Sessions 2011
Tuesday, September 6
Welcome Reception
6:00 PM - 8:00 PMPresentation of VMSD Visual & Renovation Competition
7:00 PM - 7:30 PMVMSD editor Anne DiNardo will present the winners of our annual International Visual Competition and the Retail Renovation Competition.
Wednesday, September 7
Conference Kickoff
9:00 AM - 9:30 AMOpening Keynote - Understanding Shoppers’ Higher Needs
9:30 AM - 10:30 AMDesigning great retail experiences entails understanding a brand’s core customers, maybe even better than they understand themselves. Having applied Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs to his own boutique hotel company, Joie de Vivre, Chip Conley, will provide insight on how to mind-read your customers and incorporate those realizations into better retail design.
Speaker(s): Chip Conley
Case Study: Harley Davidson Motor Company
11:00 AM - 12:00 PMTake a look at the in-depth process behind a new concept from Harley Davidson, which has recently been tested in six different pilot locations. Knutson will share before-and-after photos and video, along with real-world sales and consumer data to support the effectiveness of the new design.
Speaker(s): Monica Gerhardt
Visual Merchandising Symposium
11:00 AM - 12:00 PMVisual merchandising is a powerful force in retail again, driving strategies and celebrating the brand messages. But are budgets opening up? And how are retailers and brands measuring the return on this dynamic investment? ROI has always been that most elusive holy grail. A panel of visual merchandising experts makes the case that more spending really does produce better results.
Speaker(s):
Retail Archetypes
11:00 AM - 12:00 PMHuman beings are unique in that we rely on complex symbolism to explain and understand our world, assigning subconscious archetypal structures to make sense of it all. This pattern applies to retail spaces, as well. Archetypal settings prime people to buy because they’re a balance between what’s known and comfortable and what’s new and exciting. This session will define retail archetypes (including “the shrine,” “the bazaar” and “the void”) and discuss how these models can be applied to your design strategies and branding efforts for long-term growth.
Speaker(s):
Networking Roundtable Lunch
12:15 PM - 2:00 PMBring your questions, ideas and insights to the Networking Roundtable Lunches on Wednesday and Thursday. Hosted by VMSD Advisory Board members, editorial staff and conference sponsors, these lively discussions present a unique opportunity to connect with and learn from some of the most creative minds in retail design. Choose your top four topics when you register for the conference, and get your table assignments for each day when you arrive. Requests are filled in the order they’re received, so register early to secure your choice of topics
Iron Merchant VI: Visual Merchandising Challenge
2:30 PM - 3:45 PMTest your creativity in the sixth annual Iron Merchant Challenge, where teams of IRDC attendees conceive and build themed displays in one hour’s time. Attendee votes determine the Best of Show, announced during the IRDC party on Thursday night.
The Challenge is a fun way to build rapport with high-level peers across all retail sectors. If you’d like to participate, check the appropriate box when you register, and we’ll contact you prior to the conference with your team assignment.
**When you register you will be asked if you want to be a participant or a attendee. A participant is someone who works with a team to conceive and build themed displays, an attendee watches the teams build their displays.
Speaker(s): Joe Baer
Designing Stores for Mass-Customization Experiences
2:30 PM - 3:45 PMMass customization is an emerging trend in retail: Consumers can now, for example, “custom-design” their own sneakers through an assortment of choices provided by the retailer. But how can store design best communicate to customers this new experience and, more importantly, help guide those customers back into the stores? Woelfel’s research over the past three years has studied different methodologies for successfully integrating mass customization into retail spaces, and this session will present his findings along with case studies of retailers getting it right.
Speaker(s): Wesley Woelfel
Designing for the Millennial Shopper
4:00 PM - 5:00 PMThis panel discussion will delve into the minds and shopping habits of millennials (ages 18-29) and how they’re shaping the retail landscape. Specifically, panelists will focus on this generation’s technology habits, their approach to grocery shopping, and how becoming parents is shifting millennials’ priorities and purchasing decisions and habits.
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Thursday, September 8
Case Study Breakfast
8:00 AM - 9:00 AMParticipating sponsors and their clients walk you through recent projects, show the finished designs and field your questions—all in 20-minute segments over breakfast
CASE STUDY BREAKFAST: Starbucks and GE, a Winning Partnership
8:00 AM - 8:20 AMGE Lighting is proud to present to you a collaborative case study with one of our customers, Starbucks Coffee Company. We think there's strength in numbers, so with Starbucks having over 17,000 stores globally, and GE Lighting having over 125 years of experience, reliability and innovation in lighting, we're excited to share with you our collaboration that has brought about a unique partnership and significant energy and dollar saving for Starbucks Coffee Company.
