Hello everyone in the RLA community,
I am proud to say the RLA is celebrating the first-year anniversary of our acquisition by the National Retail Federation, and we have a good home. The transition is going well and the RLA Team that most of you know well, is still in place. As Scot Case of the NRF suggested at the RLA Leadership Summit in Atlanta, many of us have been through company sales and acquisitions and it is not necessarily easy. The first year has been a time for the NRF to get to learn the RLA and for the RLA to see the programs and processes that the NRF has been offering for years.
The RLA is currently operating as a division of the NRF. We are part of the Center for Retail Sustainability because of our focus on circularity, returns management, and reverse logistics. I have often said from the stage, "You cannot be a part of the Circular Economy without reverse logistics." In addition, retailers around the world are being asked to handle the increasing amount of returns, partly to avoid the additional touch points of shipping back to vendors. Retailers now have the added task of being responsible for handling returns for restocking, repairs, refurbishment, reuse, resale and recycling. Retailers are seeking responsible and certified partners for these tasks and the NRF is aware of their needs.
In our second year, the RLA will begin to integrate with the NRF as they provide support for our website and systems, our accounting and legal services, and our event activities. The RLA will see marketing and membership support by the NRF for our community. We already have one education course completed on reverse logistics operations that will be offered to RLA members.
The RLA Advisory Board has been involved in discussions with the NRF leadership as we plan the 2025 RLA Conference and other events. The Board represents the voice of the RLA community and members well and the NRF has recognized the needs. We will move forward with more education, more benefits, more content, and a commitment to keep growing.
As always, feel free to reach out to myself or any of the RLA team for questions about our transition and we will do our best to answer.
Best,
Tony