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| Retail Warrior: Brig. Gen. Keith Thurgood, an Army reservist, runs an $8.9 billion enterprise. photography by Kris Hundt |
YOU NEED TO KNOW . . .
Brig. Gen. Keith Lee Thurgood
Company: Army and Air Force Exchange Service
Title: Commanding General/CEO
Details: Based in Dallas; 45,000 employees (mostly civilians); $8.9 billion in revenue and earnings of $427 million in fiscal 2006
Why you need to know him:
Because AAFES, a military command that operates and buys for more than 3,500 stores, restaurants, and manufacturing facilities for the Army and Air Force worldwide, does a lot of business with local vendors. In fiscal 2006, for example, the organization bought $719 million worth of goods or services from companies in Dallas alone, including $23 million from D&H Distributing, $6.7 million from Fossil Inc., and $3.4 million from Dr Pepper/Seven Up.
When Thurgood, 50, took over as CEO of AAFES last August, he didn’t have to spend much time getting acquainted with North Texas. A Utah native and Army reservist, the father of five worked for 17 years with PepsiCo Inc. in Plano, most recently overseeing logistics and supply-chain strategies.
His big challenge these days: trying to increase the revenue stream of an organization “without a growing customer base” in hyper-competitive markets. He’ll do it by collaborating more with the Dallas-Fort Worth chamber, academic, and minority-business communities; and by increasing the diversity of the organization’s work force.
He’s also intent on reducing the AAFES inventory by $350 million—and on paring $600 million in supply-chain costs over the next four years. “If we can’t take $600 million out,” Thurgood says, “shoot us in the head.”
