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Michael Feuer, Co-Founder and former Chairman and CEO of OfficeMax, left the office products retailer after its December 9, 2003, $1.5 billion sale to Boise Cascade Corporation. Mr. Feuer immediately formed his new firm, Max-Ventures LLC, a venture capital/operational organization focusing on specialty retailing, with offices in the Cleveland suburb of Mayfield Heights. Max-Ventures works with emerging growth companies and new retail concepts as well as mid-sized retailers and businesses, providing services to retailers. Max-Ventures invests in companies that may require an infusion of new capital, but more importantly, strategic and operational expertise to take a business to its next growth stage. OfficeMax, a start-up lead by Mr. Feuer, opened its first store in suburban Cleveland in the summer of 1988 with $20,000 of Mr. Feuer's own money, combined with investments by a small group of other investors. During the ensuing 15 years, OfficeMax grew to an international retail powerhouse with revenues of approximately $5 billion, almost 1,000 locations, a major internet/catalog business unit and direct sales force presence throughout the United States, the Caribbean and Mexico. As a part of the agreement with the sale to Boise, Mr. Feuer has a five-year continuing consulting agreement with OfficeMax. Prior to founding OfficeMax, Mr. Feuer spent 15 years at Jo-Ann Fabrics, a publicly held, New York Stock Exchange listed company now with over 1,000 stores throughout the country. Mr. Feuer held several key senior management positions at Jo Ann and was involved in building this fabric and craft retailer into a national chain. Mr. Feuer served as Senior Vice President of JoAnn Fabrics and was a member of its Executive Management Committee. Mr. Feuer has received numerous awards for his business achievements during his career, including, while at OfficeMax, being named DSN Retailing today's Specialty Discounter of the Year, and for leading OfficeMax to become one of only four companies in the United States to ever reach $3 billion in sales in less than nine years. He has authored numerous articles and has been a frequent guest lecturer at leading universities and organizations throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. He also writes a monthly magazine column, featured in the Smart Business Network publications across the country, "Tips From the Top," focusing on building and operating an entrepreneur-driven organization. Mr. Feuer serves on the board of directors of three privately-held corporations including PsyMax Solutions, which Max-Ventures' is majority owner; Western Reserve Partners, a Cleveland-based investment banking firm, focusing on middle tier-sized companies; and Vision Care Holdings, a national chain of optical superstores and Lasik vision centers where he is a management advisor and lead director. In the philanthropic and academic sector, Mr. Feuer is a member of numerous committees and boards of directors, including University Hospitals of Cleveland, where he is also Chairman of the National Leadership Council for the Health System's Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital. Mr. Feuer has served two terms on the New York Stock Exchange Board of Directors Listed Company Advisory Committee, is a frequent speaker at Baldwin-Wallace College Business School and a member of its Advisory Board, as well as a member of the Board of Trustees of Cuyahoga Community College Foundation, and the Menorah Park Foundation, supporting senior living. He is also a member of the Finance and Investment Committee for the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland. |
Michael Feuer