About Us

HJ Mark Markarian

Co-Chairman

H.J. “Mark” Markarian, Chairman of Landmark Incentive Marketing, has received nation-wide acclaim for his unique incentive marketing and merchandising concepts. For almost 40 years, Mark has been the premier innovator in incentive marketing across the country. The combined expertise of Mark’s concepts and Landmark’s unique travel prowess is what makes Landmark topnotch in the industry today.

Mark has been a visible figure in the forefront of the food and related industries. Mark can trace his marketing career back to Rosenthal-Haviland selling supermarkets store to store. Rosenthal-Haviland’s loss in the department store marketplace gave rise to Mark’s task of opening new markets within the retail supermarket industry. Mark single handedly developed this market for Rosenthal-Haviland by implementing his marketing strategies in end aisle displays and Club Card Programs. As the Senior Vice-President of Staff Supermarkets, a well recognized private label company, he was responsible for revamping their entire marketing strategies and securing their footing as a viable alternative to brand labels.

While consulting for Big G Supermarkets, he developed and executed a turnaround strategy to recover this company from its failing business. After his tremendous success with Big G, Farmhouse Foods’ owners recruited him to do the same on a much larger scale for Scot Lad, a 3 Billion dollar retail wholesaler in Indiana. At the time, Scot Lad was riddled with distribution inefficiencies, was losing their customer base rapidly, and was suffering union problems and employee dissipation. Through a 2 year, 7 day a week hands on initiative, Mark executed his business plan to stop losses before bankruptcy, turn around company wide shrinkage, rewrite bank loan terms and renegotiate all union contracts. In addition, through his merger and acquisition strategies, which included the flip of 140 A&P supermarkets, Thorofare Grocers in Pittsburgh and Weingarten Supermarkets in Texas, he was able to generate the cash flow and provide the leverage necessary to put Scot Lad back on top.

While he serves as Chairman of Landmark, where his experience and expertise is the impetus for our innovative merchandising programs, he is continually called upon to consult on many of the transactions that help shape the food industry today. Mark’s impeccable relationships throughout all levels of the industry have provided opportunities for clients by opening doors, providing introductions, executive placement recommendations and strategic planning and consultation.

On a personal note, Mark has been passionately involved with many charitable organizations. A dedicated member of the Armenian community, Mark and Pearl were awarded the distinctions of “Prince of the Church,” a rare honor bestowed by the Armenian Patriarch.

Mark holds a B.S. degree in economics from University of Massachusetts Amherst and is a decorated veteran of World War II serving in the South Pacific. He has been a long term member of ROFDA.