IRDC

Andrew McQuilkin is responsible for leading the retail team’s expertise in building design, store planning, interior design, planning and merchandising for retail clients. Prior to joining bhdp, he was vice president, managing creative director, at FRCH; director of store planning at Gensler; and vice president of design at Fitzpatrick Design Group. He has 25 years’ experience in the design of department stores, vendor shops, specialty stores and discount stores and is currently serving his second term as the international president of the Retail Design Institute

Following a B.B.A. from Middle Tennessee State University, Brad Stewart has accumulated 25 years’ experience in retail, wholesale, commercial and industrial sales/management. For the past 12 years, he’s led the Hera Lighting sales team in North and South America. In retail environments, his expertise is proper employment of display lighting to increase sales per square foot, while decreasing overall costs.
 

Burt Tansky oversees the strategic direction, operations, and expansion of The Neiman Marcus Group, which includes the Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman stores. He joined the company in 1990 as chairman and ceo of Bergdorf Goodman. Prior to his affiliation with The Neiman Marcus Group, he was president of Saks Fifth Avenue, joining that company in 1977 from I.Magnin where he had been senior vice president and general merchandise manager. His extensive retail background also includes management positions at Kaufmann’s and Filene’s.

Christian Davies is a frequently published commentator on international design and branding trends and his work and commentary have been featured in publications and media as diverse as World Architecture, USA Today, CNN International, The New York Times, European Marie Claire, The Chicago Tribune, The Wall Street Journal, Women’s Wear Daily and The London Sunday Times.

Chuck Huttinger brings close to 30 years of retail and business experience to GFX International, where his primary responsibility is to drive growth and provide strategic direction. Prior to owning GFX, he held the position of chief financial officer for both Starmark International and Ocenco Inc. He started his career at Peat Marwick Mitchell, now KPMG LLP, and holds a BBA from the University of Notre Dame.
 

Daniel Montaño leads the Store Design and Branded Graphics studios, serving clients in the U.S. and Latin America. Recently he lead the design of  the repositioning of Chedraui supermarkets in Mexico, The Home Depot Superstore, Concentra Healthcare and Majestic apparel retail stores, among others. He is a member of the National Board of Directors for the Society for Environmental Graphic Design (SEGD).

David Nelson works with companies to evolve their brand position and interactive consumer experience. Clients include Verizon Wireless, Smucker’s, La-Z-Boy, Pulte Homes and Kirkland’s. He has spoken at various conferences including those for the Photo Marketing Association, NRF and ICSC

With more than two decades of experience in retail and mixed-use projects, David Cassidy’s expertise includes design direction, architecture and planning. His proficiency ranges from small specialty stores to large retail and mixed-use developments, nationally and internationally. Prior to joining Callison, David founded the Western division office of  Architectural Group International, Inc.
 

David Hogrefe is responsible for day-to-day management of more than 30 associates in two studios (Columbus, Ohio, and Detroit). As a member of the Global Management Team for Fitch, he manages the strategic and creative work product, client satisfaction, P&L and operations of Fitch’s practice areas including Insights & Strategy, Brand Communication, Environmental Design, Product Development and Architecture & Implementation.

David Siegel brings his 20+ years of experience in the digital printing industry to support Portland Color’s clients and their projects. In his role as sustainability director, he helps Portland Color’s staff and clients navigate the complex issues surrounding sustainability in the print industry

Dawn Clark has nearly 25 years of design experience as well as extensive knowledge of brand strategy and global retail trends. She currently leads the mixed-use, retail and hospitality design studio as well as the worldwide retail design practice for NBBJ. Her expertise ranges from large-scale retail complexes to specialty boutiques. Clients have included landmark retailers such as Harrods, Saks Fifth Avenue, Nike and Seibu.

Head shot and bio to come

After deciding, as a commercial arts major, that he preferred three-dimensional design to flat advertising, Ignaz Gorischek wandered into what was then called “display,” first as a display trimmer with Rike’s, a division of Federated, in Dayton, Ohio. From there, he went to Burdines in Florida for 15 years, to Mayor’s Jewelers, a specialty retailer in Coral Gables, Fla., for five years (where he learned the high-end side of the business), to Neiman Marcus, first as a creative director, then vp, visual planning and presentation , and now as vp, store development.

Jim Sloss has been an architect with Macy’s for 18 years, during which he’s designed 250+ new department stores, including six prototypes. His experience encompasses everything from site development and exterior building design to merchandise planning, interior architecture and fixture design. Prior to Macy’s, he was vp of design for the international architectural firm Hellmuth, Obatta and Kassabaum. In his 10 years at HOK, he developed mixed-use commercial and retail development expertise, with projects spanning the globe.

