Convenience Executives Honored Among 2024 Retail's Top Women
CHICAGO — Four outstanding convenience store leaders are among the 28 female executives honored in Chain Store Age's 2024 Retail's Top Women Awards. The annual event was held virtually on June 13.
The Top Women Awards highlight the crucial role women play in key areas of retail operations while also helping to move the industry forward. The program drew nominations from across all sectors of the retail industry and recognized individuals in five categories: technology, finance, supply chain, store development/facilities and marketing. Four of the most senior leaders were honored as Women of the Year.
[Read more: Convenience Store News Reveals 2024 Hall of Fame Inductees]
"The recipients of our Retail's Top Women Awards are leaders in every sense of the word," said Chain Store Age editor-in-chief Marianne Wilson. "Along with keeping their companies at the forefront of innovation, they are helping to advance the presence of women in senior decision-making positions across the industry."
Winners from the c-store industry include:
Women of the Year
Ericka Ayles, chief financial officer, Yesway — Ayles led the company's successful integration of the 304-store Allsup's Convenience Stores chain, achieving an estimated $24 million in initial cost synergies with a further $14 million projected for subsequent years.
She also spearheaded risk management initiatives and secured upgrades to Yesway's corporate and credit facility ratings from both Moody's and S&P, and managed the seamless integration of updated backoffice and point-of-sale systems, optimizing operational efficiency across Yesway's entire portfolio.
Ayles was also named a Woman of the Year in the Convenience Store News 2021 Top Women in Convenience awards program.
Retail's Top Women in Finance
Melissa Snyder, director of financial planning and analysis, Rutter's — Snyder promotes collaboration and synergies in her oversight of the capital expenditures team as well as the treasury and financial analysis teams at Rutter's. She spearheaded the establishment of companywide standards for efficiency and controls within the finance and accounting departments, identifying areas for improvement and implementing robust measures to enhance operational effectiveness and compliance.
Retail's Top Women in Technology
Lisa Carter, director of IT applications, Rutter's — A veteran IT professional with more than 20 years of experience, Carter works across multiple departments in at Rutter's, driving innovation, efficiency and alignment between technology while ensuring those initiatives are aligning with overall business strategy.
Barbara Stoyko, senior vice president, mobility, Americas, Shell — A veteran executive of Shell since 1997, Stoyko currently leads Shell's mobility business in the Americas, where she oversees the financial, strategic, and organizational delivery of the consumer mobility and retail business. This includes thousands of Shell-branded gas stations, a growing footprint of company owned and operated convenience stores and an expanding network of public electric vehicle charging stations.
She is also a Women of the Year in the Convenience Store News 2024 Top Women in Convenience awards program.
The 2024 Retail's Top Women Awards were sponsored by Melissa.
Convenience Store News and Chain Store Age are properties of EnsembleIQ.