Derek’s primary responsibility is to direct all marketing, merchandising and procurement efforts for the Yesway brand, as well as to develop relationships with Yesway’s supplier vendors. He leads the efforts to establish a marketing and merchandising playbook to improve the organizations go to market strategic plan. He also helps to further cultivate the growth and stewardship of the fast growing Yesway brand with a keen focus on ensuring the organizations social, mobile, and loyalty initiatives are best in class.
Prior to joining Yesway, Mr. Gaskins most recently served as Chief Customer Officer for Rutter’s convenience stores & Dairy business. He was instrumental in developing their award winning customer engagement programs and positioned the brand as one of the best in the retail industry. Before Rutter’s, Mr. Gaskins was Senior Vice President of Marketing and Merchandising with Mid-Atlantic Convenience Stores (MACS) and led the development of the Circle K brand. Prior to MACS he served as Vice President of Marketing with NACS- The Association for Convenience and Fuel Retailing and positioned the organization for unprecedented digital and global growth. His other prior experiences include leading the brand marketing for Giant Eagle where he led the development of the GetGo chain of convenience stores, and launched the Fuelperks fuel rewards loyalty program.
His other prior experiences include a number of major companies including Nabisco Foods, Goldman Sachs, and Procter & Gamble. He is an experienced brand developer, chief marketer, merchant, and innovator that has launched numerous packaged goods, CRM and retail brands and store formats.
Mr. Gaskins holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Iowa and an MBA in Finance, Marketing, and Real Estate from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
