After first setting foot in the floorcovering industry — Keith Spano was in it for life. He got his start in his family's flooring business, worked at the mill level for Beaulieu, served as Executive Vice President of Marketing and Merchandising at Abbey Carpet, and worked as the Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing for the retail behemoth, Avalon Carpet Tile & Flooring.
Keith's wealth of knowledge and experience, combined with his valiant, forward-thinking attitude, create success for our members and the co-op.
As Chief Operating Officer, Scott Wheeler utilizes his keen understanding of the flooring industry to implement strategies to drive growth. Wheeler previously held the role of Vice President of Merchandising for Carpet One Floor & Home.
Prior to his positions with Carpet One Floor & Home, Wheeler served as the Executive Vice President for Avalon Carpet, Tile & Flooring in Cherry Hill, NJ. While at Avalon, he was instrumental in growing the company’s product assortment and significantly increasing their sales.
Before working with Avalon Carpet, Tile & Flooring, Wheeler served as President/Vice President of the Flooring America Franchise Division. He also worked for Mohawk Industries, Inc. as a Territory Manager and at floor covering retailer Sandler & Worth, Inc.
Wheeler has also earned the designation of Certified Flooring Executive (CFE) and has been a member of the World Floor Covering Association (WFCA) since 2002.
Frank comes to CCA Global with over 20 years of successful marketing and brand-building initiatives on both the brand and agency side. He is considered an innovative and creative marketing thought leader specializing in the creation of strategic digital, traditional and brand-building lead generation programs.
Frank partnered with major brands like Zappos, Century 21 and Staples from his agency life; and held several roles of increasing responsibility with The Yankee Candle Company, a vertically integrated American manufacturer and retailer of scented candles and accessories. Additionally, Frank has worked for brands like Ace Hardware, Carpet One Floor & Home and Key Bank, all focused on consumer marketing initiatives.
Frank Chiera has always been passionate about marketing, technology and family businesses. As a boy, he looked forward to going on sales and repair calls with his dad, who owned a watch, clock and antique jewelry repair business. Back then, as people were replacing fine windup timepieces with battery operated movements, it was Frank’s dad who taught him the value of articulating quality, craftsmanship and brand storytelling. His customers relied on him to provide a service that they couldn’t do on their own. Growing up in a family business also meant Frank always fought for the underdog and rooted for local businesses.
In his current role as Senior Vice President of Marketing & Advertising, Frank leads all marketing initiatives and is also responsible for developing a new business initiative within CCA Global Partners called Drive, a marketing automation platform made available to CCA members as well as independent retailers outside of CCA Global Partners.
Frank resides in Southern New Hampshire and is the proud dad to twins Luca and Willamia and can be found tinkering with classic cars on the weekend.
Terri Daniels has over 25 years of experience with CCA Global Partners and currently acts as the Vice President of Public Relations, Social Media & Communications. She is passionate about helping family businesses grow and continuously searches for new ways to help members promote their business.
Throughout her time at the company, she has provided services in digital and traditional advertising, promotional and brand building campaigns, social and interactive media development, retail marketing, strategic communication analysis, cause-related marketing, brand management and public relations.
As Senior Vice President Store Design and Visual Merchandising, Theresa Fisher directs all aspects relating to the look and feel of Carpet One stores as well as the branding of these stores and their exclusive products. Fisher’s innate sense of style and sense for what the customer wants makes her role vital in positioning CCA Retail Group brands to our customers.
In addition to her understanding of the customer and her vision, she is skilled in directing projects and turning great ideas into great stores.
A graduate of New York University, Fisher comes to CCA Global Partners with over fifteen years of marketing and visual merchandising experience including experience with well-known brands such as Ralph Lauren and Timberland. Since joining CCA Global Partners in 1999, Fisher has introduced valuable programs and created strong branding around existing and new exclusive products.
Fisher is always seeking to make the customer experience one that will be remembered and talked about. Her efforts help to set our stores apart from the big-box retailers.
Baxter Freake is CCA Global’s Vice President of Retail Brands for Canada which comprises of Flooring Canada and Carpet One (Canada). As Senior Vice President, Freake is responsible for the daily operations of the Canadian division of Carpet One Floor & Home and Flooring Canada reporting to the respected presidents who are based out of the Manchester NH office. His primary focus is on developing merchandising and marketing programs that are unique to the Canadian market. In addition, Freake works closely with vendors to ensure that the Canadian market receives the highest quality flooring products at competitive prices.