CASE STUDY BREAKFAST: AllPets Emporium's High-Traffic Helper
8:20 AM - 8:40 AMJoin Centiva for a concept-to-completion tour of the newly designed retail space for AllPets Emporium. This Florida-based retailer needed finishes that would create a unique environment but still stand up to the high traffic of its customers and their four-legged friends. Its prototype store in Pembroke Pines took advantage of Centiva's in-house color matching, custom design an cutting capabilities to emphasize its brand creatively.
CASE STUDY BREAKFAST: Everyone Loves Burt’s Bees … All Over the World
8:20 AM - 8:40 AMSpencer Blaker, the director of global retail marketing for Burt’s Bees, partnered with Gensler SF and Fleetwood Fixtures to design and realize a refreshed global vision for the brand, transforming Burt’s from a wholesale manufacturer to a global retailer delivering earth-friendly, natural personal care products. See the sweet success of this unique collaborative partnership, and get the buzz on their secrets of going global.
An NRF Overview of the Retail Industry
8:40 AM - 9:00 AMMobile technology, financial challenges and an ever-evolving customer are changing the way retailers are doing business and how they look at their stores. Looking at fourth quarter and beyond, this presentation will highlight the big trends driving retailers and their customers points of view. Gain insight into this economy which continues to surprise even the most seasoned retailers.
Speaker(s): Daniel Butler
CASE STUDY BREAKFAST: Bringing It All Together: Design as the Store Star
8:40 AM - 9:00 AMWe no longer live in an “as seen on tv” world. The store channel is more important today and for different reasons. Retail organizations need to bring store planning, merchandising and design to the front of the line where important decisions are made and budgets are set. Mark Murray will demonstrate how Red Chariot Experience Design and the cross-discipline design charrettes let you link brand, product and shopper understanding in a way that creates the most compelling retail presentation. Mark will also provide specific examples of how collaborating with shopper marketing and technology can help you create something truly memorable at retail.
Presentation of the VMSD Peter Glen Retailer of the Year Award
9:15 AM - 9:45 AMNext Store: Unifying Technologies to Enhance the Retail Store Experience
9:45 AM - 10:45 AM2011 saw retailers deploying all sorts of new technology in stores: a kiosk here, digital signage there... an "app" to capitalize on the latest mobile trends. But bringing these (and other!) technologies together to create an empowering and delightful brand experience in the store is as much art as it is "tech." This session will explore how the entire panoply of technologies available to today's store designers can be brought together in a new and unified shopping experience.
Speaker(s): Jim Crawford
Whole Foods: A Closer Look at the Retailer of the Year
11:00 AM - 12:00 PMIn this session, we'll hear more from Whole Foods, winner of the 2011 VMSD Peter Glen Retailer of the Year Award, presented earlier in the day. The award is given to the retailer who best exemplifies Glen's standards of retail excellence: innovation, service and intelligence. VMSD editor at large Steve Kaufman will conduct a candid Q+A with the Whole Foods team--audience participation is encouraged!
Speaker(s):
Recalibration by Design: New Strategies for Retail's Rebound
11:00 AM - 12:00 PMThere’s evidence of a cautious economic rebound, a new optimism. Add to that retailers’ nascent historical perspective of what worked—and what didn’t—in the dearth of 2008-2010, and we have a new impetus for change in retail, including new branding and geographic strategies. This panel will discuss how retailers are recalibrating, especially through broad geographic expansion, urban and suburban growth and rebranding of merchandising strategies.
Speaker(s):
Networking Roundtable Lunch
12:15 PM - 2:00 PMTalk shop over lunch at IRDC’s Networking Roundtable Lunches on Wednesday and Thursday, the first two days of the conference. Hosted by VMSD Advisory Board members, editorial staff and conference sponsors, these lively discussions present a unique opportunity to connect with and learn from some of the most creative minds in retail design.
Choose your top four topics when you register, then get your table assignments for each day when you arrive at conference check-in. Requests are filled in the order they’re received, so register early to secure your choice of topics.
Case Study: Glentel Telecommunications Stores in Canada
2:15 PM - 3:15 PMWith its consumer brands WirelessWave, Tbooth and Wireless, Etc., Glentel focuses on what makes its organization unique and leverages this point of difference at every consumer touch point. This presentation will examine and demonstrate some emerging trends that deliver measurable results while building strong consumer loyalty across these brands.
