Nationwide Marketing Group announced today that Mike Derro has been named the group’s new senior vice president of home appliances. Derro, who joined Nationwide in October 2020 to lead the furniture and bedding division, most recently worked side by side with some of Nationwide’s largest independent retail members as the head of the group’s core division.

“We are thrilled to welcome Mike back to the Nationwide merchandising team and to the home appliances chair,” says Doug Wrede, senior vice president of merchandising for the group. “He has shown incredible leadership throughout his time at NMG. Looking at what his team accomplished while he steered our furniture and bedding division, we’re excited to see how he can push our home appliance business to the next level.”

During his previous stint on the merchandising team, Derro helped build a furniture and bedding offering that positioned Nationwide as a leader in those categories. By strengthening vendor partner relationships and providing top-tier programming to members, the F&B division grew to become one of the most prosperous divisions at Nationwide.

Derro also brought an innovative perspective to the merchandising team, overseeing the launch and growth of several key content and educational platforms that have since been borrowed by other divisions at Nationwide, including the Las Vegas Market Live program and Mattress University.

“Whether it’s on the merchandising or membership side, at the end of the day, our goal at Nationwide is to help our members grow and thrive as independent business owners,” Derro says. “I’m excited for the opportunity to continue working toward that goal in this new role, especially after spending the last year-plus supporting retailers who lean into Nationwide for support across all categories and in every aspect of their business.”

Derro will begin his transition by attending KBIS at the end of February but will continue to support the NMG membership team through PrimeTime in Las Vegas, March 10-13. He will fully assume his new role following the conclusion of PrimeTime.