A certified floor covering inspector, Freake has worked in the floor covering industry for 38 years. He previously worked for Cohen’s Carpet One Floor & Home in Newfoundland and Labrador, for 20 years. Occupying several positions including sales, store manager, flooring distribution manager and flooring division manager. In 1996, Freake brought Cohen’s into the Carpet One Floor & Home family. In 2002, Freake left his position with Cohen’s Carpet One Floor & Home and took on the position of VP for Carpet One Floor and Home Canada.
Freake lives in Cambridge Ontario and works out of the Burlington Ontario office. With his wife Gloria, he is very involved with the local Salvation Army church and enjoys leisure time touring on their motorcycle and spending time at the lake on their sailboat.
Cathey Gundlach Links started working with ProSource as Director of Hard Surface in May 2006. Over the course of four years, she successfully developed a number of innovative programs and was promoted to Senior Buyer for Hard Surfaces in March 2010. Her responsibilities grew to include sourcing hard surface products to be utilized throughout all of the CCA divisions. In 2012, Gundlach Links was named Vice President of Hard Surface Flooring, where she further developed strong relationships with core suppliers and expanded her knowledge of the entire hard surface category. Most recently, she was promoted to VP of Merchandising for Flooring America/Flooring Canada, The Floor Trader, and International Design Guild.
Gundlach Links’ passion and drive are both infectious and inspiring. Her accomplishments and contributions are eclipsed only by the respect she gives and receives in the relationships she’s built with members, suppliers, and coworkers.
Nicole is a goal-driven and resourceful thought leader highly skilled in developing and managing a wide range of strategic and innovative learning plans. She is a champion of change and a strong team leader with the problem-solving skills needed to asses organizational challenges and convert ideas into sustainable and workable solutions that build individual capacities to achieve business goals.
Her experience includes working as a Manager of Learning and Development at The Vitamin Shoppe, Director of Leadership Development at Toys "R" US, Inc., District Manager at Luxottica, and Manager of Learning and Development at Gap, Inc.
In her new role, Nicole will partner with business unit leaders to strategize, plan, and execute their business initiatives through training and education; direct, plan and implement all University functions to improve store salespersons and members' financial and business performance; innovate and drive technology to enhance the overall training effectiveness for members; and develop and execute profit plans for University operations.
Nicole is a mother of three; a daughter (34), two sons (31 and 23), and the dog mom to Harriet. She enjoys traveling with her husband of 28 years and getting the family together for fun adventures.
Frank began his career at CCA Global Partners 17 years ago with the University. Frank held three different roles over 8 years and was instrumental in the success of that department. His next role was as Director of Member Services and then Sr. Director of Member Services and Operations. Frank has been Vice President of Member Services and Operations for the last three years. He has 12 people reporting to him, 9 of which are the Regional Business Consultants (RBC’s) and 3 that make up the CCA Operations Department.
Frank also oversees the NEX<40 group for Carpet One where his intention has been to get the next generation of younger C1 members engaged so that they have the same passion for our C1 co-op their parents have today. It is now three years old and is made up of 200+ individuals making a name for themselves as the next generation.
Frank was the recipient of the 2018 and 2019 “Eileen Shapiro Award.” This award is given to a member of the Carpet One Floor and Home internal staff, who members feel has been the most helpful to them over the past year … a staff person who always goes above and beyond.
As Vice President of digital marketing, Andrew is a results-driven, innovative leader with demonstrated world class interactive retail marketing and social media skills. He possesses extensive hands-on expertise in search engine marketing, customer acquisition, conversion optimization and social media marketing and offers the unique ability to develop visionary interactive solutions that yield a high rate of return and success.
Andrew’s marketing and advertising experience spans over thirteen years, he has been with CCA Global Partners since 2005. During this time he has maintained a broad skill set and served in several areas of marketing and advertising for the co-operative. Since 2009 he has lead CCA’s Internet marketing efforts to drive leads and sales through online initiatives to member stores. Prior to joining CCA, Andrew managed the co-op advertising program for California Products and was a field marketing manager for Newell Rubbermaid. He has a bachelor’s of science degree from the University of Massachusetts.
