Niana is the General Manager of SPAR Canada. Niana leads and oversees more than 900 employees, 20 large multi-national clients and more than 40 individual brands. In her role, Niana leads all fiscal management, strategy, new business, client experience and Human Resources.
With more than 20 years in retail merchandising and marketing experience, and her undying belief in her team and their potential, Niana has relentlessly kept SPAR Canada at the forefront of business expansion, customer relationships and team productivity. Niana continually drives her team to find new and innovative solutions to offer their client partners. She has proven her ability to drive positive results and process improvement, even during the toughest of economic markets.
Collaboration, growth mindset and goal setting are some of Niana’s hallmark leadership traits that allow her to continually build meaningful and long-standing business relationships with her colleagues, clients, partners and vendors alike.
Although Niana loves the high-energy and fast-paced environment of retail marketing, she also enjoys recharging on the weekends with a good book or on the ski hill in Collingwood, Ontario, with her husband and two children.
Jean Richer brings more than 30 years of experience in the extended retail value chain, building and leading national sales teams across multiple categories to developing trusted and long-standing relationships. He spent nearly a decade at Acosta, as Senior Vice President leading Strategic Business Development, and previously held senior management roles at Anheuser-Busch, Keurig, Dr. Pepper, Lactalis, Newstrike Brands and Independent Distillers.
Mindy is SPAR Canada’s Vice President of Partner Development. In her role, Mindy leads discussions with current and potential clients alike to determine how best SPAR can contribute to their overall growth and solve key retail objectives.
Mindy loves and thrives in the fast-paced and ever-changing landscape of the retail industry; it necessitates divergent thinking, creative solutions and an aptitude for innovation - all of which Mindy is proficient in.
By harnessing SPAR’s powerful industry-trusted technology, analytics and people, Mindy has been able to exceed client expectations and meet retail goals over and over throughout her nearly two decades at SPAR. Her consultative approach leads to lasting client relationships and a vibrant, inclusive, excellence-driven culture at SPAR. Mindy also oversees client budgeting, invoicing and project forecasting to ensure budget adherence and responsible fiscal management.
Out of the office, Mindy maintains an energetic and active life with her family in Thornhill, Ontario. She is dedicated to her karate training and personally holds a 2nd-degree blackbelt.
Sarah is the Vice President of Client Services and is responsible for working directly with key national client partners to ensure that SPAR is doing our job to the absolute best of our abilities. Sarah’s ultimate goal is to make sure SPAR is going above and beyond to represent the client and meet their needs in the most effective and efficient way possible on a daily basis and across the entire country.
Upon arriving at SPAR, Sarah quickly became known as a solutions-oriented person and someone who strives to improve every situation she is a part of - both from a service provider’s standpoint and from a customer’s.
The SPAR team and our client roster have all benefited from Sarah’s leadership and involvement in projects. She is extremely skilled at breaking down complex projects and processes into bite-sized deliverables to enhance their manageability and level of success. Sarah’s team ensures that SPAR dominates in a fast-paced market with ever-changing deadlines, and has industry-leading efficiency and communication that is second to none.
Sarah is a busy Mom of two. On her days off, she loves a great mystery novel, cheering her kids on at the arena or court, and weekends at the cottage in the summer are a must with family and friends.
Mandy joined SPAR Canada in 2016 and is the Director of Client Services. Mandy’s primary focus is to create and enhance client service strategies - to master how, specifically, we assist and implement programs and projects for select retail partners.
Attention to detail, managing hundreds of tasks at one time and superior skills in financial analysis make Mandy a trusted and valued project manager. Our clients know that with Mandy at the helm of a project, every detail will be documented, organized, calculated and executed as expected.
Mandy is creative, highly motivated and a decisive team player who tells it like it is. She works with our retail customers to flawlessly deliver on their requirements and with her team of client service managers to expand their knowledge base and constantly strive for excellence.
Mandy is a busy Mom of three and enjoys spending her downtime with her family, experiencing new adventures and making lifelong memories.
Jo-Ann heads up SPAR Canada’s newest division - Remodels & Retail Transformations. In this role, Jo-Ann manages million-dollar projects that see retail footprints upwards of 150,000 square feet transformed into contemporary, reinvented and enjoyable shopping destinations. Her team works with contractors to renovate, revamp and repurpose entire facilities, after hours, from top to bottom, including each and every aisle, all signage and product displays.
