Rick Heller, partner of Carl Marks Advisory Group, will be among experts addressing critical issues surrounding the current retail environment during a panel discussion to be featured at the Chief Housewares Executive SuperSession (CHESS) September 9-10 in Chicago.

The State of the Retail Environment: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly will provide an in-depth look at the experts' views of the state of the industry, including how the experts judge the financial condition and creditworthiness of retailers, how they're advising their clients in a challenging environment, alternatives for housewares companies when large retailer customers go bust, what's different today vs. the LBO days of the early '90s and is there a light at the end of the tunnel?

Heller has more than 25 years of experience providing financial and operational advisory services. His focus is on turnarounds of financially distressed companies and driving top line growth in consumer products, food, manufacturing and service businesses. Heller often serves in interim executive management roles for his clients and has completed significant operational turnarounds for a number of underperforming companies in the consumer products industry.

The panel discussion takes place September 10 during the CHESS conference at the Westin River North.

For more information, visit www.housewares.org.