S5E9 Retail's Best Kept Secret: Discover How RetailROI Transforms Children's Futures

In this special replay episode of The Retail Razor Show, we shine a spotlight on the incredible work of the Retail Orphan Initiative (RetailROI)—a nonprofit transforming lives of orphans and foster children through the power of the retail industry. With a fresh introduction for 2025, hosts Ricardo Belmar and Casey Golden revisit a heartfelt conversation with Greg Buzek, President of RetailROI, Vicki Cantrell, board member and retail legend, and Jeff Roster, former Gartner & IHL analyst and top retail expert, as they share the origin story, mission, and global impact of this powerful retail charity.

Learn how RetailROI’s Super Saturday event at NRF has become the most meaningful gathering of the year, where retailers, tech vendors, and solution providers come together to help fund clean water, education, and life skills training for thousands of children worldwide. Hear inspiring stories of transformation, including previous keynote speaker Darryl McDaniels of Run DMC, and discover how just showing up at Super Saturday can help change lives.

Whether you're a retailer planning for NRF, a technology supplier and potential sponsor, or simply passionate about retail’s role in social responsibility, this episode will move you to action. Join us in celebrating RetailROI’s rich history and accomplishments and learn how you too can become a RetailROI Champion.

👉 Learn more and register for Super Saturday at NRF 2026 at http://retailroi.org/super-saturday

🎧 Subscribe, rate, and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Goodpods to help us amplify this message of hope and impact!

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About our Guests

Greg Buzek, President, IHL Group & President, RetailROI https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregbuzek/

Vicki Cantrell, CEO, Vendors in Partnership https://www.linkedin.com/in/vickicantrell/

Jeff Roster, Former Gartner & IHL analyst, top retail expert

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-roster-8828b8257/

Retail Orphan Initiative (RetailROI), https://www.retailroi.org

The Purpose of the Retail Orphan Initiative (RetailROI) is to raise awareness and provide real solutions for the more than 400 million vulnerable children worldwide.

RetailROI has 3 primary goals:

Bring Awareness to the enormous needs of orphans worldwide

Encourage companies (Retailers, Vendors, Manufacturers) to create programs internally for their companies to help with the need

Raise Funds through to help “feet on the street” charities who are making a real difference

00:00 Previews 

01:16 Show Intro 

06:43 I am a RetailROI Champion 

17:53 RetailROI Discussion 

20:03 How RetailROI Began 

23:08 How RetailROI Works 

26:57 Accomplishments 

36:44 The Trips 

44:06 Getting involved 

51:35 Finding Charities 

55:47 A little goes a long way to make a difference 

01:02:53 Fundraising 

01:06:08 More Great Work 

01:13:32 Show Close

Meet your hosts, helping you cut through the clutter in retail & retail tech:

Ricardo Belmar is an NRF Top Retail Voices for 2025 & a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2021 – 2025. Thinkers 360 has named him a Top 10 Retail Thought Leader, Top 50 Management Thought Leader, & Top 100 Digital Transformation Thought Leader, plus a Top Digital Voice for 2024. He is an advisory council member at George Mason University’s Center for Retail Transformation, and was most recently the director partner marketing for retail & consumer goods at Microsoft.

Casey Golden, is CEO of Luxlock, a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2023 - 2025, and Retail Cloud Alliance advisory council member. Obsessed with the customer relationship between the brand and the consumer. After a career on the fashion and supply chain technology side of the business, now slaying franken-stacks and building retail tech!

Includes music provided by imunobeats.com, featuring Overclocked, and E-Motive from the album Beat Hype, written by Heston Mimms, published by Imuno.