Jo-Ann possesses an energy that is contagious and she always encourages a positive team dynamic with every project, and for all those involved. Attention-to-detail, meticulous adherence to project budgets and tireless work ensures her projects are always a success. Jo-Ann goes above and beyond to fully understand our retail customer’s goals and vision for each project resulting in true partnerships and collaboration is achieved with the client and SPAR team.
Jo-Ann and her husband live in Oakville, Ontario, love the outdoors and can be found biking, hiking and outside most weekends in the summer. In the winter, she’s kept busy cheering her grandson on at the local hockey rink.
Anne is the Director of National Retail Field Operations at SPAR Canada and is responsible for more than 500 independent contract reps and 8 District Supervisors across Canada.
Anne’s team ensures that our client products in more than 7,000 retail points of distribution across Canada are marketed, merchandised and distributed as agreed upon. This includes dozens of brands, hundreds of products and hundreds of thousands of annual visits. Weekly in-store check-ups by Anne’s team, as well as blitz visits, confirm product placement, display set-up, stock availability and rotation, price and inventory audits, signage, plan-o-gram adherence, and any other important details within client/retailer contracts.
Anne’s goal is to ensure our customer’s products are perfectly displayed - 100% compliance - and that the highest level of communication and transparency is upheld between our field operations team and our valued clientele. This ensures that any discrepancies that arise are 100% resolved in a timely manner.
Our more than 500 merchandisers in the field are recruited, trained and managed by Anne; no small feat.
On the weekends, Anne takes advantage of her North Vancouver surroundings and does a lot of hiking in the mountains. She and her husband are sports enthusiasts and can often be found checking out local sports events or hanging out with her three granddaughters.
Jenny is Director of Human Resources for SPAR Canada and drives our overall success through her role in recruiting and retaining the best of the best employees.
With more than 25 years of experience in Human Resources at national companies across Canada and at SPAR, Jenny is equipped with the management know-how and rich experience necessary to hire the right people with the correct skill set and provide the appropriate training that results in superior performance and job satisfaction.
Jenny is responsible for all of the Human Resource practices, procedures, recruitment, retention, performance management, compensation, health and safety, group benefits and administration. The substantial job of processing payroll for more than 600 employees in 4 different departments, is performed by Jenny on a weekly basis.
Because of the work Jenny does, SPAR is able to provide an extensive range of helpful services to our client partners (personnel for pop-up retail, special project contract workers, distribution centre staffing, short-term blitz workers, etc.).
In her spare time, Jenny is a dedicated equestrian.
William serves as SPAR’s Chief Strategy & Growth Officer. He is responsible for Group Strategy, M&A, expanding group capability, and growing SPAR’s service offerings and its US revenue.
William leads our Field Execution Teams across the SPAR US business, and is responsible for growing our US revenue across each of our divisions – our Merchandising national services, our Assembly & Installation business, our Distribution services, and our Remodel & Retail transformation division. In addition, William manages Client development across some of SPAR’s key Clients in the US.
William has, over his 30-year career, highly relevant US and International experience. He has successfully delivered shareholder value by leading strategic change, driving operational efficiencies, and growing the top line across different businesses and markets. He has held leadership roles in Tesco in the UK and Ireland, in Sears and Kmart in the US, and across other well-known retailers; with accountabilities in areas of Merchandising, Category Management, Operations, Vendor management, Inventory management, Marketing, Data management, Digital, Finance, Strategy, and M&A.
Prior to SPAR, Mr. Linnane has held the roles of CEO of a successful advisory and investment firm focused on M&A and restructuring, President of Kmart’s Pharmacy, Drugstore & Grocery businesses in the US, Chief Merchant of a leading book retailer in Europe, and led the Beverage, Candy, and Snacks business for Tesco in the UK working with key CPG vendors to drive branded and own brand revenue and profit growth across stores and digital. Mr. Linnane is a qualified management accountant, and started his career with Kingfisher PLC and Tesco in the UK and Ireland. Mr. Linnane holds a MA in Economics from Trinity College, University of Dublin.
When out of the office, he loves to read, and to spend time with his wife and three daughters.