Speaker(s):
Case Study: E-Mart, South Korea
2:15 PM - 3:15 PME-Mart is the largest retailer in South Korea, with more than 120 big-box superstores, including some in China. With an eye toward a brand invention and format development, E-Mart recently created three stand-alone retail brands: Matrix, a specialty consumer electronics store; Molly’s Pet Shop, a high-end pet store/pet hotel; and E-Mart Traders, a warehouse-style store. Take an inside look at the development of these brands and their introduction to the Korean consumer, as well as the future of E-Mart’s growth.
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In Transit: New Models of Airport Retail
2:15 PM - 3:15 PMWith airport costs rising, retail is increasingly seen as an important revenue driver for airports. And tighter security guidelines and the popularity of low-cost airlines (which require early arrival for a place in line) mean that customers are spending even more time waiting in terminals. In 2008, San Francisco International Airport embarked on a $383 million project to renovate Terminal 2 into a state-of-the-art domestic terminal. Now opened, this renovated terminal includes 12 restaurants, nine retail stores, a gourmet marketplace and a spa. T2 is also expected to achieve LEED Gold certification. This session will walk you through T2’s transformation amid a discussion of the unique trends driving the exciting changes in airport retailing across the country.
Speaker(s):
European Retail: In With the New
3:45 PM - 4:45 PMThere’s been a lot of format experimentation in Europe over the last 12 months as retailers struggled to come to terms with the need to be in more places and in different forms when faced with a difficult economic backdrop. Join us for a tour around some of the best new ideas in Europe during 2011.
Speaker(s): John Ryan
Food in Retail: Do the Same Rules Apply?
3:45 PM - 4:45 PMHow has the landscape changed for food retailing post-recession? What can restaurants, grocers and specialty shops learn from each other (and what can other retailers learn from them)? What role does design play these days in getting customers to literally consume their wares? Join us for a lively panel discussion featuring representatives from several different food sectors to explore these questions and more.
Speaker(s):
Growing Your Brand Smaller
3:45 PM - 4:45 PMBig boxes are getting smaller, as behemoths like Target, Walmart and SuperValu roll out scaled-down brand extensions, often in urban environments. This panel will discuss the who, why and what of this trend, and offer insight into exactly how the big brands are accomplishing it.
Speaker(s):
Friday, September 9
CLOSING KEYNOTE: Visual Immersion and the Retail Mindset
8:30 AM - 10:00 AMInspiration is everywhere. Design is everywhere (sometimes where you least expect it). And the ways in which design and visual thinking can enhance--even define—the shopping experience go way beyond store layouts, window displays and graphics packages. Rob Forbes, a longtime champion of design who founded furniture retailer Design Within Reach, will provide a guided tour of his truly unique perspective on the subject. Look at your world through his eyes as he shares his personal photos of startups, street scenes and other oblique sources of inspiration that can transform your customer's relationship with your brand.
Speaker(s): Rob Forbes
San Francisco Architecture Tour
11:00 AM - 1:00 PMGroup 1 - 11:00am to 1:00pm
Group 2 - 2:00pm - 4:00pm
Recently named one of the "World's Greatest Tour Guides" by Travel + Leisure, Rick Evans will lead our walking tour of the Financial District's architectural gems. We'll see the world's first "glass curtain" building, discover hard-to-find rooftop gardens, visit a few of San Francisco's Privately Open Public Spaces, or POPS, and more—without climbing a single hill.
CURRENTLY THIS TOUR IS FULL, CHECK AT CONFERENCE REGISTRATION ON-SITE FOR ANY OPENINGS.
Westfield San Francisco Centre Tour
12:00 PM - 2:00 PMThis landmark mixed-use retail, entertainment and cultural destination was renovated and expanded in 2006, adding Bloomingdale’s to its diverse mix of national and international brands. On this tour, we’ll learn about the design and construction of the award-winning Centre, then explore architectural features including the historic rotunda and dome, the restored Market Street façade and more. The two-hour tour begins at 12
NO FEE.
Ferry Building Marketplace Tour - FULL
3:00 PM - 4:00 PMSan Francisco's landmark Ferry Building underwent a visionary historic rehabilitation in 2003, transforming the ground floor into the Ferry Building Marketplace—a public galleria filled with restaurants and food purveyors emphasizing sustainable and regionally grown or produced products. Our tour will be led by BCV Architects, who handled the retail portion of the renovation, drawing inspiration from Harrods in London, Peck in Milan and the Pike Place Market in Seattle.
CURRENTLY THIS TOUR IS FULL, CHECK AT CONFERENCE REGISTRATION ON-SITE FOR ANY OPENINGS.
