Al Sambar

General Partner

2020 - Current

General Partner at XRC Ventures. Manage investments with XRC’s Opportunity and Brand Capital Funds. This includes, identifying, vetting, and oversight of invested startups within XRC’s portfolio.

Board Member

2024

Strategic Advisor & Investor

2020

Co-Founder

2016

Managing Member

2015

General Partner

2008

Manage investments of Heartland Capital Partners

Managing Director, Retail Digital & Innovation Strategy

2016 - 2020

I currently have dual roles across two organizations. I lead the digital retailing practice globally for Kurt Salmon, as well as Innovation and Digital Strategy for Accenture's North American Retail Strategy group. Responsible to help clients drive growth using new digital and commercial innovation models...supported by all of both Kurt Salmon and Accenture's innovation capabilities.

Managing Partner, North America Retail & Consumer

2015 - 2016

P&L responsibility for Kurt Salmon’s North American Retail and Consumer group. This practice provide retailers and consumer companies with strategic planning, organizational design, consumer insights and operating performance improvement services. Al's personal areas of specialization include omnichannel retailing and business transformation. This practice also includes Kurt Salmon's Private Equity and Brand Strategy services. He writes frequently about innovation in retailing and global brands and is regularly cited in leading publications including Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times

Partner - Leader of Softlines Market Vertical

2011 - 2014

Leader of Kurt Salmon's Operations Management services to the fashion, apparel, footwear and accessories industry in North America. The practice works with leading brands and retailers to support them with services to support performance improvement and transformation including merchandising, planning, analytics, digital, product design & development, supply chain and store performance. Al's personal areas of deep expertise include retail technology, supply chain and omnichannel design and operations. Experience includes leadership of multiple Organization, Process and Technology transformations for leading retailers and brands.

Partner

2001 - 2011

A practice partner in the Kurt Salmon consumer group; selling, managing and delivering projects to aid clients with business transformation in the areas of IT and Supply Chain strategy, design and implementation. Specializations include: ecommerce start-ups, multi-channel and omnichannel enablement and global supply chain management.

Management Consultant

1994 - 2000

Worked as a consultant then manager within Kurt Salmon's IT and Supply Chain capability areas delivering and managing projects in the following areas: Systems: Order Management, Planning, Warehouse management, etc Supply Chain: Supply Chain strategy, Inventory Planning & Optimization, Sku/Assortment optimization, Fulfillment Center design and implementation Organization: Change Management, Lean Process design, Large Project Management This seven year period covers a range of experience and titles from Consultant through Sr Manager, where he worked with 30+ significant industry leading retailers and brands.

Naval Officer

1987 - 1994

Naval Aviator