Convenience Industry Consultant Bill Bishop Passes Away
BARRINGON, Ill. — Willard "Bill" Bishop, founder of Willard Bishop Consulting, passed away on March 25. He was 80.
After growing up in South Orange, N.J. and graduating from Columbia High School in 1959, Bishop attended the University of Maine – Orono. He earned a master's degree in agricultural economics from the University of Maine – Orono in 1959, and received a PhD from Cornell University in 1968. He later entered the U.S. Army, where he rose to the rank of captain and served as assistant to General Bunker in the Pentagon’s office of the Army Materiel Command.
Bishop became vice president of research at the Supermarket Institute, now known as FMI – The Food Industry Association, in 1970.
In 1976, Bishop launched Willard Bishop Consulting, which focused on a wide variety of projects that spanned grocery and convenience retail formats. The business operated out of his family home before expanding to its own office in Barrington. Bishop and his wife Cathy operated the company for 37 years, employing more than 150 people during that time. They sold Willard Bishop Consulting in 2008, after which he served as chairman until 2011.
Bishop and his son Steve co-founded Brick Meets Click in 2011. The analytics and strategic insights firm focused on helping the grocery industry navigate the impact of digital technology and e-commerce. His son David and daughter Cindy later joined the team. Bishop served as chief architect and only retired recently due to health challenges that "finally prevent[ed] him from being his typical hyper-productive self," according to his obituary.
His other professional accomplishments include helping to create two Coca-Cola Retailing Research Councils, one focused on convenience retail and the other on grocery; teaching marketing channels at the MBA program at Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University; serving as a board member for Raley's Fine Foods and The Food Institute; and being inducted into the Private Label Manufacturers Association's Private Label Hall of Fame.
"Bill was always incredibly generous with his time both personally and professionally. He was happy to lend an ear and offer thoughts on how to move forward or see things from a different perspective," his family wrote in his obituary. "He also prioritized engaging with people and organizations where he saw an opportunity to make a difference – whether it be participating in many church activities, coordinating weekly neighborhood food drives for the local food pantry, or writing letters to politicians and companies, including several of the airlines who shall not be named here, about what they could do better.
Bishop is survived by Cathy, his wife of 58 years; children Cindy (Joe) Christian, Steve (Anila) Bishop and David (Julia) Bishop; grandchildren Anna and Sean Christian, and Grace and Emma Bishop; and brothers Richard Bishop and Philip (Sheryl) Bishop.