Sessions
Wednesday, October 13
The Hudson’s Bay Co.—founded in 1670—knows a little something about longevity. Its department store The Bay is a Canadian icon; its leader, retail veteran Bonnie Brooks, has made some bold moves to keep the brand riding high despite the global recession. A dynamic speaker, Brooks will talk about how the brand has evolved throughout its extraordinary history, including the key role its award-winning store design and visual merchandising continues to play in its strategy.
“Buy locally” is a powerful rallying cry in today’s marketplace, and smart visual merchandising can help any retailer support a community friendly message. Tap into the local spirit with ideas and examples of great displays that make shopping a true neighborhood experience.
How does a moderately priced department store keep up with its higher-priced neighbors? Successful retailer C&A in Brazil shares a before-and-after renovation story in adapting to local market nuances without sacrificing the core brand message.
Explore the ways in which designers and retailers can be prepared--and properly positioned--for the eventual industry upturn. This session offers concrete insights into management techniques that will help you poise your business for growth.
Bring your questions, ideas and insights to the Networking Roundtable Lunches on Wednesday and Thursday, 10/13 & 14. 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.
- Windows and Displays: Staying creative throughout the year
- Designing retail for the 20-and-under crowd
- Questions to ask before hiring a design firm
- Different disciplines, similar challenges: What can retail and hospitality designers learn from each other?
- Tapping the local community for design inspiration
- Color Trends: The role of color in shopper behavior
- Little Budget, Big Impact: Visual merchandising on a dime
- Visual merchandising trends and ideas
- Social media and store design: How to integrate?
- Lighting design trends
- Signage and Graphics: Updating branding on a budget
- Fixtures: Design trends
- Digital Media: What resonates with customers and why
- Mannequins: Trends and merchandising ideas
- Materials and Flooring: Trends and ideas
- A beginners guide to green design (terms, trends and more)
- The Green Design Movement: Where are we now?
- Innovations in green materials
- Store Renovations: Making your budget and your deadline
- International Markets: How to translate your brand
- Urban Retailing: Challenges and opportunities
- Better design =better sales: Proving ROI
- Corralling creativity: Getting from brainstorm to bricks-and-mortar
- Favorite/least favorite trends in retail design
Teams of IRDC attendees compete in a fun, lively visual merchandising contest to create a unique display in one hour’s time. Attendee votes determine the best of show, and the winning team gets a moment to shine on stage the last morning of the conference—and bragging rights for a full year.
Now in its fifth year, the Iron Merchant Challenge is a can’t-miss, hands-on opportunity to apply your creativity alongside high-level peers from 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.
After several years of denial and frugality, customers are fatigued by the cheapest-price message. What’s next? This panel will discuss how companies can grow and innovate now that the market is stabilizing. Hint: It’s about knowing the customer, being open to possibilities and getting a move on!
See examples of the “best in class” store design throughout Europe, while learning which materials and colors are hottest right now and how sustainability is worked into design. Expect a sneak peek at what’s on tap for EuroShop 2011, as well, the highly anticipated global trade show taking place in Dusseldorf, Germany, next February.
Get a look at what the most innovative and creative minds in visual merchandising are doing (and seeing) on the retail scene today, and learn the strategies and trends behind the displays. Bring your questions: This group is ready to talk shop and share ideas.
The outlet store remains a critical part of the brand platform for most power brands, especially now that consumer preferences and priorities have shifted. In this climate, Nautica reinvented its outlet store model; this session discusses the specifics of outlet store considerations and how Nautica embraced them to tell an expanded brand story.
Luxury never goes out of style, but around the world, the definition of luxury shopping has changed—perhaps permanently. This provocative panel discussion will talk about how the market has changed, what’s stayed the same, and how retailers are using design to shake things up and compete amidst a whole new shopper mindset.
Thursday, October 14
Hear highlights from the NRF 2010 Holiday Forecast. We will also examine the retail industry outlook for 2011 and reveal where retailers are investing capital expenditures over the year. Understanding these spending priorities will help you put your projects in perspective for your retail clients.
Seven Continents was challenged to create cohesion between departments in a new concept store for Nordstrom in Santa Monica, using Visual elements. These visual changes were based on studies taken from Nordstrom's most recent store models. Seven Continents strategized with Nordstrom to design the new visual elements, using unique, innovative materials and specialized manufacturing.
Process Displays has create the venue and planning dynamic for retail teams focused on creating the most compelling retail presentation. Learn what they've learned about the mass-market shopper, retailer needs and constructing memorable shopper experiences by bringing the right people to the table at the right time. Also, get a preview of Red Chariot. This “retail store for retailers” demonstrates how helping shoppers make better purchase decisions will bring them back again and again.
The challenge for Chicago-based GFX was international in-store execution for the launch of a new big box retailer in the Dominican Republic. With the store design team in Spain, architects in Argentina and the retailer in the Dominican Republic, GFX acted as the international hub bringing value engineered options and custom solutions to a truly global team.
