila (The Vons Companies), Jack H. Brown (Stater Bros. Markets), Wilfred C. Stroud (Strouds), Edward L. Butterworth (Fedco, Inc.), and John V. Shields (Trader Joe's Company).

Founded in 1980 by Bernard Codner (Marketing), CSLA's Institute of Retail Management launched the first retailing major for business students on the West Coast and initiated a retailing certificate program. In 1991, the institute created the College Incentive Program, now recognized as one of the nation's finest programs for inner-city youth. Funded by the U.S. Department of Labor and strongly supported by the retail industry, the program is administered jointly by the Institute of Retail Management, the Los Angeles Unified School District, the Private Industry Council of Los Angeles, and the City of Los Angeles Community Development Department.