Derek Gaskins – Yesway, Chief Marketing Officer

Mr. Gaskins’ primary responsibility is to direct all marketing, merchandising and procurement efforts for the Yesway brand, as well as to develop relationships with Yesway’s supplier vendors.He leads the efforts to establish a marketing and merchandising playbook to improve the organizations go to market strategic plan. He also helps to further cultivate the growth and stewardship of the fast growing Yesway brand with a keen focus on ensuring the organizations social, mobile, and loyalty initiatives are best in class.

Prior to joining Yesway, Mr. Gaskins most recently served as Chief Customer Officer for Rutter’s convenience stores & Dairy business. He was instrumental in developing their award winning customer engagement programs and positioned the brand as one of the best in the retail industry. Before Rutter’s, Mr. Gaskins was Senior Vice President of Marketing and Merchandising with Mid-Atlantic Convenience Stores (MACS) and led the development of the Circle K brand. Prior to MACS he served as Vice President of Marketing with NACS- The Association for Convenience and Fuel Retailing and positioned the organization for unprecedented digital and global growth. His other prior experiences include leading the brand marketing for Giant Eagle where he led the development of the GetGo chain of convenience stores, and launched the Fuelperks fuel rewards loyalty program.

His other prior experiences include a number of major companies including Nabisco Foods, Goldman Sachs, and Procter & Gamble. He is an experienced brand developer, chief marketer, merchant, and innovator that has launched numerous packaged goods, CRM and retail brands and store formats.

Mr. Gaskins holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Iowa and an MBA in Finance, Marketing, and Real Estate from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Long:

Over 20 years of results developing successful brands and businesses into billion-dollar plus enterprises. His expertise in marketing, merchandising, advertising, multimedia, digital, mobile, social media, and loyalty programs are key competencies to enabling successful integrated go to market strategies that build lifelong relationships with customers to drive business growth. Joined Brookwood Financial in June, 2018 to help develop the fast growing chain with over 150 locations into a retail force. Oversees all merchandising, marketing, advertising, and brand engagement for Yesway.

Prior to joining Yesway, Derek was Chief Customer Officer for Rutter’s. He led all consumer engagement, and implemented best in class programs and marketing initiatives to keep Rutter’s at the forefront of the global convenience retail industry. Before Rutter’s, he was the SVP of Marketing & Merchandising for Mid-Atlantic Convenience Stores, MACS, the largest Exxon Mobil branded wholesaler in the country with 300+ retail and wholesale stores. He helped lead a team to successfully rebrand, re-merchandise, and re-launch 100+ retail locations as part of an exclusive brand developer agreement with Circle K.

Previously, he was Vice President of Marketing for the National Association of Convenience Stores, NACS, and drove integrated marketing and communications efforts to provide knowledge, connections, and advocacy to NACS retail and supplier members.

Prior to joining NACS, Derek worked for 8 years as the Director of Marketing for Giant Eagle Inc., the Pittsburgh, PA.-based company that operates more than 220 Giant Eagle grocery stores and 150 GetGo convenience stores. He was instrumental in the brand development of GetGo, fuelperks!, Market District, and Giant Eagle Express stores; and also provided marketing leadership for beer, wine, spirits, video, retail banking, and center store grocery categories.

His prior experiences include a number of major companies including Nabisco Foods, Goldman Sachs, and Procter & Gamble. He is an experienced brand developer, chief marketer, merchant, and innovator that has launched numerous packaged goods, CRM and retail brands and store formats.

He attended the University of Iowa where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, BBA in 1994. He received his MBA from the JL Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University with concentrations in Finance, Marketing, and Real Estate in 1998.

Derek is married to Tina, with two children, Gigi and Godot. He is a tireless worker who is committed to his family, job, and community.

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