Clay Parnell

With well over 1,000 vinyl albums in his collection, Clay appreciates all genres of music. Likewise, he enjoys all categories of retail – fashion, specialty, department store, and grocery. Music and travel provide Clay the ability to gain unique perspectives that translate to tailored approaches for retail and consumer goods challenges.

Clay Parnell has spent over 30 years working as a retail executive and consultant with some of the largest brands in the industry. As part of The Parker Avery Group’s leadership team, Clay focuses on driving major transformation across retail organizations, throughout a multitude of retail segments including grocery, fashion, specialty, department store, and value, among others. Clay brings deep experience, strategic perspectives, and operational expertise to retail and supplier business processes and enabling systems—beginning with strategy, process design, and software selection, through retail solution implementation services. His innovative guidance in merchandising, planning, fulfillment, and supply chain helps retailers manage complex transformations. As a recognized retail leader, Clay has presented at a variety of industry events, including Apparel East, Retail Executive Summit, Retail Connections, Supply Chain Insights Global Summit, and NRF. He holds a Bachelor of Industrial Engineering (BIE) from Georgia Tech and has authored several publications focused on merchandising and transformation. Hailing from Atlanta, he enjoys traveling (when he finds time) and being an ’empty nester’ with his wife.