VMSD magazine is excited to host the 2025 International Retail Design Conference (IRDC) October 22-23 in Providence, Rhode Island, at the Omni Providence Hotel. This celebratory year marks IRDC’s 25th anniversary and planning is underway for an extraordinary event.
Recognized as the premier industry event, the annual two-day conference features engaging education and networking experiences for visual merchandising and store design professionals. New for 2025, we’ll be rolling out immersive experiences to add a special twist to IRDC’s renowned program including an Offsite Disruptive Mystery Experience and a special anniversary celebration. Make plans now to join your retail design peers this fall on the East Coast!
Professionals from every sector of the retail design industry are invited to join IRDC!
You should attend if you are a retailer or brand owner involved in:
… or a non-retailer, whose primary business is:
IRDC offers the perfect setting for you to chat with some of the industry’s leading vendors and solution providers. Come discover the latest products and services that are creating engaging experiences at retail and develop new strategic partnerships along the way.
IRDC’s dynamic conference program allows you to explore new trends while also sparking your creativity. Through interactive workshops and everyone’s favorite Iron Merchant Challenge, you’ll flex your creative muscles and leave with new insights and perspectives for your upcoming projects.
Enjoy ample time for laid back networking with your retail design peers during daily group meals, evening receptions and the new Offsite Disruptive Mystery Experience. Unwind while you share your successes, challenges and new ideas for elevating the in-store consumer experience.
IRDC brings the industry back together again. Outside of conference hours, there’s ample time for attendees to mix and mingle during the Tuesday evening Welcome Reception, Wednesday evening Iron Merchant Challenge Reception and Thursday evening Closing Party.
Attend IRDC this fall to explore new ideas and approaches to creating engaging consumer experiences at retail. Bring your passion and expertise for retail design to Providence and connect with your peers through interactive sessions and networking opportunities. Together, we have the power to drive the industry forward and elevate the in-store experience!
VMSD invites in-store experience, retail and design experts from every sector of the industry to submit speaker proposals for consideration. Take the stage at IRDC and share your insights with your peers!
Build your brand and make new business connections face-to-face as an IRDC sponsor! Join us in Providence for two days where influential leaders will come together to learn and network in an intimate setting.
Interested in sponsoring IRDC? Contact Market Strategist, Emily Kasmenn to learn more.
If you’re a manufacturer, supplier, or solution provider to the retail design industry, sponsoring IRDC is an excellent opportunity to establish high-level business relationships with executive decision makers from the world’s leading retailers and brands. Each year, the attendee profile includes a heavy presence of upper-level decision makers including presidents, VPs, owners, principals, directors and managers – and no other event immerses sponsors with attendees like IRDC!
Interested in sponsoring IRDC? Contact Market Strategist, Emily Kasmenn to learn more.
Vice President, Strategy, Chute Gerdeman
Mindi is a strategic leader who deeply understands customer emotion and behavior. By translating these insights into thoughtful, experience-led design, she creates brand moments that leave a lasting impression.
With a career leading global research and consumer-first strategies, Mindi has helped shape spaces that speak directly to the hearts and needs of customers.
Her expertise lies in uncovering brand equities and bringing them to life in the physical environment, where business goals align with human experience. She believes every brand interaction is an opportunity to create differentiation, foster loyalty, and drive emotional connections.
CEO, Creative Director, ZenGenius
From humble beginnings as a visual merchandiser for Lazarus Department Store in Ohio, to his role as a visual manager for Macy’s/The Broadway stores in the 1990s, Joe’s passion for visual merchandising has followed him throughout his retail career. After returning to Ohio in 1996 to work with the renowned Columbus-based design firm Chute Gerdeman, Joe later co-founded ZenGenius, Inc. with partner Paul Cook in 1999. Their fierce entrepreneurial spirit and strong desire to give back to the community, established ZenGenius as industry-leading visual merchandising experts in Columbus, later expanding nationwide. Often you’ll find Joe emceeing community and industry events, supporting the local arts community, or mentoring students from The Ohio State University and beyond. In recent years, his passion for education and fostering a new generation of talent has brought him closer to the mission of PAVE and its fundraising efforts.
VMSD magazine; President, Embrace Design
Eric Feigenbaum is a recognized leader in the visual merchandising and store design industries with both domestic and international design experience. Author of Profiles of the Mannequin, he is also an inspirational keynote speaker and lecturer. He served as corporate director of visual merchandising for Stern’s Department Store, a division of Federated Department Stores for fourteen years. After Stern’s, he assumed the position of director of visual merchandising for WalkerGroup/CNI, an architectural design firm in New York City. Feigenbaum was also an adjunct professor of Store Design at the Fashion Institute of Technology and formerly served as the chair of the Visual Merchandising Department at LIM College (New York) from 2000 to 2015. In addition to being the New York Editor of VMSD magazine, Eric is a recipient of the Markopoulos Award in 2012, and a founding member of PAVE (A Partnership for Planning and Visual Education). He is currently president of Embrace Design, providing thoughtful leadership, and the advancement of design as a vital tool of retail success.
Founder, CEO, Redding Futures
By skillfully connecting the possible with the practical, Neil Redding is a Near Futurist and Innovation Architect with 30+ years of experience in unlocking the transformative power of emerging technologies. A sought-after keynote speaker for venues like SXSW, Dubai Future Forum, and Building the Future, and at corporate events for Meta, Microsoft, Edelman, and more, Neil inspires audiences with the reality-shifting capabilities of AI and spatial computing for our physical, digital and natural ecosystems, and for realizing pragmatic interpersonal and business value. Through his boutique consultancy Redding Futures and previous roles, Neil has worked with world-class brands including Visa, Nike, Apple, and Verizon to distill these continually emerging possibilities, applying ecosystem-centered design to unlock sustainable growth, resilience, and transformative business opportunity.
VMSD & ZENGENIUS INC. PRESENT:
The annual Iron Merchant Challenge is a mashup of improvisation, creativity and design science – plus one secret ingredient guaranteed to shake things up!
Together, six teams will dive in blindly to conceive and create a winning display focused around a theme, a hodgepodge of materials and one secret ingredient. Are you ready for the challenge? Sign up to participate when registration opens.
SPARKS, CONNECTIONS, CELEBRATION
We’re taking the party outside! Celebrate the kickoff to IRDC at WaterFire—Providence’s iconic riverside art installation—for a one-of-a-kind evening. Just a short walk from the Omni hotel, attendees will gather to enjoy an open bar, plenty of networking, and the magical backdrop of fire-lit waterways. Connect with fellow attendees, speakers, and partners as we set the stage for what’s ahead.
UNEXPECTED SPACES, IMMERSIVE IDEAS, CREATIVE ENERGY
Step outside the traditional conference setting and into an immersive offsite experience challenging conventional thinking with unexpected spaces, bold ideas, and interactive moments that will spark creativity and fresh perspectives. Sorry – we’re keeping the venue location under wraps!
Join us for Thursday’s celebratory Awards Luncheon where we’ll recognize the winners of VMSD’s 2025 competitions & industry awards including:
We’re excited to present the 25th annual International Retail Design Conference at the Omni Providence Hotel in Providence, RI.
Join the IRDC Insider List to receive program updates and we’ll send you a discount code to save $100 when you register!