GFX delivered complete program execution, outfitting the 166,000 square foot hypermarket with grand format graphics and 3-dimensional form factors. The result was the brilliant debut of a new retail space that was every bit of its design team’s vision.
In this session, Moss will take you through a few case studies showing imaginative displays made possible with tension fabric. From seasonal promotions and in-store events, to signage and backdrops, Moss tension can shape any retail space.
The tools and technologies springing up to enhance the shopping experience are phenomenal. But very few retailers have figured out how to use these tools effectively. Jim Crawford, our breakout star speaker at IRDC 2009, returns with a tour of the cutting-edge tech capabilities hitting retail around the world today, while also taking the topic to the next level: How to approach tech-enabled design from a shopper-centric perspective. Learn which retailers are doing it right—and which ones aren’t—to build your own tech-driven success stories in the coming years.
While Canada hasn’t been immune to the global economic crisis, its retail scene has fared far better than some. This panel, consisting of several of Canada’s brightest design stars, will take us through some of the most notable and exciting projects and trends taking the country by storm.
Green retailing continues to flourish. Join our expert panel as they discuss the strategies behind award-winning sustainable store designs and the latest eco-friendly materials and products, as well as ideas for greening the decorative end of retail through window and visual displays.
Community, charity or sustainability: Whatever your strategy for stewardship, it’s imperative to know what matters to your customer, position yourself accordingly and stick to it—with integrity and authority. This session takes a deep dive into how to design to the core customer’s values, or to your own corporate values, ultimately attracting like-minded consumers.
Bring your questions, ideas and insights to the Networking Roundtable Lunches on Wednesday and Thursday, 10/13 & 14. 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.
- Windows and Displays: Staying creative throughout the year
- Designing retail for the 20-and-under crowd
- Questions to ask before hiring a design firm
- Different disciplines, similar challenges: What can retail and hospitality designers learn from each other?
- Tapping the local community for design inspiration
- Color Trends: The role of color in shopper behavior
- Little Budget, Big Impact: Visual merchandising on a dime
- Visual merchandising trends and ideas
- Social media and store design: How to integrate?
- Lighting design trends
- Signage and Graphics: Updating branding on a budget
- Fixtures: Design trends
- Digital Media: What resonates with customers and why
- Mannequins: Trends and merchandising ideas
- Materials and Flooring: Trends and ideas
- A beginners guide to green design (terms, trends and more)
- The Green Design Movement: Where are we now?
- Innovations in green materials
- Store Renovations: Making your budget and your deadline
- International Markets: How to translate your brand
- Urban Retailing: Challenges and opportunities
- Better design =better sales: Proving ROI
- Corralling creativity: Getting from brainstorm to bricks-and-mortar
- Favorite/least favorite trends in retail design
The fiercely competitive grocery sector has gone through many interesting changes over the past couple of years. This panel, composed of some of the biggest names in supermarkets in North America, will discuss the demands of today’s grocery shopper while fielding audience questions on what’s in store for the future.
Department stores are going through radical changes to stay competitive. Our executive panel will discuss the challenges and opportunities in this sector and take your questions on the future of department store retailing.
There are indications that following this recession, a prolonged spending slump may be on the horizon. But retailers that take advantage of Gen Y shopping behavior, as well as the new cultural demands of Gen X, will be best prepared to succeed. Take a look at some of the trends shaping up to serve this changing consumer and hear from retailers working to adapt to a new polarized shopping landscape.
Spend Thursday afternoon exploring Toronto's retail and architectural gems. We'll provide maps and directions for three self-guided walking tours, each with its own inspirational flavor.
Tours include:
Queen Street West Retail
Bloor Street/Yorkville Retail
Museum/Architecture
Friday, October 15
On the last morning of the conference, we’ll assemble a panel of speakers—experts in retail design, visual merchandising, planning and construction—to field questions from the audience and discuss topics submitted by attendees in advance.
Have a burning question you’d like them to address? Email kristy.lohre@stmediagroup.com.
Toast the winners of VMSD’s International Visual Competition and Renovation Competition, then find out which team wins the coveted Iron Merchant title for 2010. The finale is the presentation of the Peter Glen Retailer of the Year Award, created in 2001 in honor of the late retail observer, motivational speaker and longtime VMSD columnist. The award is given to the retailer who best exemplifies Glen’s standards of retail excellence: innovation, service and intelligence.
Forever 21's fast-fashion approach to getting trendy goods into its 500 stores is a blueprint for how to succeed in a challenging environment. At a time when most other specialty retailers are retrenching, Forever 21 is planting new flags in malls and on main streets throughout the world. The company's executive vp Larry Meyer and frequent design partner J.T. Nakaoka will be on hand to discuss their success and accept the award.
There is a change in current these days at Starbucks. With stirring new store designs, some “de-branded” locations and a commitment to have all new company owned stores LEED certified starting end of 2010—all within standard store construction budgets—Starbucks is definitely a company on the move. Closing out the conference, Tim Pfeiffer will talk about these efforts and more during his keynote address—infusing just the right jolt of inspiration to send you back home refreshed.
