
Barry Litwin
Chief Executive Officer
Summary
Barry Litwin is an accomplished CEO with extensive experience leading companies in the industrial distribution and consumer retail sectors. His career encompasses significant roles in publicly and privately held companies, often backed by private equity. Known for his strategic vision, he has consistently driven revenue growth, improved profit margins, and fostered operational excellence throughout his professional journey.
Renowned for his leadership skills, Barry has developed collaborative, high-performance teams crucial to transforming and growing businesses. His broad expertise has made him a sought-after advisor among business leaders, management boards, analysts, and investors, providing them with valuable insights and guidance for achieving transformative growth.
As CEO, Barry adopts a transformational and adaptive leadership style that focuses on collaboration, associate engagement, operational excellence, customer problem-solving, and promoting accountability and ownership. He effectively utilizes a strategic planning framework known as the Five by Five, which aids in identifying and leveraging initiatives that maximize organizational value, increase prioritization, and drive innovation and operational efficiency. This framework also focuses on aligning and improving organizational talent to enhance effectiveness.
A critical component of Barry’s leadership is his emphasis on improving the entire customer experience. He believes enhancing customer satisfaction can reduce churn, create competitive differentiation, and build long-term value. His strategies often include enhancing digital and omnichannel capabilities, focusing on end-to-end quality, and improving sales force efficiency and scalability. He is adept at speeding up product development, reducing costs through global sourcing, and leveraging AI and automation to streamline the order-to-cash journey and optimize supply chain operations, significantly improving daily customer interactions.
From April 2015 to January 2019, Barry served as CEO of Adorama, where he revitalized the company’s business model, establishing it as a leading retailer of professional cameras and consumer electronics. He implemented a comprehensive strategy known as FOCUS (For Our Customers and Us), which transformed various aspects of the business, including talent, financials, marketing, digital presence, inventory, merchandising, and supply chain processes. This initiative expanded high-margin offerings and strengthened the company’s position in the competitive market, boosting revenue, profits, and market share.
Later, from January 2019 to August 2024, Barry led Global Industrial Company, a major industrial supply distributor with annual sales exceeding $1.3 billion. Here, he launched the "Accelerating the Customer Experience" strategy, enhancing the selection, purchase, and delivery processes for large MRO items. This strategy improved the company’s competitive edge, increased market share, and raised market capitalization by $700 million. His leadership in mergers and acquisitions, including the strategic acquisition of Indoff, broadened the company’s customer base and market reach, notably enhancing customer and associate satisfaction.
Barry Litwin’s effective leadership and innovative strategies drive business success and create a positive, engaging corporate culture, making him a distinguished and respected leader.