HAMPTON ROADS — Retail Alliance has announced that Jenny Crittenden, former head of Gloucester’s Main Street Preservation Trust, has been named as its senior vice president, effective January 3, 2022.
“The organization believes Jenny is the ideal candidate to take a leadership position within Retail Alliance and to be engaged with all four of our business units under the Retail Alliance umbrella,” said Chair of Retail Alliance’s Board Phil Scotti. “Her passion for helping retailers at different stages of growth makes her perfectly suited to continue Retail Alliance’s mission to be a trusted resource for the success of local retailers.”
Founded in 1903, Retail Alliance, based out of Norfolk, works with restaurants, retailers and retail partners throughout Hampton Roads to provide guidance, support and information with the goal of helping small businesses in the region succeed. According to the organization’s website, Retail Alliance provides education to, advocacy of, and lobbying for these business entities. It also negotiates group discounts, offers products and services that benefit businesses as well as building relationships within the local business community.
Jenny Crittenden comes from a background that includes sixteen years heading the non-profit organization, Main Street Preservation Trust in Gloucester. Additionally, Crittenden served as the Marketing and Sponsorship chairs for the Gloucester Arts Festival. She has been recognized as a speaker at the local through national levels on retail and entrepreneurism.
During the pandemic, Gov. Ralph Northam appointed Crittenden to represent small brick and mortar retail on the Governor’s COVID-19 Business Task Force with the goal of assisting the developing reopening guidelines for businesses in Virginia.
She holds the distinction of having been honored with the national Main Street Forward Award, showcasing Crittenden’s recovery and resiliency efforts and execution of an E-Commerce Platform which resulted in over $160,000 in gift voucher sales over a two week period for the Gloucester Main Street businesses.
Crittenden has served in various facets with Retail Alliance, including on its Retail Alliance Foundation Board, Executive Committee, and on the organization’s Board of Directors. For the last two years, she has served Retail Alliance as a subject matter expert for teaching the Marketing module for the Retail Alliance Foundation’s Certificate in Retail Operations class.
“Retail Alliance has been time tested and has proven itself the ‘go to’ resource for retailers for over 115 years. Joining this incredible team and serving as Senior Vice President is quite a distinguished honor, ” said Crittenden. “This role will enable me to use the experience gained through my previous positions and apply it to the wider Hampton Roads region and retail industry.”
To learn more about Retail Alliance and the services that are offered, click here to visit its website.