Stellar Partners (Stellar) Founder and Chief Executive Officer Susan Stackhouse is retiring after leading the company for 30 years. Her replacement is Padraig Drennan, President and COO since 2017, who will assume the role of President and CEO.

Stackhouse, who started Stellar with one duty free store at Tampa International Airport over 30 years ago, has served at local and national level for economic development and airport concessionaire organisations.

Roles have included Vice President for the International Association of Airport Duty Free Stores, Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce Executive Committee, Board of Trustees of University of Tampa and Chairwoman of the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women campaign.

WELL RESPECTED EXECUTIVE

A respected member of the Tampa Bay business community and airport concession industry, she was named 2015 Business Woman of the Year by the Tampa Bay Business Journal.

“I am proud of Stellar’s success over the years. Now the time is right for me to step down”, said Stackhouse. “We recruited Padraig for this role because of his years of retail management experience. The company has grown under the leadership of a seasoned executive team and is poised to do great things in the industry with Padraig at the helm.

“I am confident that he will lead Stellar to new heights.”

A veteran of the travel retail industry, Drennan has over 25 years of retail experience and over 10 in airport retail, most recently as President and COO of Stellar.

Prior to that, he was COO of DFASS Group (now 3Sixty) and also served as President of World Duty Free North America where he was responsible for the company’s three segments — news and gifts, duty free and speciality retail.

Drennan, who will continue to live in Tampa where Stellar is headquartered, has also held the position of Chief Financial Officer of World Duty Free UK. He has held management positions with Marks and Spencer, Gap and Disney Stores, after starting his career with Arthur Anderson. He serves on the board of the International Association of Airport Duty Free Stores.

He commented: “Susan is a visionary in travel retail and her leadership has positioned Stellar to do even more great things in the future. I personally thank Susan for her guidance during our time together at Stellar and wish her well in retirement.

“During this very exciting time, I am looking forward to continuing to expand Stellar’s impact. Our company is experiencing great growth, and we are eager to reach travellers in new airports with the industry’s best retail brands and experiences.”