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Industry veteran Paul Zahra will step down from his role as CEO of the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) at the end of 2024 as a proposed merger beckons with with the National Retail Association (NRA).
An amalgamation of the two groups is back on the table after a failed merger in 2019, just before Zahra stepped up to lead the ARA in the early days of pandemic.
Zahra previously had a 16-year career with department store giant David Jones, four of which were as CEO from 2010 to 2014.
He also sat on the board of the ARA as a director during those four years, and served in various board and chair positions in the intervening period including at PwC, Laser Clinics Australia and the Australian Institute of Music.
Zahra says the proposed merger between the ARA and NRA provides a natural exit point, allowing a successor to drive the new entity into the future.
"It has been an honour and privilege to lead our retail sector and the ARA team through the most challenging five-year period in the history of our sector,” he says.
"As the ARA progresses to amalgamate with the National Retail Association - a professional goal I have long advocated for - I believe I’ve completed what I set out to do for the industry.
"It’s now time for me to reset and refresh for new challenges and pass the baton to a successor who will lead the new entity into the future."
ARA president Nicole Sheffield says Zahra has worked hard during the past five years with the dedicated ARA Council and ARA team to build the ARA and the retail sector brand to a strong position of profile, power and political influence.
"Under Paul’s leadership, the ARA team have worked diligently to unify the sector, bringing most of Australia’s leading retailers into ARA membership for the first time alongside SMB members. Membership income has more than doubled in the past five years," Sheffield says.
"We’ve set the political agenda on many fronts – from positive changes to Closing Loopholes and other reforms to improvements to retail crime legislation alongside leading events and many other industry initiatives.
"Thanks to Paul’s leadership, the foundations are in place for a powerful future."
She adds the recruitment process will commence immediately whilst the transition to an amalgamated entity takes shape.
Zahra says the ARA’s efforts alongside its members through the pandemic years helped ensure the resilience of the sector.
"It would be true to say this has been the most disrupted decade for retail in recent history – navigating the pandemic and global cost of living crunch, intense labour shortages, an unprecedented retail crime wave, supply chain disruption and the most intense set of industrial relations changes in decades," he says.
"I am deeply proud that despite these challenges we stabilised the ARA’s financial position - turning it around from a financial risk to a position of historic financial security."
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