James A. Smith has served as the director of store design for Anthropologie, a subsidiary of Urban Outfitters, Inc., since June 2006, and was development manager for Urban Outfitters Inc. from September 2005 to June 2006. He served as manager of store planning for Chico’s FAS ... Inc. and all subsidiaries from 2003 to 2005 and as the director of visual merchandising for White House | Black Market from 2000 to 2003. Smith began his retail career at Nordstrom, where he served in a variety of roles including visual merchandising as well as sales at the store level.

Jason Floyd was introduced to visual through his first after-school job, stocking shelves and building displays at a grocery store in Woodville, Texas. In 1993, he segued from groceries to games and movies, joining Blockbuster’s store management program in Dallas, and eventually became the company’s director of visual merchandising. During his tenure, he was involved in multiple store environment projects, including GameRush @ Blockbuster and the RadioShack/Blockbuster store-within-a-store endeavor.

As owner of ZenGenius, Joe Baer has developed a team of freelance creative consultants that provide visual merchandising services and event décor services to major retail brands and other types of businesses. His in-house retail experience includes visual merchandising experience work with Lazarus, Macy’s West, Victoria’s Secret and design firm Chute Gerdeman. He founded ZenGenius in 1999 and has supported LimitedBrands, HMS Host, OH Health, Nationwide Childrens and many other top brands.

John Ryan is a London-based journalist covering European store design for a number of publications. In a previous life he was a retailer and worked in Germany and the U.K. in a variety of buying and marketing roles. He has written for Retail Week in the U.K. for a decade and has worked with VMSD for more than four years.

Kathy Mucciolo will soon celebrate her twentieth anniversary with The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Throughout her tenure, she has been an integral part of developing a standard of visual merchandising for the museum, and more recently for the new look of its satellite shops. She now oversees the combined visual merchandising and store design departments and is currently spearheading a campaign to modernize the museum’s internal shops.

Kevin O’Donnell runs the L.A. studio Thread Collaborative, a new venture that develops, designs and writes about innovative green materials and approaches to sustainable building development. He’s the former director of WD Ecologic, where he championed cutting-edge green design and helped companies create environmentally favorable strategies. Clients at WD Ecologic included Whole Foods Market, Tesco, Wegmans and Walmart. He gives more than 30 presentations a year focused on the impact our built environment has on the natural environment.

A vice president at WD Partners, Lee Peterson leads an interdisciplinary group of sixty researchers, designers and architects working on branded store development for such clients as Best Buy, New Balance, Safeway, Benihana, Supervalu, Whole Foods Market, Wendy’s and The Home Depot. He has more than 25 years of experience in the industry, including his work as retail consultant and as a brand strategy executive at Limited Brands.

LEE SILBER is the best-selling author of 15 books including his latest, "The Wild Idea Club" (Career Press, 2009). He is also the founder of Waves and Wheels Surfcenters, a chain of retail stores, and the owner of Deep Impact Training, a corporate training firm. He has hosted his own radio talks how and has been featured in the press more than a thousand times. 

As head of Shawmut’s National Business, Les Hiscoe leads the $300 million Hospitality and Retail group, drawing on years of experience building luxury retail stores and specialty restaurants.  From Shawmut's New York office, he manages and supports construction activities across the country, overseeing a staff of more than 250 professionals.

Linda Cahan (www.lindacahan.com) has spent 37 years in retail design, working with such clients as Meijer, American Express, United Rentals, Saks Fifth Avenue, Lancome, The Mills Group, Singer, Intel and many others retailers of all types and sizes. She gives seminars, writes for several retail magazines, creates custom visual standards manuals, trains retailers in all aspects of merchandising and store design, and is the author of Feng Shui for Retailers.

Linda Hofflander joined Wireless Ronin Technologies in July 2007 and has served in her current position since June 2008. Prior to Wireless Ronin, she held various senior management positions, specializing in communications strategy and brand management. She has launched countless products and drove highly innovative marketing programs at Gabberts, Arnold/Ostrom Advertising and John Ryan Performance. She holds a BA in economics from the University of Minnesota and serves on the Digital Signage Association Advisory Board.

Liz McGowan has 23 years of experience in advertising and visual merchandising management. Her primary responsibility with Staples Inc. is to establish and oversee overall navigation, signing and graphics strategy in 1600+ stores to ensure optimal customer in-store experience. Prior to Staples, she was the vp of advertising and marketing at Trend-lines, the parent company for Woodworkers Warehouse, Golf Day and Post Tool. She has also held key positions at Safety First, Montgomery Ward and Lechmere. She holds a BA from Framingham State College.

Marjorie Lee Woo, an accomplished fashion designer and retail veteran, is also the vice president of Embrace Design and the owner/designer of Marjorie Lee Woo Fine Millinery. Her designs have been featured in WWD, Accessories magazine and Modern Bride as well as on NBC’s “The View” and the runways of New York at Bryant Park. Her retail experience includes managerial and buying positions at Joske’s and Sakowitz in Houston, Texas.

