Picture of James Hachtel

James Hachtel

Class of 2018

James (Jim) Hachtel had thought he was headed for a career in the hotel industry. Born in Tucson, AZ, in March 5, 1959, Jim worked through high school for his mother, Rosemarie, who was with a prominent hotel in Tucson.

His father, Fred, was a retired U.S. Army Master Sergeant and Jim and his two younger brothers, Robert and Mark, grew up living on different military bases where he learned respect, discipline and the value of hard work. Jim says his mother has always been there to help the three boys with whatever they need.

With his family background in hotels, Jim became the night auditor for Doubletree Hotel, in Tucson, where he met Patty who worked as the night shift coffee shop manager. It is no surprise the venue for their wedding on February 11, 1984, was in the Doubletree Hotel. They have two children, Daniel and Kristin and two grandchildren, Faith and Wesley.

In 1982, when a co-worker, the human resources manager with the Doubletree, moved to the convenience chain Stop N Go, she recruited Jim and Patty to work for the company’s Las Vegas property. Jim spent the next 12 years with the company, working his way up from store manager to district manager.

He and Patty moved to Southern California and Jim joined the ARCO ampm c-store chain in 1994 as a field supervisor. Again, Jim jumped into the position, working his way through the ranks to become senior category manager for the center store. In 2013, he retired — long enough to realize he needed a new challenge. He found that in Chicago in 2014 with Eby-Brown Co., LLC as vice- president of strategic insights.

At Eby-Brown, Jim directs the company’s category management programs. He says every job he has held had something to do with making sure his stores did a great job making candy available to customers — something for which he has a strong passion.

This passion has been recognized with three BP/ampm Circle of Excellence awards, along with Top Franchise Consultant and Top Field Supervisor for ARCO ampm honors. He has been invited to speak at national industry events including NACS, the NCA State of the Industry Conference, AWMA and Hispanic 360 meetings.

Industry association involvement currently includes serving on the Convenience Store News Editorial Board, the General Mills Distributor Advisory Board, Candy & Snack TODAY Editorial Board and the NCA Most Innovative New Product Award Panel. He was also a charter member of the Mars Wrigley Retail Advisory Board, where he served for five years.

Jim’s other passion is backyard barbecuing and he reveals he would love to take it to the next level by opening a BBQ shack.