Keith Jelinek is a Senior Managing Director at Ankura based in New York. He has more than 30 years of experience leading and advising Fortune 100 companies to drive transformational improvements, with a focus on retail and consumer.

EXPERIENCE

Keith’s deep retail experience is leveraged through his industry knowledge. During his time as Senior Vice President of Inventory Management for Kmart Corporation, he was responsible for all aspects of dollar and unit planning, open to buy processes and controls, space management, replenishment, allocation, pricing, and markdown optimization. Prior to that, he spent over 20 years with Thrifty-Payless Drug Stores, where he excelled from a bagger to Vice President of Merchandising Systems and Operations, where he implemented a suite of beta automated replenishment solutions with E3.

Prior to joining Ankura, Keith held senior roles at two global business advisory firms, with a focus on retail and performance improvement. In addition, he was instrumental in the launch of the Retail Performance Improvement team at an international business management consulting firm, where he twice received the Achievements in Excellence award for delivering results far exceeding client expectations. He has also held numerous interim management roles, working collaboratively with executives, boards, and private equity to effectuate key strategic initiatives.

Keith is frequently sought out for his retail and consumer expertise and has been profiled by Authority Magazine, My Total Retail, Retail Insights, Supermarket News, National Association of Convenience Stores, CBS MarketWatch, Chain Store Age, Journal of Corporate Renewal, Time, CNBC.com, RIS News, NPR, Women’s Wear Daily, the Wall Street Journal, and Reuters, among numerous others.