Antonio brings extensive experience in finance, accounting, treasury, tax, compliance, credit collections, legal, and operations to SPAR. With his industry background in Consumer Goods (FMCG and CPG), Footwear and Apparel, Logistics, Transportation, Shipping, and Professional Services, Antonio has held leadership roles in five countries on two continents. He has expertise in corporate finance, accounting and reporting, financial planning and analysis, treasury and cash management, ERP implementation, corporate restructurings, Mergers & Acquisitions, tax and transfer pricing compliance, risk management, contract management, and inventory management. Antonio is fluent in English, Portuguese, Spanish, and French.
Before joining our team, Antonio held various leadership roles, including Chief Financial Officer at Earth Shoes and Tax Manager EMEA at CEMEX. He's also worked for Chiquita Brands International, PWC, and PLMJ as a Senior Advisor and Tax Attorney, respectively. Antonio's accomplishments include stabilizing company finances, fine-tuning ERP and reporting, implementing significant cost reductions, and building and streamlining departments. He also participated in the turnaround of a multi-billion dollar multinational company from near bankruptcy to steady profitability and has extensive participation in PMI.
When he's not busy crunching numbers, Antonio loves spending time with his wife and two boys, reading, being outdoors, and paddleboarding. We're lucky to have him on our team!
Josh serves as SPAR’s Chief Technology Officer, setting the strategic priorities for technology innovation while overseeing systems, teams, and strategies that align technology with business growth. With over 30 years of IT leadership and advisory experience, Josh is recognized as an entrepreneurial, results-driven leader who transforms IT functions into business-centric, cost-effective teams that deliver measurable business outcomes.
In addition to his role at SPAR, Josh serves as an Operating Partner at NewRoad Capital Partners, an SEC-registered investment firm investing in early-stage software companies catering to large enterprises in the Supply Chain, Logistics, Retail & Consumer Packaged Goods industry sectors. As an experienced IT practitioner and corporate executive, he performs pre-investment due diligence, provides high-level strategic guidance, and brokers industry contacts for portfolio companies. He also serves as an advisor and board member to multiple technology companies, including FourKites, Optilogic, Tracer, Logiwa, Insite AI, Orderful, UPSTACK, G2 Reverse Logistics, Stylumia, and SmartSense by Digi.
Earlier in his career, Josh spent 18 years as Chief Information Officer at Family Dollar and Dollar Tree. There, he led large-scale IT transformations, integrated enterprise systems post-acquisition, implemented advanced analytics and e-commerce strategies, and oversaw technology organizations of 500+ professionals with budgets approaching $200M. His leadership was instrumental in enabling business growth, driving digital transformation, and scaling operations across thousands of stores.
Josh is also the founder of CIO Advisory Services, LLC, where he has guided Fortune 500 companies and private equity firms through IT strategy, organizational design, and technology investment decisions. His thought leadership has been recognized nationally—he was named CIO of the Year, Strategic Impact by RIS News and CIO of the Year by the Charlotte Business Journal.
Ron leads SPAR’s global business development, branding and marketing.
Ron has built a 35-year executive career guiding Fortune 100 companies and private organizations in the retail customer experience space. Focused on transformational growth, business solution strategies, brand and market expansion. Throughout his career Ron has held executive roles in the areas of business development, experience design, strategic growth, marketing, omni-channel deployment, international expansion, and acquisitions. He has a track record of developing solutions from strategy to execution delivering increased customer engagement, trusted relationships, and improved profitability.
Prior to joining SPAR, Ron was an International retail consultant working with organizations in Japan developing customer experience strategies. Previously, he served as the Chief Client Officer at Miller Zell, a leading retail services and print solutions company; responsible for business development, marketing, digital solutions, and project management. Earlier in his career, Ron served as a Vice President with Lowe’s Companies, where he led the deployment of an omni-channel customer experience solution across 2,000+ North American retail store locations. In addition, he had responsibility building an enterprise field project execution model, lead new store openings, and store renovations across US, Canada, and Mexico.
Ron has been published in numerous industry media platforms and has enjoyed the opportunity to provide insights as an International speaker. He currently serves on several industry, academic, and non-profit boards.
When out of the office, he is an avid reader, enjoys golf, a wine enthusiast, and a proud grandfather of 6 terrific children.
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