Kathy LaVanier

Born, raised and educated in Minnesota, Kathy is the granddaughter of a Woolworth’s executive and daughter of a Ben Franklin storeowner.  As a fifth generation retailer from a family that also excelled at patented invention and factory operation, she holds three patents herself.
Kathy’s retail career initiated with multi-store management as Brookstone made its expansion from their initial twelve stores, and with American Greetings as they expanded to over 500 stores.  As the Carlton brand developed, she moved to increasing her skills and contribution in the buying office.
Immersion into product development came at Walt Disney Attractions, where Kathy was promoted to Senior Buyer in Character Merchandise.  Here she worked with world-class artists to create new product lines, brands and forms for the US and European parks.  Further, her development of an open-to-buy system for the company increased inventory turns four-fold.
Home fragrance and décor became the focus of her career when Kathy became VP of Merchandise for Wicks ’n Sticks and from that beginning, moved on to executive positions for The Limited.  In this capacity she created merchandise for Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works, working directly with top R&D scientists and traveling worldwide to source, develop and flow industry leading innovative products.  Kathy’s accomplishments here included 60% growth in the gross margin volume.  As GMM of Illuminations she oversaw the teams responsible for store assortment, visual display and also the catalog, while creating an enhanced partnership between the factory and the merchants.
To augment her capabilities and understanding of product and brand development end-to-end, Kathy moved into the manufacturing sector with Illuminations (Starlight/Illume), Candle-lite and Nature’s Finest Candles.  Here she had direct responsibility for areas that included marketing, product pricing, overhead control, R&D management, scale-up, production scheduling and QA.  She has also stepped into a leadership role in the industry via the National Candle Association, where she was elected to the Board and currently serves as Chair of PR and Workshops.  The media have tapped Kathy, quoting her trend expertise as it relates to home fragrance in magazines and newspapers, including articles for Women’s Wear Daily and the Associated Press.
In her personal life, Kathy has been married to her husband Bill, a now retired attorney, for over 30 years.  She enjoys spending time with her dogs, studying history and science, photography, painting and gardening.  She and her husband are avid motorcycle riders and Harley enthusiasts.  Kathy also makes sure she has time to volunteer for community organizations, including United Way Division Chair, Red Cross and her church.