Bios

Barry Gilbert – Managing Director

After 30 years in the consumer products industry, Barry Gilbert followed his passion for wine, food and travel and launched ShipItHome USA in 2010. Having traveled to Europe since 1968, he experienced the frustration of discovering wonderful wines but never being able to bring home more than 1 or 2 bottles to the USA. Along with Ron Scharman, they created ShipitHome to help international wineries sell their wine to American tourists by creating a cost effective, easy system combining logistics and software.

Barry received his undergraduate degree in Philosophy at UC Berkeley, and then returned to Cal for his MBA. He joined the May Department Stores to merchandise a variety of categories from cosmetics to women’s swimwear. In 1988 he became Executive Vice President of Rainbow Records, a local Bay Area music retailer. In 1990 he joined Warner Bros as Senior Vice President of Stores, and in 6 years opened up over 100 stores in over 11 countries around the world. In 1996, he became President of The Sharper Image, and afterwards CEO of online jewelry retailer Miadora, Inc. In 2001 he took the reigns as CEO of Smith & Hawken, a Bay Area gardening retailer.

Mr. Gilbert has also served as CEO of Le Gourmet Chef, and Informative, Inc a software as a service innovator providing leading edge customer insights to marketers and market researchers. Mr. Gilbert also has served on the boards of Cleverset, Inc, New Vine Logistics, Nextsport, Informative, Inc and Reading Revolution. Mr. Gilbert has been an active angel investor belonging to both The Angel’s Forum and the Keiretsu Forum investing in innovative consumer products and technology companies.

Ron Scharman - COO eWinerySolutions

Before joining eWinery Solutions, Ron Scharman was chief operating officer for New Vine Logistics, a Napa based direct-to-consumer wine fulfillment company.

Prior to moving to California, Scharman served as Chief Executive Officer of the Morrell Wine Group, a luxury wine and lifestyle brand in New York with operations that include Morrell & Company Retail Division (store, catalog, and internet), Morrell Restaurant Division (Morrell Wine Bar & Café), Morrell Fine Wine Auction Division, Morrell Wine Storage Division, Morrell Wine Institute, and Morrell Wine Events. Previously, Scharman held major COO and CEO positions over a 12 year period with several national specialty retail chains in the cosmetics and fragrance, home decorating, and fashion industries. Before launching his retail executive career, Scharman spent 7 years in corporate and investment banking in New York City with major financial institutions.

Mr. Scharman received his MBA in finance and accounting from Cornell University’s Johnson School of Management, following four years of work in Southeast Asia and the Far East, which included a two year U.S. Peace Corps assignment in The Philippines, and two years employment with a Japanese trading company in Tokyo. He received his B.S. degree in Agricultural Economics and International Development from Cornell University.

Portfolio

-        Chateau Gaudrelle   - Vouvray (France)

-        Pierre & Bertrand Couly – Chinon (France)

-        Clifford Bay – New Zealand

-        Molly Dooker – McLaren Vale

-        Rob Gibson Wines – Barossa Valley

-        Skye Cellars – Australia

-        Vines of Mendoza – Argentina

-        Wicks Estate Wines – Adelaide Hills

-        Vavsour Wines – New Zealand

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Our Partners and Favorite Links

-        eWinery Solutions – software

-        VinAccess International – importation

-        BR Pacific – website design

-        Rocco Studio – still photography

-        Agence Fleurie – Communication & Marketing
         Wine - Tourism - Gourmandise

-        TripAdvisor – Reviews and advice on hotels,          resorts, flights, vacation rentals, travel          packages, and lots more!