Michael Bodziner, a principal of Gensler, directs the Retail Design and Store Planning Studio in San Francisco, where he and his team specialize in brand invention and its application to the retail customer experience. He co-founded Gensler’s retail practice shortly after joining the firm in 1985 and also serves as director of Gensler’s Retail Task Force, a worldwide collective of designers, architects and strategists who research retail’s interrelation with society, economy and human emotional response.

With more than 15 years of experience working with several global retail giants, Mihee Yi is an essential member of Uniqlo’s global visual merchandising team. Starting with Samsung in her home country of Korea and then H&M in the U.S., she is now based in Uniqlo’s New York office and focuses on defining and executing the visual expression of the brand at the flagship level across three continents. 
 

Paul Maddrell’s career in the retail industry spans more than 20 years. Most recently he was responsible for international store development and design for L.L. Bean, culminating in the opening of several stores domestically and in Asia. Working from a napkin sketch or detailed architectural plans, he is driven by his passion for smart design, elegant solutions and close client partnerships.

Peter Dixon’s award-winning programs have spanned all areas of the brand experience, ranging from building design to retail concepts and merchandising systems. He has worked for such notable clients as BMW, Citibank, Citizens Bank, Chrysler, IBM, Microsoft, Sprint, Samsung and Walmart. Before joining Prophet, he helped lead the consulting team on Walmart’s new brand strategy, including its new visual identity and store experience concepts.

An architect and consultant for more than 20 years, Randall Stone’s expertise ranges from flagship and prototype store design to conception and planning of mixed-use retail centers and event and attraction-based concepts. Stone has worked with such brands as Bertucci's, Disney, Foot Locker, Ghirardelli Chocolate, HMV Record Store, McDonald’s, Nissan, RadioShack, Sony and The Limited. He holds a bachelor of architecture degree from the University of Notre Dame and an M.S. in architecture and building design from Columbia University.

Raymond Mastrobuoni served as associate vice president of visual merchandising for Cartier, Inc., in New York City. After an illustrious career spanning 40 years creating an assortment of interior designs, implementing a variety of boutique and store renovations along with his always engaging Christmas windows, he is now an adjunct professor at the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (LIM). Mastrobuoni has been nationally recognized in the texts The American Store Window by Leonard S. Marcus and Show Windows: 75 years of The Art of Display by Barry James Wood.

Robin Elmslie Osler established EOA/Elmslie Osler Architect in 1996 after receiving her undergraduate degree in Architecture from the University of Virginia in 1987 and her Master’s from Yale University in 1990. She has held faculty positions at numerous institutions and the work of her firm has been recognized with awards and featured extensively in books and publications internationally.

Ron Pompei’s multidisciplinary education and training as an artist, sculptor and designer is the lifeblood of Pompei A.D.’s holistic approach to its projects. The firm has collaborated with a wide spectrum of clients including Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, Terrain, Sony, Coca-Cola, Kmart, Discovery Channel, UCLA, Fortune magazine, Harley Davidson, California Academy of Sciences, Levi’s, Herman Miller and MTV.

Sharon Lessard is vice president of store design services for the 13 brands within the SuperValu Corporation.

Prior to joining SuperValu, she was vice president of visual merchandising for Bath & Body Works, a division of Limited Brands. She has also held various positions in design at Best Buy, Inc., including the design and development of Best Buy’s first international expansion outside of North America, in Shanghai, which opened in December 2006.

Stanley Hainsworth is the chairman and chief creative officer of Tether, which works with consumer product, entertainment and experience brands to create memorable solutions. Before founding Tether, he was vp, global creative, of Starbucks, where he oversaw all creative aspects of Starbucks and its associated brands, including Hear Music, Tazo Tea and Ethos Water. His team worked on retail experiences, new products, packaging systems, seasonal promotions, brand campaigns, advertising and collateral materials.

Steve Kinney has spent over a decade in the event marketing and promotion industry, creating dynamic campaigns to gain brand recognition for his clients. Having worked in New York and Los Angeles, he has developed a vast network of clients and partners.
 

Tara O’Neil brings 17 years of experience in retail design to the table, providing leadership and strategic creative direction. She has worked with a broad range of retail clients, including the Royal Bank of Canada, The Home Depot of Canada, Staples Business Depot, Shaw's Supermarkets, Loblaw Companies Limited and Spencer's Retail Limited. She has also lectured at The Ted Rogers School of Retail Management and served as the design consultant for an international retail design charette hosted by Ryerson University.

After graduating from The Cleveland Institute of Art with a BFA in interior design, Vember Stuart-Lilley started her retail design career in New York City working for Jones Apparel Group, focusing on factory new concept design. She now lives in Los Angeles and has been part of the Guess? Inc. Retail Development department for three years, managing special projects and roll-outs for all Guess? brands in the U.S. and Canada.