With more than 40 years of experience across leading retail and consumer packaged goods organizations, Thom Blischok is widely recognized as one of the industry’s most influential advisors on growth and transformation. He has served as a strategic partner to major retailers across grocery, drug, apparel, convenience, dollar, e-commerce, mass, and club channels in both the U.S. and global markets.
Within CPG, Thom advises C-suite leaders on operating model transformation—aligning strategy, capabilities, and execution to deliver measurable performance. In retail, he focuses on the industry’s structural reset driven by digital. He helps organizations translate disruption into advantage—advancing merchandising, marketing, in-store experience, omnichannel, supply chain, and technology.
Thom led FMI’s “Digitally Engaged Food Shopper” initiative, shaping the industry’s view of e-commerce in grocery. He also co-led foundational research on the transformation of grocery wholesale distribution. Most recently, his work has centered on the emerging integrated leadership model across retail and CPG—the CEO, CFO, CIO, and CHRO—defining how aligned leadership accelerates transformation and drives sustained performance.
From a CPG perspective, Thom works with manufacturers to redesign operating models around capability-driven strategies. His approach focuses on “de-invest to re-invest,” helping organizations shift resources to the capabilities needed for future differentiation and market leadership.
A self-described “plain-speaking futurist,” Thom is a highly sought-after advisor and speaker, engaging audiences from executive leadership teams and boards to large-scale industry conferences. His insights on the future of retail and the forces reshaping both retail and CPG are widely regarded as pragmatic, forward-looking, and actionable.
Throughout his career, Thom has held senior leadership roles, including Chief Retail Strategist at PricewaterhouseCoopers, President of Global Retail at Information Resources, Inc., Global Chairman of Retail and Distribution at Coopers & Lybrand, Managing Partner at AT&T Global Information Systems Consulting, and operating executive roles with Walmart, Symphony, Investment Groups, and Equifax.
Thom resides in Paradise Valley, Arizona, with his wife, Sharla. Together, they are active in environmental stewardship, with their property designated as a National Wildlife Sanctuary, and in philanthropy through their foundation, Wings and Wags, LLC, a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to animal rescue.